Two anchors, one membership
Most weeks are anchored at home and at the office, and a gym that is easy from one is often awkward from the other. Here, a gym by work is one you reach from the office without a special trip, and a gym by home is one in your own area. A gym on the drive between them only works if you make that drive at the hours you train.
The detail of picking a gym around the working day is in choosing a gym near work. This page is about which anchor to choose. If RPM is on your list, check it against your own trips: it is one club in Al Manhal, so whether it sits on your home side, your office side or neither depends on where those are.
Office side against home side
| Criterion | Gym by work | Gym by home |
|---|---|---|
| Sessions on office days | On a trip you already make | A second trip out once you are home |
| Lunch sessions | Possible if it is close enough for your break | Rarely possible |
| Weekends and leave | A separate trip across town | An easy trip |
| Days working from home | A separate trip | An easy trip |
| Ramadan | Shorter office days shift the window | Sessions after iftar start from home |
| School runs | Hard to fit if you do the run | Fits around drop-off and collection |
| Training with a partner or teenagers | Rarely practical | Easier to share |
| Changing jobs | The gym can end up on the wrong side of town | Unaffected |
| Moving home | Unaffected | The gym can end up on the wrong side of town |
Count the sessions each one catches
A gym catches a session when the session starts somewhere the gym is easy to reach from. Take last month, or a typical one, and sort your sessions by where they started.
| Session started | Caught by a gym by work | Caught by a gym by home |
|---|---|---|
| Before work on an office day | Yes, if you can get ready for work there | Yes, if you train before leaving home |
| At lunch | Yes, if it fits the break | No |
| After work on an office day | Yes | Only if you go back out once home |
| A day working from home | No | Yes |
| Weekends, leave and public holidays | No | Yes |
Give each session to the gym that catches it without an extra trip, and count. Be honest about the after-work row: once home after a long drive in the heat, many people never go back out. The gym that catches more sessions in most months is your anchor, unless the other wins Ramadan and summer by a wide margin. To score the trips themselves, use the convenience worksheet.
How the Abu Dhabi calendar moves the count
- Ramadan. Many employers shorten the working day, and training often moves to after iftar or later in the evening. Those sessions start from home, so a gym by home tends to win the month, even for people who train by the office the rest of the year.
- Summer. School holidays run through July and August, and many families travel. If you stay behind and keep working, the gym by work can carry you. If the children are at home with you, the gym by home fits around them.
- Friday. Many offices finish early, and Friday prayers move the midday traffic. A gym by work may catch a session before the weekend, or lose it to the drive home.
- Public holidays and Eid. Offices close for several days at a time, so every session in those breaks starts from home.
Signs you belong at a gym by work, or by home
A gym by work tends to suit you if:
- you are in the office most weekdays and train before or after work
- you can use a lunch break for a short session
- someone else handles the school run, or there is none to do
- you expect to stay in the job, and the office, for at least the length of the membership
A gym by home tends to suit you if:
- you train at weekends or work from home on some days
- you share the school run or children's activities
- you want to train with a partner or teenagers
- your job or your office could change within the year
Signing for a job that may change
Should I take out a gym membership near work or near home?
Sign the longer commitment by whichever anchor you expect to keep longer. Jobs and flats both change, so ask which is more likely to move during the term. If the job could change, keep a membership by work short, or ask whether it can be ended or transferred when you leave. A membership by home survives a job change, but not a move to another part of the city.
Other things that tip it:
- Corporate rates. A rate arranged through your employer may end when you leave, so count it only for the months you expect to stay.
- Kit and clothes. A gym by work means carrying a bag every day and changing at the gym. A gym by home means training in whatever you drive there in.
- The island question. If home and work sit on different islands, the bridge decides more than the map, as central or island gym explains.
Worked example: a father whose contract is up for renewal
Take a father of two who lives in Khalifa City and works on Al Maryah Island. He trains about fourteen times a month. His contract comes up for renewal in six months, and he might move to an employer in a different district. He sorts a typical month, then Ramadan and his summer weeks, by which gym would catch each session.
| Period | Gym by work catches | Gym by home catches |
|---|---|---|
| A normal month: 6 after work, 2 at lunch, 4 at weekends, 2 working from home | 8 of 14 | 6 of 14 |
| Ramadan: mostly after iftar, from home | 2 of 10 | 8 of 10 |
| Four summer weeks with the family away, working throughout | 10 of 12 | 2 of 12 |
The gym by work wins every month except Ramadan, so it is his anchor for now. Because the job might change, he takes the shortest term the gym sells and will decide again at renewal. In Ramadan he settles for a few sessions at home rather than paying for two gyms.
Where RPM fits in this choice
RPM is one club, on Level 4 of AD HUB Sports Complex in Al Manhal, on Abu Dhabi island, with free on-site parking and a lift up to the club. It has a Mixed section and a women-only Ladies section. Whether it sits on your home side, your office side or neither depends on where those are, so time the trip from both ends at your training hour. It opens early in the morning and late into the evening, with shorter Friday hours:
| Days | Opening hours |
|---|---|
| Saturday to Thursday | 06:00–23:00 |
| Friday | 09:00–22:00 |
Hours can change, for example during Ramadan. Confirm with the team before a late or early visit.
Then book the free guided tour for the hour you usually train, and travel from whichever end of your day you would normally set off.
Questions, answered.
What if I work from home most days?
Then a gym by home will catch most of your sessions, and a gym by work only makes sense if you train on the days you go in.
Is a gym halfway between home and work a good compromise?
Only if it sits on the route you actually drive, at the hours you train. A gym that needs a detour from both ends combines the drawbacks of each.
Should a couple pick a gym by one partner's office?
If you train together, usually not. A gym by home suits shared sessions, while a gym by each office suits couples who train apart.