Realising you need to exercise and work out regularly is the easy part. Finding a good gym to do so is the difficult bit. There are plenty of gyms within your budget in every part of Kolkata, but that doesn’t guarantee you a healthy workout. A bad choice, in the form of incompetent trainers and faulty machines, and you may end up causing serious injury to your body. Here’s a lowdown on a few of the well-known gyms within various budgets.

The popular fitness chain Gold’s Gym has only one centre here at Rabindra Sadan. It is easily accessible by road as well as the metro rail and is quite a hit with young professionals who don’t mind shelling out a sizeable fee to stay in shape. It has a huge cardio section with electronic treadmill, running machines and cycling machines with LCD TVs in front of each. The rubber finish of the weights helps cut commotion. And at any given point in time there are four trainers around to help the members.

Talwalkars, the other gym chain, too have opened its outlet in Alipore. Their swell reputation comes from state-of-the-art Nautilus equipment and excellent trainers. You can look forward to their periodic discounts whereby you get to do the same workouts at a much lower fee. Talwalkars also offers shower, steam, massage, and consultations with fitness experts and nutritionists.

Reva Puri's Fitness Centre and Health Club in Dover Road, a local initiative, has been here much before any of the big names entered the Kolkata’s workout arena. Though it has lost a few of its members to the better known rivals, it still is very popular. It was the first gym in the city outside the club circuit to have a common workout zone for both men and women.

This one’s a man’s world. Though there are a few female members at Elite Health Spa in Ballygunge, this no-frills, low-cost spa is an out-and-out pumping station. Another no-nonsense gym best suited for men who want to pump iron to get their six-pack abs is Bodyline Gym in New Alipore.

Here are some tips before you zero in on your gym:

• Spend some time checking out the gyms before finalising.
• Compare the services, experience and quality of the trainers, quality and condition of the equipment and the charges of those you shortlist.
• Talk to the consultant and only if you feel confident, go ahead and enroll.