Looking for a gym in Lisbon?

Matthew and I spent a month living in Lisbon and after looking at ALL the options…

…We decided to join Fitness Hut Lisbon for 1 month.

This gym is pretty much on every corner of the city. This gym franchise has become very popular because it’s cheap, has decent equipment and a membership that even includes group classes.

• Is it the best, most beautiful gym in Lisbon? Probably not.
• But – is it the most cost-effective gym that gets the job done? 100% yes!

When looking for a gym as digital nomads, I usually opt for pilates or yoga studios but I simply couldn’t find any that were close to the coliving space where we were staying. Instead, I looked for the next best thing – a low-cost gym that offered group classes like Les Mills’ body pump.

That’s why Matthew and I decided to join Fitness Hut Lisbon! And in this blog post, we are going to be honest about our experience. We were very happy with the pricing, but there’s more to a gym than a low price.

Here’s the thing: there’s a lot to love and hate about Fitness Hut. So here’s our full review, including membership options, pricing, facilities, amenities and 7x important things to consider before joining.

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What Is Fitness Hut Lisbon?

Fitness Hut Lisbon is a gym chain with branches all across the city of Lisbon and beyond. Fitness Hut also has branches in nearby towns like Cascais and other big cities like Porto. They offer long-term gym memberships but they also have short-term memberships that you can cancel, which is a great option if you’re a digital nomad in Lisbon and ready to move on.

Fitness Hut describe themselves as a “premium low-cost gym” which we can agree with. But it doesn’t FEEL low-cost since the equipment is very well-maintained. The flip side is you have to bring your own towel or pay for a flimsy disposable one, pay for water (if not included in your membership) and the staff aren’t the most friendly people.

If you’re looking for a no-frills gym to get in, do your workout and get out…look no further than Fitness Hut Lisbon! The best part is, there are 25+ gym locations spread across the city, so it’s easy to pick a studio based on where you happen to be that day!

Here’s everything you need to know about exercising at Fitness Hut Lisbon.

Fitness Hut Lisbon: The Most Popular Gym In The City

If you are looking for a gym that has…

• cardio machines
• personal training
• group classes (eg. Les Mills)
• weight training equipment
• plenty of gym locations
• various membership options

Fitness Hut Lisbon has all of that included in a nice low-cost package of less than €40 ($42.40 USD) per month. It’s easy to sign up, it’s got decent facilities and you can easily cancel your membership!

Sound too good to be true?

Well…the low price attracts quite a big crowd, which means it gets busy very quickly. More than that, the staff weren’t very friendly or welcoming in some of the locations that we went to. Like everything, there’s going to be some positives and some negatives.

Let’s take a closer look at what Fitness Hut Lisbon offers its members.

What Facilities And Amenities Are Included?

Fitness Hut Lisbon offers decent facilities, equipment and amenities which are included in your membership. But they aren’t entirely straightforward. Here’s what I mean: you’ll get gym access to your usual machines but if you don’t have the right membership – drinking water isn’t included!

Matthew and I exercise pretty differently – he loves to do his own thing and use the machines at the gym while I prefer joining a group class, whether that’s weights or pilates. We both bought a monthly Fitness Hut membership and used it differently so we experienced both sides of the gym!

Here’s some key features you get included with your membership at Fitness Hut:

• personal training
• bathrooms, showers
• mobile app
• wifi

Weight Lifting & Cardio Machines

Matthew focused on the machines that were pretty well maintained BUT it did seem to vary depending on the branch we visited. For the general gym machines, it did get very crowded sometimes, making it impossible for Matthew to finish his reps without waiting ages for the machine to free up. In this case, he tried to go during the off-peak times.

Group Classes

As for me, the crowds didn’t bother me because I joined the group classes which had a limited number of people that could join. BUT I did have to book a class 1-3 days in advance so it required some extra planning! I did go at peak times (4pm to 7pm) and I was thankful I didn’t have to fight for any of the machines. I simply went straight to the private room for my group class.

Here are the classes they offer:

• Body Pump, POWERWOD
• Fit Moves
• Dance Moves, Zumba
• Body Step, Body Balance
• Pilates, Yoga
• Abs

You do have to book your class in advance. For the popular classes like Body Pump, I had to book 1-3 days in advance, depending on the branch I went to, because there’s just so many people. The group classes varied and each room was different, but there was usually about 10-20+ people in each class.

Drink Machine (Water + Vitamins)

This was an interesting one. Matthew and I bought the monthly unlimited memberships which included a drink membership. That’s right, if you don’t buy it – you won’t have access to the drinking water machine. This is when you remind yourself that you’re paying less than €40 for a monthly membership.

It was a cool machine, it only just filled up my 24 oz (710ml) bottle. You press what you want, normal water or water with fruit vitamins, which we always opted for.

Fitness Hut Mobile App

I used the app mainly to book my group classes. It’s a decent app that allows you to check-in (via QR code), book your group classes and the best feature? You can see how busy the gym is! They give you a red, orange or green light depending on the size of the crowds.

Their mobile app helps you avoid the crowds. Such a cool feature!

Where Is Fitness Hut Lisbon Located?

I think the better question would be: Where is Fitness Hut NOT located?!

When we wandered through Lisbon, it felt like there was a branch in almost every single neighborhood. And that’s probably because there is. This was the main reason we decided to become members at Fitness Hut Lisbon! We were working from coworking spaces across Lisbon and I wanted to be able to head straight to the gym after finishing work. And so wherever we were, I just booked for that location!

Here are some of the popular locations at Fitness Hut:

• Fitness Hut Santos
• Fitness Hut Alimante Reis
• Fitness Hut Picoas

These are some of the largest chains across Lisbon. With that, they can also easily become some of the busiest locations to visit. The Santos location was always busy whenever we went there and I had to book way in advance in order to get into a group class there.

Fitness Hut Membership Options And Pricing

A lot of the low-cost, regular gyms that we’ve been to usually make you commit for 3 months, 6 months or even a year. But not Fitness Hut Lisbon!

They offer very low membership prices AND you can still cancel month-to-month. For digital nomads living in Lisbon, this is a big benefit! We signed up for a month and simply canceled about 2 weeks before we left.

Here are the different tiers of memberships you can purchase at Fitness Hut Lisbon:

Type of Membership	Price	Description
Day Pass	€9.90 ⎸ $10.50 USD	1 entry to a location
Club	€30.90 ⎸ $32.80 USD	access to 1 branch only, 1 class per day, 1 entry per day
Zone	€34.90 ⎸ $37 USD	access to all clubs across Lisbon Grande, 2 classes per day, 2 entries per day
Iberia	€35.90 ⎸ $38 USD	access to 100+ clubs, unlimited classes per day, unlimited entries per day

We chose the Zone membership for 1 month. It was perfect because I could go to any location!

You might also be able to buy memberships that give you access at only off-peak hours so you could potentially also be able to reduce costs that way. While the usual memberships roll over month-to-month, they also have 12-month-long contracts that give you a decent discount.

The best way to find out about all their membership options is by speaking to the staff in person – they are pretty good at letting you know your options!

Staff at Fitness Hut

It’s honestly hit-and-miss with the staff at Fitness Hut Lisbon. We found the staff to be very friendly and nice to us at our first location, but then we went to another location and man…the staff were cranky! That’s just the way it is. I went to a lot of the group classes and the teachers were always really great though.

How To Sign Up For Fitness Hut Lisbon

We recommend visiting a branch in person, checking out the gym first and then signing up with the staff there. The Fitness Hut website is entirely in Portuguese, making it hard to sign up online. That’s what we did and it was all very smooth! When you cancel, it’s also best to do it in person to avoid any confusion or problems.

You can try signing up online, but you may need a Portuguese bank account. We simply paid with our Revolut cards in-person so it does work better to visit a gym if you’re a foreigner, rather than signing up online.

Top 7x Things To Know Before Joining Fitness Hut In Lisbon

We wished we had known certain things before joining this gym in Lisbon. It’s not perfect that’s for sure, but not many gyms are and there’s just some things to be aware of before you make a commitment.

Before joining Fitness Hut Lisbon, here are some things you’ll need to know first:

1. At busy times, there’s a queue to enter.
   You have to use the app’s QR code to enter the gym through the turnstiles and for some reason, there can be a long queue that forms to enter the gym. Just be patient, you’ll get through eventually!
2. It’s crowded.
   This is probably the #1 complaint most people have about Fitness Hut. It’s cheap and it’s very popular so it gets very busy during peak hours (around 5:00pm to 8:00pm). They have tried to encourage people to visit during off-peak hours and the app lets you know how busy the gym is with a click of a button. Group classes get full quickly and machines take a while to get through – that’s just the reality.
3. Staff are hit-and-miss.
   At some locations, we found them very friendly and at other locations, they barely acknowledged us. Again, for a super cheap low-cost gym…I guess a smile costs a little more.
4. Towels are required.
   We didn’t know this and found some branches were strict, others weren’t. The staff weren’t very happy with us (and let us know it quite bluntly) and we had to buy a disposable towel for €2 from their vending machine. We saw other people enter without one so it seemed a little weird and not well-patrolled, but I guess we were just unlucky that day. Best believe, we brought towels from then on!
5. You pay for water.
   You can add water to your memberships, which is what we did and it was worthwhile. It also includes access to their water + vitamins combination which was delicious.
6. Make sure to cancel in advance.
   When you sign up for a month, it’s a rolling subscription. This means you have to either go in person to cancel with the staff or do so on the app or through the contact info. It’s best to cancel at least 2 weeks before.
7. There’s a joining fee.
   You have to pay this on top of the monthly membership. They had a joining fee deal for the month of August and we got a pretty decent discount. So watch out for any deals. Otherwise, you’ll have to pay the joining fee.

Our Experience: What It’s Really Like Using Fitness Hut Lisbon Gyms

We really liked Fitness Hut Lisbon because it was easy to sign up, cancelable (month to month) and it’s just SUPER cheap! Matthew and I checked out other gyms in the area like Holmes Place or Bazara Yoga but we couldn’t knock the convenience of having access to 3 locations pretty close to our coliving space.

Matthew and I also have very different workout styles – he likes to use the machines (cardio and weightlifting) while I like to join group classes (body pump, pilates, etc). In this way, Fitness Hut also just made sense for the both of us to be able to go together, but not – you know what I mean?

Is It Worth Joining Fitness Hut Lisbon?

Yes, it can be…

…If you’re looking for a simple, no-frills gym that gets the job done. With the low-cost benefit of less than €40 per month, the amenities and services aren’t going to be the best and you can’t just expect Fitness Hut Lisbon to operate like it’s a bougie gym. Because it’s not!

We heavily weighed up going to Fitness Hut vs Holmes Place – these 2 gyms couldn’t be further apart! Holmes Places has WAY better facilities, WAY better service but it’s also €100+ more than Fitness Hut. We decided to become members at Fitness Hut because it had lots of locations, it’s cheap and it’s good enough!

Sometimes, that’s all you need.