24 hour gym Norwich: all nine of them

The nine, north to south

• The Gym Group Norwich Sweet Briar, Sweet Briar Retail Park NR6, 4.9 from 415 reviews. The best rated 24 hour gym in the city and one of the newest.
• PureGym Norwich Aylsham Road, Copenhagen Way NR3, £19.99 with no joining fee.
• Complete Fitness Gyms, Marriott Close off Heigham Street NR2, 4.9 from 59. The only independent on the list.
• The Gym Group Norwich City, Little London Street NR2, £17.99 off peak, 300 metres from the market.
• PureGym Norwich Castle Mall, Castle Quarter NR1, from £16.99.
• PureGym Norwich Riverside, Wherry Road NR1, from £16.99.
• Physique Fit, Roundtree Close NR7, 5.0 from 74 reviews.
• The Gym Group Norwich Hall Road, Hartford Place NR4, 4.7 from 671.
• NRG Gym Norwich, Hall Road Retail Park NR4, 4.0 from 186, price not published.

Why Norwich has more night gyms than its size suggests

Two employers write the timetable. The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital carries around 8,000 staff and treats roughly 800,000 people a year, and acute shift patterns do not fit a 6am to 10pm gym. Broadland Business Park in Thorpe holds Aviva, BT, NHS Norfolk, Gardners Books, Yodel and Morgan Sindall between them, and Aviva's own careers pages describe a wellbeing area but no on site gym.

That is why the two Hall Road sites, NRG and The Gym Group, sit where they do: they are the closest round the clock options to the hospital and the Research Park. Physique Fit in Thorpe plays the same role for Broadland Business Park.

What 24 hours actually means

Ask three questions before you sign for night access. Is the whole gym open at 3am or only the main floor. Is there staff on site overnight or a fob and a camera. And does your tier include the small hours, because off peak pricing and 24 hour access are not the same product.

Small independents are the ones to check carefully here, because a Google listing showing open 24 hours can mean fob access for existing members rather than an open door. Complete Fitness and Physique Fit both list round the clock hours and both are worth a call first.

If early rather than late is the real need, Fully Pumped on Delta Close opens at 5am, Phoenix Gym at 5.30am, and Perfit Fitness at ten to six twice a week. See north Norwich for that cluster.