Fitness Centre, Cranfield University

Positive experience: The gym has all the necessary equipment and the staff are helpful and friendly. It could do with some heavier dumbells, some more safety bars and racks, more plates for a serious gymgoer like me but had all the necessities for someone visiting loved ones at the uni. Big changerooms with coin-secure lock, showers and 3 different rooms and a basketball stadium to train in. Although the second floor room could do with some ventilation as some of the members have serious BO issues. A SkiErg and assault bike would be nice additions ;) but overall as a visitor it has what you need for a session.

Fantastic experience: Friendly atmosphere, not over crowded

Positive experience: The gym has a good range of equipment. However there is only one bench press, deadlift station and squatting station. Some of the equipment itself feels quite old but works fine generally. The calisthenics/bodyweight section is probably the best as it includes rings, pull up bars, dip bars, mats (handstands against the wall allowed) and resistance bands. The resistance bands definitely need replacing, there is a rule saying we cannot use the thinner ones to help with pullups as they may break but I'm convinced it's simply because the bands are old and they don't want to buy new ones. Get your own resistance bands if you can. Also make sure to keep a £1 coin in your wallet if you want to use the lockers. Overall I would recommend as it is worth the price.

Positive experience: I particularly use the gym. The gym serves the purpose for a student at the university, although a few equipments at the gym could be upgraded.

Fantastic experience: Good

Positive experience: Big sports hall and enormous changing rooms. However, the gym is absolutely tiny considering it serves an entire university. 1 proper squat rack, 1 weightlifting/deadlift platform and 2 smith machines... I would expect at least 3 times more free weights. It's relatively cheap though. It does just seem crazy that CU wouldn't build a decent area with 4 or 5 power racks on top of some plywood

Fantastic experience: Nice fitness centre, with very friendly and helpful staff

Negative experience: I’ve had multiple unprofessional instances with the manager, but whenever I call to make a complaint, he is always “out on his bike”. Rubbish.

Negative experience: Hours open online do not match until 4 days ago it was updated. This gym needs a good clean.

Fantastic experience: Nice gym . Friendly staff

Positive experience: Fitness Centre, also known as sport hall is an ideal place for all Cranfield University Students who like to go for gym.

Negative experience: I was told I could see all the facilities, then told I couldn't join because I'm not a student. Total waste of time.

Fantastic experience: Small place, yet with all you may need! :D

Positive experience: Equipment is fairly good but is not a complete gym. It lacks some useful equipment.

Fantastic experience: Good size for futsal. Futsal goals

Fantastic experience: Very big complex on a disused army barracks near Milton Keynes.

Positive experience: The cardio area upstairs is quite small. On the other hand, the changing rooms are massive. I kind of wish they had designed it better so more space was allocated for the actual gym/cardio area rather than massive changing rooms which as far as my experience goes, never get busy. Also quite annoyingly there are no hair dryers in the changing rooms, so you have to bring your own.

Fantastic experience: It is the place in Cranfield University campus to be if you want to improve your general fitness: go to the gym, play basketball, soccer, volleyball or badminton.

Fantastic experience: Been visiting Cranfield University gym since it was in the old Student Union building. The gym is now in a dedicated sports hall and is well equipped with (from memory) around 12 resistance machines distributed between two rooms, three sets of dumbells (one set in each of the three rooms) and a set of kettle weights, three bar bell machines, and some of those dangling resistance bands which I find unfathomable but which seem to have become quite trendy. For aerobic exercise there are three cross-trainers, three spinners and 4-5 treadmills. One room has a large floor area and is used for classes. The staff are friendly and helpful and the pricing is both flexible and very reasonable. It’s also about two miles from my house. So, all in all, I’ve no excuses for not using it.

Positive experience: It's the closest gym to my work and has most of what you'd need. I go weekdays early and often can't get on a cross trainer. Male showers are communal whilst apparently women's are not. It's small but for the cost it's ok

Positive experience: Great value, friendly crowd.. Just a shame some of the showers are still out of order

Negative experience: There are several reasons I only rate it 2 stars, and I constantly feel that the quality of this gym is not what I would expect from a university with worldwide reputation. Firstly, the equipment. The equipment in the strength room is seriously outdated, as I feel they are almost older than me. Some of the Olympic bars are broken and not replaced, and the steel plates are badly worn out across the gym. As for the dumbbells, if I remembered it correctly, they only go up to 35 kg. So you might want to look elsewhere if you require something much heavier. On the plus side, you could do rope battling in one of the training rooms, which is not quite common I think. Apart from the free weights, lots of equipment on the upper level is actually newer. However, the space there is very packed, so you have to be cautious not to bump in the people working out next to you. Secondly, the changing room. The changing room does not have private shower, which really put me off. Also, it smells bad due to poor ventilation. The lockers are pretty standard though, where you put in £1 coin and take the key away. However, the key is really one single piece, and it does not have a tag on it to remind you which locker you used. Also, remember to book their induction session before you actually sign up the membership. I can't find this information on their website, so I just packed up and planned I could just pay and use the gym, which was clearly not the case according to one of the staff, and literally he said 'I have never been to a gym that does not do the induction session'. Alright then, I will keep this in mind.

Positive experience: reasonable priced, and has a variety of the equipments. It is sometimes overcrowded during the rush hour.

Positive experience: Cheap and convenient

Positive experience: Its ok, small range of equipments - It opens only at 7am - Weekends are a bit inaccessible

Positive experience: All necessary machines are available though the space is small and sometimes really packed.