Puregym Cardiff Bay

I’ve been going to Pure Gym Cardiff Bay on and off for a long time now. What I like about Pure Gym is its large size, and the vibe/atmosphere there can’t be beaten. The reason for only three stars is that the weights benches in Cardiff Bay are really some of the worst I’ve ever used. When you lift up the back part, the seated section automatically repositions itself and doesn’t stay flat, and so it’s just very uncomfortable when doing shoulder presses and bicep curls etc. The benches at Pure Gym Newport, for example, are not like this, and the seated section stays flat/level, making it a lot more comfortable when doing reps/sets. Also, the two Smith Machines have “stoppers” in place, which cannot be moved, and, due to this, you are not able to lower the bar all the way down to your chest when pressing, and so you do not get maximum motion during reps. Due to an injury, I heavily rely on the Smith Machine, so it’s just a real shame that these “stoppers” are in place, preventing me from getting a satisfying workout. I have been contemplating cancelling my membership, as I really need a gym where I can work out comfortably each time and be able to push myself to the best of my ability.

Good gym with decent equipment and friendly staff. but like every gym there is a few pretenders sitting on machines on their phones all the time and that 1 person that asks if you're finished when you're mid lift 🙄 leave your phones in the locker or car (unless its actually needed) and wait for someone to leave the equipment before asking if they are done 🤷 posting on socials that you are there for months and you look and feel no different atall should make you realise you're wasting time and money

So this gym out of 10 is a 6 based on a few reasons - not much machines. For example no hack squat, only 2 bench presses, 1 leg extension machine, 1 hamstring machine 1 seated press and so on. -popularity. Obviously it’s a commercial gym so anywhere between 4pm-8pm are the worst times, because of the few machines, there can be a huge wait. -(In my opinion the worst one) gym etiquette, yeah there are signs saying put the weights back, but holy Mary and Joseph, there’s 30 kg dumbbells in the 10s and vice Versa and it’s awful(picture down below); People on their phone for anywhere up to 5 minutes; re-racking weights in the incorrect manner; people super setting when there’s not much machines and a lot of people and lastly people not cleaning the equipment after use especially on a bench. Now I’ve mentioned the bad, let’s get on to the good. -Polite staff, ask for anything or even a spot they’re nice and will help you with anything within reason, -dumbbells, not much to say there’s a lot of dumbbells which is nice to see. -cardio, there’s a lot of CV equipment 2 nice platforms for deadlifts but I wish there were more but it’s a smallish gym so I understand that they would struggle to put any more. -beginner friendly, good if you want to start working out but if you have a few years under your belt I suggest a non commercial gym (like an old school powerlifting gym that not a lot of people know about) Personally, I would love a hack squat in this gym but I can’t just demand one lol. But what I would love is if the PTs in the gym heighten their awareness and spread the word of gym etiquette that would change its from a 3 star to a 4 maybe 5 star and from a 6/10 to an 8/10

I've been thinking about why I like this most out of all the Cardiff PureGyms. Location is great for parking, and the gym is big enough that it rarely feels truly crowded, but I think the best part is that it's not one of those gyms that have massive windows for people to stare at you from the streets. This feels more private even when it's full, and I appreciate that.