I have memberships in three gyms right now. Two Gold’s gyms with wonderful equipment. But, I prefer to do most of my work at a small neighborhood gym.
They have a very good selection of newer cardio equipment including rowing machines, steppers, eliptical trainers, a couple of those moving stair machines, and a climber. I particularly like that they have good classes that are offered throughout the day (cycle, abs, iron grip, step, kick boxing, and yoga)…which makes it possible to hit one when convenient: 5:45 AM, 9:30 AM, 12:30 PM, 5:15 PM, and 6:30 PM. Gold’s only offers 6:15 AM and 5:15 PM, which makes them very difficult for me to get there.
The weight room is small, but adequately stocked. They have a squat rack, but I would really like a safety cage, and when I want to really go heavy, I end up at Golds to use their cage, but they only have one, and it is a popular piece of equipment. There is at lease one of most pieces of equipment, and the more popular weight machines there are two. The free weights are along two walls…one set up for barbells and the other wall holds DB that go up to 120#.
They offer three free sessions with a trainer or someone qualified to walk you through the proper use of the equipment, which is at least a start.
What I most like about my “small” neighborhood gym is the friendliness and cleanliness. There are just small touches that make it convenient. First, they supply towels (unlimited supply, with several places where towels are stacked that you can just grab a clean one, if you need to). They provide digital locker keys that you can set yourself, they have a storage area where you can hand over your car keys when you arrive and they will hold them for you…often times I’ll leave my valuables in the trunk of my car, grab my water, leave my keys at the front desk, and I’m unencumbered. One other thing that I like a lot, but I’m not sure how many use it, is they have bike storage lockers for 4 or 5 bikes. You can store your bike or rollerblades, and it encourages you to ride or blade to workout. Also, they have a flat shelf along one wall of mirrors about two feet off the ground and about 2 feet deep. It takes up floor space, but it’s very convenient for people who want to keep a bag with them…a place to set it out of the way.
They have a kids room with supervised child care. I don’t have the need any longer for this service, but I think it’s $25 a month, opened from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM.
The music stinks, controlled by the head trainer (an ego problem there), but most of us serious trainees ignore him, and if we need, bring our own music players.
Another important feature is that they have cameras on the parking lot. Gyms are a place that thieves like to hit. They know you are going to be a while, and there are a lot of breakins in gym parking lots…looking for valuables and garage door openers. I feel a lot safer knowing the cameras are there.
