Hi everyone
I am staying in Taipei for about 6 months and I’m looking for a gym to lift weights a couple of times a week.
I visited o3 fitness and they quoted me 5000 ntd for a month, which is 5 times the amount i pay for my gym in London. Is this the normal going rate for a gym in Taipei?
Really appreciate any help! also i’m staying in the Zhongshan district.
average is about 1288 a month or somewhere there. My contract in its 2nd year is at 988.
o3 fitness is smoking crack bro, don’t do it… 5k a month wtf…
you definitely can find something below NT$1000 per month.
Walk into a neighborhood World Gym and ask for the manager. Tell him/her your story and you want a straight deal of 888 or 988 per month. See if they take it.
Yeah that was my exact reaction when they told me the price.
You have any recommendations?
Hi thanks for the reply.
I haven’t visited a World Gym yet because i heard some pretty bad things about the place
Can’t hurt to walk in and ask for the manager directly. For them it’s either you work out there for 6 months, or you work out at a competitor. They might give a slightly higher figure that you may accept.
You’re only there 6 months. The World Gyms are pretty decent in having all the weights (free weights and machines) and plenty of classes.
Hey bud. I’m not sure who you talked to at O3. That’s a one month rate. Meaning they must have misunderstood you giving you a single month contract which we rarely do. Will you PM me and I can give you the correct and cheaper rate plus Formosa discount.
Every district in Taipei, has a membership free gym. You pay by the hour, for 50NT/hour. Of course, these are public gyms and public gyms, you get the public gym etiquette.
I would probably stay away from World Gym. Based on friend’s reviews and that on-going thread in the forums, not a great experience.
You can also try out Formosa Fitness over near Guting. He also has a branch down in Xindian and was thinking about another, not sure where. Foreigner owned and specializes in kettle bells if you’re into that. He does do a monthly membership. Not sure if he still gives a Forumosa discount, but doesn’t hurt to mention it.
Please understand that is a one month commitment, not only do we have a weight lifting facility, it features fitness classes multiple times a day from using boxing and kick boxing for conditioning and fitness and well as other fitness classes along with yoga and Pilates. So your membership includes our full facility and unlimited classes.
Also we hold sanatation to the top standard. We actually sanitize and clean every morning and night for all the equipment . And in between classes for mats. Infection prevention is serious for us. Believe or not this is rare in Taiwan. I used to be a memebet of world gym, it’s fine for lifting weights but I switched over to O3 seeing how clean it is and the classes for conditioning vs traditional running.
I understand I work there so my word only holds so much weight. But I was a member for a year. I injured my leg pretty bad. Other gyms got me no where. I just lifted, it was always crowed in certain times where I had to wait forever. And I was never committed. At O3. It was much more of a community. I actually got myself in shape enough to get to 6%bf and go to Thailand and train Muay Thai and fight there.
Not sure about Taipei, but I’m an avid gym-goer and Fitness Factory has been satisfactory. I’ve been paying no more than 1000$ NT a month for last 5 years.
Hi Andrew thanks for your replies. I can’t PM at the moment because i am a new member. Could you PM me do we could talk further. Thanks
No problem. I would be happy to help you and I hope you can join the O3 community!
Also @haymakers brings up a point for people staying short term. Most big gyms required credit cards. We are ok with cash and don’t need a credit card. I know some of the smaller gyms this is also the case. But for short term stay we are perfect for one of the best and cleanest facilities in Taipei!
The public gyms are okay but lack some crucial equipment. The dumbells only went upto 20kg and there was no squat rack, only a smith machine which I never use.
Still better than nothing though.
The Zhongzheng public gym (by Chiang Kai-Shek) has 2 squat racks 
Welcome to the O3 community @haymakers !! We hope you enjoy your stay in Taiwan and we look forward to seeing you at the gym. It was a pleasure speaking with you today mate!
Don’t even step into World Gym unless you want to be sold something you don’t want. Andrew is right, hygiene and sanitation are not really considered important.
“Need help finding a Gym”
Should have gone to Specsavers…
neither is gym etiquette apparently…too many idiots who have no idea what they are doing…and I don’t know if it’s rude or helpful to tell them they are doing it wrong. I don’t want to be that guy you know… And also, a gym with chalk, O3 has Chalk for anyone that cares like me. World gym refused to let me bring it and use it. But my hands get sweaty and I don’t really want to use gloves. I heard the gym that Mr. Taiwan owns is pretty old school also, heard he kicks people out if he sees them on the phone in between sets.
But for me, I want to more than lift. O3 provides the space for me to train for a variety of sports.