which gym do you go to? and other likely tangents...
 

i currently have a Bally's membership. or should i say membersh!t because that's how i feel they treat members. i've been trying to get back into the gym (not that i was a regular, but i DO have a membership so i should use it) and im on day 4. my local branch faces a Burger King & Taco Bell, the locker rooms are always gross, the classes are minimal, and the staff seems sketch (hell, the receptionist gives out Dunking Donuts at her desk! and then was like "you want a coupon for DD?"

i want a gym that will not make me say "oh god not this place again!"

where do you work out? are you getting the best bang for your buck? what's so great about your gym?


(if this has been discussed, i'll delete - i couldnt find anything in search)

I'd try to check out local gyms that aren't part of a chain. In my experience, they're more expensive but MUCH nicer.

I used to go to 24 Hour Fitness and HATED it after a while. It was big and they had great equipment, but it was WAY too crowded, the locker rooms were gross, you had to bring your own towels, and there was always an over-gelled guy by the front desk trying to sell you crap.

The YMCA.

They have a new facility. Can't complain about the service or anything. I just show up, do my thing and leave.

I'm a member at Bally's. The facility I use the most was built only about two years ago now however, so the locker room is really nice as is the equiptment... I do think they could offer some more classes however...

Ditto.

Planet Fitness. Right down the street from my house, so I have to pass it on the way home.

I was going to join the YMCA, but it was more expensive and I wasn't going to use all the services. My gym is perfect for me.

When I was in Boston I worked out at Boston Sports Club, which I really liked. I thought it was worth the money, the equipment was great, and everyone was pretty helpful.

Here in CT I'll probably join Gold's this summer; I didn't like the Boston one too much, but the CT ones I have worked out at have been much better.

i'm a month-to-month / drop-in member of my county "Sports & Learning Complex"... i guess that's similar to the Y. A public center that has good facilities, cheap prices.

My business campus has a small fitness room that I joined for cheap and my apartment complex has a huge fitness room which is free, so I just use those. Sometimes I think I'd like to join a nice gym so I can take classes and such or watch TV while I'm on the treadmill but I'm too cheap.

The local university campus is right between my office and home, so it is perfect for me to use their facilities. They just build an incredible new facility with state-of-the-art equipment, massive indoor pool, indoor track, tons of cardio machines - everything you could want. Plus on 4 days a week they have great classes with lots of variety and different skill levels. Everything is included with the membership - including a personal trainer if you want one. Free to students and faculty and $100 a year if a student sponsors you (that's how I got in). I'm in there every weekday and on the weekend if I have to miss a weekday. It's crowded b/c of the free thing, but worth the 10 minute wait to save all the $$$$$.

Equinox.

it's expensive but -1. clean 2. not crowded. 3. clean 4. a block away from home and 5. clean.

lol

That has definitely been my experience too.

In Milwaukee I go to North Shore Elite and I love it. Clean, friendly, welcoming...it's a little more expensive than some other gyms, but it's so much nicer and I'm much more likely to actually go if I enjoy my time there.

Me=green with envy. I live too far away to use BSC but I used to go to Waltham for my orthopedic surgeon who had a clinic in the BSC there and I would just drool over the facilities.

When I actually used to go to the gym, I went to the husband's company's rec center. It wasn't super fancy, but it wasn't horrible either. We need to figure out how to fit going again into our schedule -- membership dues are automatically taken out of his paycheck -- but we're supremely lazy.

One thing I love about being in the Army are the gyms on post...we have at least five I can think of here at Ft Jackson..I found my favorite one and try to go about 4 times a week....the weights are great....

I go to Lifestyles Family Fitness. I like it very much- great variety of classes, machines, and equipment.

Yeah, I belong to the Washington Sports Club and it's great. Tons of equipment, nice staff, good classes and trainers, and it's a block from my apartment.

I go to LA Fitness. It's not great but it's not bad. It's not as big as Bally's but it's usually not terribly crowded. It's cheaper than Bally's and it's pretty close to work. The apartment where I used to live was close to a nicer LA Fitness (larger facility, nicer locker rooms, newer equipment).

The company where I work has fitness facilities in some of the buildings (including mine) but they're really tiny and it would have only been a little cheaper than my LA Fitness membership.

I have a lifetime membership to Fitness USA. I liked that one because a) It was female only on some days of the week b) there was another one nearby that was female only on the opposite days of the week and c) they had a great pool. When I first started, the "trainer" that I worked with was actually studying exercise physiology and knew what she was talking about. We discussed my goals and she encouraged me and showed me some new things. As an Occupational Therapist, I have a pretty good understanding of physiology, exercise and how to meet goals and we got along well. Sadly, she graduated and got a "real" job. All the other "trainers" there were doing what their manager wanted them to do.. trying to get ME to get other people to join so they could get a commission. They didn't understand my goals, thought if I tried to build muscle that I would gain weight (wrong!), didn't understand how to build long lean muscle and spent ALL their time trying to give me free passes to give my friends so they could give them their sales pitch. That turned me off so badly that I haven't been there since I got pregnant with my daughter. I miss the pool and the hot tub though. It was a great place to swim laps at one time, but then they started scheduling water aerobics during every hour after work so I could never get a lane to swim laps. Very frustrating. I've considered checking it out again and seeing how it is now, since the lifetime membership is paid for, but I really dread dealing with the stupid sales pitches every time I walk in the door. Oh yeah, I also don't want you measuring me and stuff. I can do that myself at home.

I HATE gyms, I only use them in the winter.

Spring/Summer/Fall-I walk, run, and/or ride my bike on trails.

Winter-I just use my school's facilities. My school allows students, staff, and alums to work out there for a very small fee.

i am SO jealous! you wouldnt believe what i am paying... my mom's friend has been a member since like the 70s and her membership is like $10/month. she NEVER goes - i wish i could use her membership, i mean it's going to waste and all.

Mine is going down to that when I have been a member for 3 years.

A new one just opened up around this time last year near my job. They are expensive:eek: but nice facilities and super clean.

I hate gyms period because they feel fake but since I'm not the superstar athlete I once was and am not working out 6 days a week, I signed up with Crunch Fitnesshttp://www.crunch.com/crunch/. I actually like them. Lots of energy not too fake and clean. my membership ends this year and I will be glad to go. Just not the gym type. I’d rather go for a walk on the beach (great for the calves) or go ice skate or just do activities I like without thinking.

so you would recommend it otherwise? cause right now, im favoring Crunch over the other chains (though im sure Equinox is sweet, but that's $$ and i feel weird just walking past it!)

Soror,
If you dont like peppy people, skip it but I like them for the non-traditional type of activity classes they offer. Also, I see all types of people re shapes colors etc...It's coolio for me. Check out their website http://www.crunch.com/crunch/ and take a tour of your local facility but dont get pushed into signing a contract if you're not comfortable with it.

ETA: Yes I would recommend it.

ETA: After reading that Consumerist post below, maybe not.

I have heard bad things about Crunch - apparently their staff is always trying to sell you on something and they're kind of sketchy about pricing. I know I read something on Consumerist about them, and I think there was another link...I'll try to find them.

Edit: Here's the Consumerist post

Ouch. Thanks for posting this. Hopefully I wont have any problems after this June when my membership ends.

I was a Crunch member for 6 years prior to equinox. I really liked it.

I didn't hear great things about the Boston location; people seemed to like BSC or FitCorp more than Crunch.

i did go to my local facility and was really digging it - nice machines, LOTS of space (esp for NYC), nice locker room, friendly class instructors. but then dude broke out numbers on me and i was like :eek: i mean, they have the most impressive class schedule ive seen out of a gym so far (ie classes that you wouldnt necessarily think of as excersize) and i dont even mind the peppy people cause my iPod is golden.

and i hear you on not getting pushed into something. thats essentially what happened with Bally's. i dont blame them - gym employees are straight hustlas - they really dont give a damn how it gets sold.

I think I'm showing my age by admitting this, but we opted to take the money we were spending on a gym membership and bought ourselves a treadmill, elliptical, and recumbent bike and set it up in a spare bedroom as a home gym. We bought a strength system as well but it won't fit in there. :o Still trying to decide whether we'll set that up in the garage or just sell it.

LOL Yeah cause I can see you and mrgreeklawgirl sweating it out there in the garage during the hot summers.

Don't lie... you're going to be too busy in the pool with the floating bar to worry about the exercise machines.... ;) :D

Brand new "Flagship" NYSC.

Hahahahaha, the big rationalization for building the pool was that we would be using it for "exercise." (The tile was finished on Tuesday and it looks awesome, you need to come visit me C.!)

And amycat, don't get me started on that damn strength machine because I didn't even want the thing in the first place! The machine is sitting in a box in the spot where MY CAR should be.

And there's two of the three gyms I've belonged to in the past few years. I'm now at Atlantis and I'm really liked it. I switched because it was less crowded than Fitcorp and they offered me a price that I just couldn't pass up.

Did you buy my floaty raft yet?

Atlantis, which one is that? Is it new?

which one is that?

Holy cheap.

I'm not sure how new it is, I've been going since November and it had been around for awhile. It's inside the Sheraton at Prudential Center. It's a lot smaller than the other gyms, but it's not as crowded and the equipment is really nice, plus there's a pool and sun deck and all that stuff.