Seoul National University's Best Gym.

​Jamaica Fitness (Seoul National University Branch)

​Jamaica Fitness 
자마이카휘트니스(주)​

The cable weight section of the gym.

Even when you are seeing the world it is important to keep active and exercise! Through my travels I have seen many different gyms, both good and bad. The gym that I belong to in Seoul is probably the best gym I have used while abroad. Prior to moving to Korea I searched up online about gyms within Seoul. As I assumed there wasn't much information online about gyms within Seoul or even Korea.
​So after much looking, I figured I would try to show the gym that was the best value for the price within the Seoul National University area. I hope that it helps someone out there!
If you happen to be living or working within Gwanak-Gu in Seoul this is definitely the best gym to join. It is quite close to Seoul National University, so there is quite a young crowd of members who exercise here. 

The front desk of Jamaica Fitness.

​As soon as you walk into the gym, the first thing one receives is a warm welcome from one of the friendly front desk employees. After giving them your membership card they happily give you a locker key, along with two face towels. These gym towels are great! People use them both to dry off after a shower, and also use them to wipe away sweat while exercising.

Right next to the front desk are the "negotiating  tables". These are always filled with three Korean girls always busy talking and recruiting new gym members. They are quite nice and are not shy to say hello also. I had to arrive at 6AM to get this picture without any of the girls there.
​Notice the "body sculting" vinyl sticker, its all too common to see spelling mistakes and awkward English phrases!

Jamaica Fitness also offers gym uniforms, which are provided if you decide to pay an extra $62.00 USD a year. Through the pictures above you can see that the uniforms are a hit! Most Koreans wear them. Me being a broke English teacher, I decided not to get the uniforms. haha
On another note, during the evening hours of 7PM-9PM the gym is always PACKED.  All of the cardio equipment is typically full and the free-weight section looks like a battle zone! So it is best to avoid trying to workout during this time. The swarms of people makes your workout become more standing and waiting than actual lifting.

​ Something that surprised me a lot was how serious Koreans were about personal training. While I was searching for a gym, most turned me away because they were solely for the purpose of personal training. These were mostly very expensive and exclusive gyms. A typical personal training session at one of these gyms will cost anywhere from $40-$60 USD. So after searching for a week, I found Jamaica and I was not surprised that they also had their own personal training section. When the gym is really busy in the evenings, I try to sneak in this P.T. area and workout.

One morning I arrived at 6am to workout, and it was actually amazing to see the gym so dead. There was only a handful of people using the equipment. So if you are moving to Korea, definitely make the effort to get out of bed early to get a good workout in! I guarantee that it will be worth it! Just look at the images above and below.

Jamaica has a great layout and actually has a large amount of equipment. One thing that I didn't like much about the gym was that there was no sanitizer spray in sight. Whenever anyone uses something they simply leave behind their sweat and move to the next machine. Throughout the time I have been going to the gym, I have also never seen any of the employees disinfecting the machines. It was quite a difficult thing to accept, but now I just try not to think about it while I am working out. Which has been working great for me so far! ​

The gym lockers are placed right in front of the men's and women's restrooms. These tiny lockers are not free and people need to pay extra ($62 USD) for them. They are quite small, people typically just place their shower stuff and maybe a change of clean clothes inside them. That's about all these tiny lockers can even fit! 
These lockers are completely different from the day use lockers located inside the locker room. The day use lockers are much bigger and can fit a whole lot more. Each time you arrive the employees at the front desk will hand you a locker key and this will be the locker you use for the day. These lockers change daily, which is a bit inconvenient, however they are free of charge. ​

The view from the gym at 6am.

The same view at 9pm.

​Price and Hours

Despite the gym being on the13th floor and having a bit too many members. The gym price can't be beat! I truly think that it is one of the cheapest gyms within Seoul. It has prices that are compete with Planet Fitness. As of 2018 the  minimum wage in Korea has raised from ₩6,470 ($6.08 USD) Won to ₩7,530 Won ($7.08 USD) and as a result, the gym fees along with everything else in Korea has increased.   
​
Gym Prices 
1 month - ₩ 110,000 Won ( $104 USD)
(Optional) additional personal shower locker and gym uniforms. 
+ ₩11,000 ($10 USD) additional fee. 

6 monts - ₩ 297,000 Won ( $280 USD) 
(Optional) additional personal shower locker and gym uniforms. 
+₩ 66,000 Won ( $62 USD) 
​
12 months ₩ 363,000 Won ($342 USD)
(Optional) additional personal shower locker and gym uniforms.
+₩ 66,000 Won ( $62 USD) 

The membership price is not the only thing that is great! The hours of Jamaica Fitness are wonderful also. It is open 24 hours on the week days, so if you are night owl who loves to work out at 3AM, don't worry, Jamaica has you covered. As for the weekends, I think they are specifically for sleeping in, so I have yet to have a problem with the noon opening time on Saturday and Sunday.

Jamaica Fitness hours
Monday-Friday: 24 hours
Saturday- Sunday: 12:00PM - 10:00PM

Getting There

Jamaica fitness is in a wonderful location. It is on the thirteenth floor of this massive building called "Egg Yellow". You can simply take the subway to Seoul National University station (서울대입구) (line 2)  and walk out exit 3 and you will find yourself right in front of the building. 
​
Jamaica Fintness 
자마이카휘트니스(주)​
Address:  862-1 Bongcheon-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul
862-1 서울 관악구 봉천동
Phone: 02-6276-8588