I can tell you right now. This is not one of my fitness goals. This IS how accidents happen. Me = Not that guy.
A couple weekends ago, I went into my gym and found out my membership had been canceled because they finally figured out I was under someone else’s corporate plan. I wasn’t really surprised since it was the corporate plan of an ex that forgot to remove me. Two years had went by so I knew that at any point in time she would realize my freeloading and tell the sports club that I was no longer eligible. I mean I get it. No love, no fitness.
The cancellation was actually a blessing because it forced me to rethink my fitness plan going forward. I hadn’t been to the gym in a while. And when I went there a couple weeks ago, it was just to use the bathroom on the way home. Don’t judge me! I couldn’t wait ten more minutes! And let’s not talk about the months of money wasted.
But yeah, it was great timing. I’m in the midst of reducing expenses and rebooting my commitment to becoming a competitive athlete before my body won’t let me have it any other way. I’m also thinking about how and where I spend my time and money. So I took this opportunity to explore three gyms: the one I had been using, a gym down the street from the crib, and a gym a little further away with an outdoor track next to it.
My newly old gym (New York Sports Club) has several locations, one of which is right across the street from my day job. There’s also a location about 12 minutes from Casa De Slim. The chain has everything: towel service, great air circulation, every piece of equipment I need to train, and a locker room that doesn’t smell like butts. It’s also $70 a month. Damn.
The gym right down the street is a place I’d like to call Janky Gym. That’s the rebranding name. It was previously called Latarian’s House of Fried Chicken and Fitnese.
Janky Gym is above a grocery store and halal food cart. When you walk up the stairs, you can smell the sweat of bodies’ past. You go in and there’s a smoothie bar, which is pretty cool. But when you get to the locker room… abysmal. Two showers, two bathroom stalls, and lockers that look like they survived a nuclear disaster (and no towels). All of this in a room with a capacity of ten. Imagine what it smells like in there right after New Year’s. Actually, don’t.
The actual work out machines looked old and donated, a good number of seats were ripped. Beads of sweat trickled on errthang. And with no disinfectant or paper towels in sight, I headed for the door. The biggest positives about Janky Gym : it was 24 hours, down the street, and 30 a month if you signed up for a year.
My last option was a gym about 15 minutes away (walking). It was actually a fitness center that’s part of Riverbank State Park. There’s an outdoor track nearby (great for my goals) and it’s $60 for three months or $200 for the year. Sounds great right? Well, not quite…for me at least. The fitness center wasn’t packed at all, but it was missing basic equipment like the bench press area. The other thing is that with access to only one location that’s a 15 minute walk, I’m not gonna wanna do that in the rain. I’m not gonna wanna go out of the way after work. I’ll just mosey right on home and make an excuse. However, I will go there when I need to do a track workout.
Final Choice and No Surprise: I’m taking my talents back to New York Sports Club.
Just like a diet, working out shouldn’t be a miserable experience. New York Sports Club gives me the flexibility and convenience I need, plus the cleanliness and facility equipment to make me feel good about going there. This level of gym isn’t necessary for everybody. It just happened to work for me in the context of my goals and what I need to do to become an athlete one more time. When selecting a gym, you should go through the same process. And most importantly, know yourself!
Are you active at a gym? How did you choose which one to go to? Not active? What’s stopping you? For the gym class heroes, what advice would you give to someone trying to figure out what gym to go to?
No i’m not active at a gym. I used to work at a University so I was able to go to the gym for free. I don’t really like the gym. I like the bike and elliptical, but that got boring pretty fast. I would do 30 mins bet bike and elliptical and 15 mins in the weight room. I suppose I needed a trainer *shrugs*
Now I have an assortment of workout DVDs (mostly Jillian Michaels), a jump rope, Wii Fit, and I jog every so often. Something about the gym just doesn’t do it for me. Maybe the smells or public showers… I dunno. If I ever find an apt in NYC perhaps i’ll check out NYSC
Yup, I work out 5 days a week every morning before I start my bar prep lessons for the day. Keeps the stress and anxiety down. I go to the YMCA down the street from school. Really the best choice. When I first moved here, I came from 24Hr Fitness. You really can’t beat a gym that’s open 24 hours and 6-8 mins down the street from your house, so I was a little spoiled.
The Y has really good facilities, it’s really close to school, I pay 21 bucks a month, and it’s really one of the only options I have. Additionally, though I didn’t expect this to make a difference, the people that work there are really nice. They know you by name. Ask how your day is going and what you’ve been up to. It’s a really comfortable surrounding when you work out…minus the old, naked white men who never cover up in the locker room.
Cost is always a factor when it comes to the gym, but like you said yesterday, cheap don’t always mean cheaper. The joint you picked sounds expensive, but since you’re rearranging your life to free up expenses to use on something that truly matters to you, this could be worth the investment. For me, convenience is always a huge factor, b/c I generally hate being inconvenienced. For anything. Price of course, but really, convenience.
I used to be a gym rat for 3 years then I canceled my gym membership because I wanted to try something new. Now I am working out ( lift weight, pull ups and cardio ) at home and I love it. But I might also try to get into yoga or dance classes.
How did you choose which one to go to? well, it was close to my home and affordable for students. ( 25 € / month ) I think it’s around 31$.
I’m pretty active in the gym. Have been exercising/working out but I don’t look like the guy in the picture, sadly (I have a weakness for burgers, pizza and beer).
I currently work out at NYSC as well. In regards to what to look for in a gym, convenience is one thing, cleanliness is another. I probably wouldn’t stay at janky gym long but rather use it to supplement my current gym in case I was feeling lazy and didn’t feel like walking the 10 blocks to the gym in the early AM. ( I don’t go after work any more as its too crowded and I have a family now and spending time with them is more important…but can’t give up the gym just yet).
Gyms in NYC aren’t cheap, unless you go to the Y or planet fitness. I wont go to the Y anymore as its too small and doesn’t have enough equipment for me. I refuse to go to planet fitness because even though they have equipment, when I took a tour of the place, the guy told me that “its general fitness rule that you don’t need waits above 60lbs” I don’t know if that rule has changed and if they have added heavier free weights but my warm-up set starts at 60lbs for some exercises.
Anyway, I say go with equipment, convenience and cleanliness in that order. It may be NYSC for you for now. I’m waiting for an equinox to open uptown though, I’ll switch to that one in a heartbeat!
Sorry for the long reply, I realy enjoy working out!
Equinox is the next level of nice. I walked in to tour one and was priced out as soon as I got to front desk.lol. There’s one down the street from my job actually. I’m sure it has everything I need and more, but the budget told me to chill on that.
Planet Fitness has never been option. Something about the brand and culture of it doesn’t appeal to me. Not that I want to hear grunts when and see dudes throwing weights around, but it’s just a little too casual.