I am considering studying abroad in Rome next summer and was curious if anybody knew of any good gyms in the city? The program houses students on Piazza Ottavilla in the Gianicolo area, so ideally there would be a gym near there.
Do a search here for a member called stefanogym, I know he’s in Italy, but I’m not sure if it’s Rome.
I trained in Italy for a year and tried a few gyms. I can’t recommend any of them though.
Seriously, you see too much strange behavior in the Rome gyms I found. Sure there must be some good ones, but I never found one I could recommend.
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The guys spend at least twice as long in the changing rooms as they gym itself (not a gay gym). You will even find guys reading magazines in there. I am talking about bringing a dressing gown to the gym for fucks sake.
I even saw one guy who had brought 2 mirrors and 2 different types of razor so he could style his chest hair correctly. He was still at it more than 20 minutes later…just getting the final hairs right. he was about the size of a toothpick too! -
The amount of time spent inspecting their own body in the mirror between sets gets comical.
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Guy walks into the gym and discovers he has his shorts around the wrong way. Instead of walking 4 meters back into the changing room he walks forward and changes again in the middle of the gym.
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Sunglasses - just to look cool!
Too much BS for my liking. Happy hunting.
PS. 1. Normally you can get a free 1 time trial. Use it.
2. All gyms require a doctors note to say you can use the gym. Get a couple from your own doctor in preparation, as my English versions were always accepted. Italian doctors seem to chareg at least 19 euros for one of these and it can be a pain in the arse.
[quote]naxis wrote:
I trained in Italy for a year and tried a few gyms. I can’t recommend any of them though.
Seriously, you see too much strange behavior in the Rome gyms I found. Sure there must be some good ones, but I never found one I could recommend.
-
The guys spend at least twice as long in the changing rooms as they gym itself (not a gay gym). You will even find guys reading magazines in there. I am talking about bringing a dressing gown to the gym for fucks sake.
I even saw one guy who had brought 2 mirrors and 2 different types of razor so he could style his chest hair correctly. He was still at it more than 20 minutes later…just getting the final hairs right. he was about the size of a toothpick too! -
The amount of time spent inspecting their own body in the mirror between sets gets comical.
-
Guy walks into the gym and discovers he has his shorts around the wrong way. Instead of walking 4 meters back into the changing room he walks forward and changes again in the middle of the gym.
-
Sunglasses - just to look cool!
Too much BS for my liking. Happy hunting.
PS. 1. Normally you can get a free 1 time trial. Use it.
2. All gyms require a doctors note to say you can use the gym. Get a couple from your own doctor in preparation, as my English versions were always accepted. Italian doctors seem to chareg at least 19 euros for one of these and it can be a pain in the arse.[/quote]
I worked in Milan for a spell. The gym was expensive as hell, $90 a month. But when you gotta train, you gotta train. It wasn’t perfect but it did the trick. A gym is what you make it, provided they have a bare minimum of shit. Don’t be expecting any Hammer Strength or anything like that. Bars were thin, weights were weird, but I could train.
What ever you do don’t let that discourage you from going, it’s so totally worth it. Rome is amazing!
[quote]RonSwanson wrote:
I am considering studying abroad in Rome next summer and was curious if anybody knew of any good gyms in the city? The program houses students on Piazza Ottavilla in the Gianicolo area, so ideally there would be a gym near there. [/quote]
BTW, going high protein in Italy is plain murder, don’t even try unless you’re rich. Contrary to popular belief, you won’t get fat from all the pasta. You walk to much for that. Plus it’s really, really good. And the gelato…oh my.