Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Farah2310]

I am going to be living in the hongdae area. Just wanted to know if anyone is familiar (is their a gym in the area)with the location and how much does a gym membership typically cost?

[Davew125]

you'll find a gym in pretty much every other building in Korea and i cant imagine that Hongdae would be any differrent.

costs will vay from about 30000 Won ($30 ish ) and up.

[santafly]

I tried really hard to find gym info before arriving in Korea - not worth the effort.

80,000 for 3 months for cheap and rusty up to 200,000 a month (still pretty crappy by western standards - not as nice as a gym in america that would be $60 a month). My place is 60,000 a month or 130,000 for 3 - it works but it's very small and options are limited. Most machines in Korea are too small for westerners - I'm 6'1''/184cm 185lbs/84k - My limbs are too long to use the machines or I max out the weight rack - comical because I'm not that strong/would never happen in America.

Once you get into your apartment look around (up to 2/3rd floor or underground) for signs that say health or fitness (in Korean - get coworker to write it out) - they are a little hard to find because they are never on the ground floor/visible.

If it were me, in Hongdae, I would try to find a place with some nice eye candy.

[bogey666]

[sojourner1]

Guess I'm lucky to have access to a new gym with western equipment. Nothing is too small and there are plenty of weights. The space is a bit smaller than I'd like, but we just all work around each other and do something else while waiting on a particular machine. Good thing you don't have to wait long for someone to move.


When you get to Korea, you just have to research it by asking around and take a look at your options. Most city center areas have one. There are many city centers within cities, but you will regularly visit the one most convenient to where you live or work.

[seoulsucker]

Swash Fitness is pretty nice. I signed up for 3 months at 240,000 and got an extra month free.

It's 2 floors, with tons of cardio equipment, a large room for yoga/stretching/aerobics classes, plenty of free weights, a proper squat rack, smith machine, cross cables, lots of weight machines, etc. It's the best overall gym I've gone to in Korea. I'm 6'0, 175, in fairly good shape and all the machines work fine for me.

It's about a 3 minute walk from Hongdae Station, exit #2, on the left at the Dongyo-dong Samgeori (Dongyo-dong 3-way intersection). Membership info, class schedules and other stuff is in English, and a couple of the trainers speak decent English as well.