Europe
The Year of the Dragon

Tell us about the club
Solinca Dragão first opened on 7 July 2006, an almost 6,500sq m club located on the ground floor of Estádio do Dragão (Dragon Stadium) – the home of FC Porto.
Facilities include 25m, 16m and learner swimming pools; a thermal area with sauna, Turkish bath and spa pool; group exercise studios; and a gym floor spanning cardio, functional training and cardio HIIT zones, a dedicated PT area and spaces for stretching, core training and martial arts. There’s also a brand new strength training zone.
Its size and location make this a flagship club to deliver on our Fitness for Everyone ethos
Solinca Dragão had already been updated several times since 2006, but its size and location make this a flagship club for us – the perfect place to deliver on our Fitness for Everyone ethos. We recognised that the time had come for a deeper renewal.
In 2024, we therefore embarked on a €800,000 refurbishment project to bring our training spaces up-to-date and prime the club for future growth.

What did the refurb involve?
The initial phase involved a comprehensive, €500,000 renovation of the strength training area. Now measuring over 400sq m, it is one of the biggest and best training areas in the northern region of Portugal.
We also unveiled a new-look, 180sq m indoor cycling studio, which has proved incredibly popular with our members.
The refurbishment was completed at the end of 2024, with the finishing touches being a refresh of the club décor and the arrival of the final pieces of equipment.
We always strive to provide our members with the best possible training experiences. We have members who have been with us from the very beginning and we constantly listen to their feedback, as well as monitoring market trends, to ensure we’re serving long-standing, loyal members at the same time as continuing to grow.
The opportunity to train in a space where fans can watch their team’s matches make our club very popular
Tell us more about your new strength training area
Members now have everything they need for a complete workout, with top-of-the-line equipment to train every muscle group.
We have dumbbells up to 70kg, plus 4,500kg in free weight discs for plate-loaded equipment such as the Perfect Squat, Glute Trainer, 45-degree Leg Press, Hack Squat and Squat Lunge machine. We also have the full free weights line from Matrix, including the Vertical Traction, Low Row, Pulldown and all plate-loaded machines.

Tell us about your new cycle studio
We had an indoor cycling studio before, but the new studio has been designed to take the experience to a new level, with 70 BODY BIKES and an LED wall.
The innovative, immersive experience of the new LED wall is unique among our gyms. Through enhanced lighting, music and atmosphere, we can dive deeper into the exercises and sequences to deliver stronger classes. We’re also able to offer immersive Les Mills THE TRIP classes.
In terms of the bikes, we chose BODY BIKE for its durability and quality:price ratio, as well as its real-time data functionality – something our members demand nowadays. We also conducted a focus group, where some of our instructors tested the bikes, and we trialled them in one of our newest gyms – Solinca Classic Arrábida. BODY BIKE was the preferred choice.
We had an indoor cycling studio before, but the new studio has been designed to take the experience to a new level
How popular is indoor cycling at Solinca Dragão?
RPM is the most popular Les Mills programme at our gyms and in particular at Solinca Dragão. This club also offers other styles of indoor cycling and even themed cycling classes, with live bands performing during the workout. It’s the perfect soundtrack and the perfect combination of fitness and culture.
There are currently 15+ RPM classes timetabled at Solinca Dragão each week and still they’re often fully booked – another reason why we wanted to enhance and expand the studio’s capacity.
We launched the new cycle studio on 7 September with two special, 60-minute RPM classes. These were a huge success. Members were thrilled with the new equipment and space.

Does FC Porto train at your gym?
The main team has its own facilities and, as such, does not use our gym or cycling studio. However, although there is no formal collaboration at the moment, we are looking for new opportunities in the future.
In the meantime, we have some staff and former players as members, as well as fans and players’ families. Our swimming programme was also structured and developed in collaboration with FC Porto in 2013.
Do you have Porto fans as members?
Yes! FC Porto is one of the biggest football clubs in the country, with fans across the city and beyond, so our 7,000+ Solinca Dragão membership includes a good number of FC Porto fans.
Location, accessibility and of course the opportunity to train in a space where they can watch their football team’s matches make our club very popular. It is undoubtedly a perfect combination, especially when FC Porto wins!

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