New to Tokyo and looking for the best way to stay (or get) in shape? Tokyo offers a variety of gyms to suit every need and budget. Unless your company deal gives you access to a swanky club or there is a gym in your apartment block, you will have to rough it with the rest of us. The quick tips below will help you navigate the many options available.
Types of Gym- From luxury gyms to 24 hour budget gyms (MORE ON THIS)
Facilities- What facilities do you need? (MORE ON THIS)
Operating Hours- Decide when you need to use the gym. 24 hour options also available (MORE ON THIS)
Fees– Huge range of fees ranging from several thousand to several hundreds of thousand yen per month (MORE ON THIS)
Personalized plans and workouts – How much help do you need to reach your goals? (MORE ON THIS)
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At one end of the range, there are luxury gyms, such as Rizap, which offers the user exclusive facilities and a premium experience. With its personalized training programs, it focuses on achieving specific goals, often with a strong emphasis on weight loss and body transformation. The gym provides one-on-one sessions with a dedicated personal trainer, tailored nutrition advice, and regular progress tracking.
At the other end of the range, there are unmanned 24-hour, budget facilities, such as Chocozap, which offers a large number of branches with very basic equipment, where you can walk in off the street in your ordinary clothes and work out during the gaps within your everyday life. Other examples are Anytime Fitness and Joyfit 24.
In between that you have large commercial chains like Gold’s Gym, Renaissance, and Tipness, which typically offer a wide range of equipment, group classes, personal training (as an optional extra), and amenities like showers and saunas.
Another option is government-run public sports centers. While the gym equipment is typically basic, prices are very affordable, and many offer the flexibility of per-time payments for people who do not want to commit to paying a monthly fee.
You can also find specialized gyms, such as Crossfit Tokyo, and women-only gyms, such as Curves Japan.
A major factor in deciding what gym option to take will be deciding on the minimum level of facilities you need. At one end of the spectrum, if you are happy with very basic weight training and treadmill/bicycle equipment and don’t need shower facilities, Chocozap may be the option for you. If you are happy with basic training equipment but having a shower is a deal-breaker, then it may be most cost-effective for you to work at a public sports center. If you are prepared to pay a slightly higher monthly fee and want both training machines and free weights, a pool, and shower/sauna facilities, then a chain gym like Renaissance may be a good fit. Last but not least, you can get the use of top-end equipment, body composition analysis machines, and private training rooms if you can fork out for the services of Rizap.
Another factor influencing your decision about what gym option to take will be when you plan to use the gym. For example, Renaissance branches tend to open from around 9AM until early evening and close on a specific day during the week. The hours/days you can use it may differ according to the plan you purchase. Additionally, there may be other times when it is closed for several days in a row during longer Japanese holidays. Rizap typically has longer opening hours (usually from around 7AM to 11PM) and tends to stay open during most Japanese holidays.
If you are a night owl or want to train every day whatever the season, however, the 24-hour unmanned gyms will offer you true flexibility in terms of your training time. Some branches may close for renovation, etc. but most of the time you are never far away from another branch to use in the meantime.
There is a huge range of fees offered by each gym depending on the services chosen, so the following is merely a rough guide to what you might expect to pay for the facilities described above.
At the top of the range is luxury gyms like Rizap. If you take one of their fully personalized programs aimed at body transformation, you can expect to pay around ￥700,000 for a two month course, once you purchase the various supplements, etc. that they recommend you. If you can afford it, however, the results tend to be impressive.
Monthly membership fees at commercial gyms, such as, Gold’s Gym and Renaissance, depending on the plan, tend to be around ￥10,000-15,000 per month.
Budget gyms like Chocozap offer services for around ￥4,000 a month, whereas public sports centers typically charge around ￥400-500 per visit.
Last but not least, when deciding what gym option to take, it is important to consider how much assistance you need. If you need the equivalent of a life mentor who is going to track you and motivate you in all aspects of your training and diet, then Rizap is the only answer. If you need general assistance but want the option of a personal trainer, you will find this available at commercial gym chains. At the other end of the spectrum, assistance will be extremely basic at public sports centers, and completely non-existent at unmanned budget gyms. This is not necessarily just a matter of what you can afford. Some people just prefer to be left alone to get on with it themselves!