Siddity In The City

Siddity Gettin' Fitty!

Apologies for the absolute worst blog title ever. So, the other day I kept knocking things over with my ass. This is a problem. I'm joining a gym. Choosing a gym in New York is almost as complicated as dating in New York: there seem to be so many choices, and yet...and yet. You don't like them, they don't like you, you like each other but something is just off. It takes time. But I don't have time. I have to shrink my ass. Immediately. So I need a gym now. Thus begins my gymquest. Day 1--Preparation for the journey: Intense Internet search for rates of local clubs--the JCC, YMCA, Crunch, Equinox, NYSC--so I can decide which to actually bother to visit. Amateur sleuthing turns up nothing specific for NYSC, Crunch or Equinox, other than some unfavorable reviews (Crunch, business practices) and reviews claiming an above average membership rate (Equinox--dealbreaker); a rate of $1200+ per year for the JCC (um, no, even with a pool) and nothing for the YMCA. Day 2--The journey: The visits begin. Search narrowed by proximity and time constraints (read: it took me forever to get out the door and I had to be at work in, like, an hour). Only visit turns out to be NYSC (80th and Broadway; 1 or 9 to 79th Street), where I meet a rep and get a brochure, list of classes and appointment to tour and work out the following day. Am horrified by membership costs--the October "specials" list a monthly rate of $85+ per month, on top of $199 (though I am told there is a discounted initiation rate of $79 until the end of the month, and I think, well shit, you're already asking for almost a hundred a month to work out, what the hell you need another $200 for anyway, that's just greedy) initiation and $29 processing fee. Quick math reveals yearly total to be a minimum of about $1200. Yipes. Resolve to visit Crunch the following day to compare rates. Later, I trawl the 'Net again and find Dolphin clubs running an online registration special of 4 months for $150. Am tempted to sign right away, work out until year end, and then join another gym when the New Years' specials roll around. Citysearch claims there is a Dolphin at 95th and Columbus, and I think that's close enough for the savings; still, I don't see the 95th St. address on the Dolphin site, so I hold off on signing up until I check the place out, which I also resolve to do, before Crunch, which is before NYSC, on the following day*. Day 3--The journey continues: Decide to visit Dolphin first and work my way back, since that is the farthest. Get to the site and discover why this location is not listed on the corporate website: it's not a Dolphin anymore. It's a Synergy club. I enter anyway, having remembered a decent review of another Synergy location on Citysearch. Get to work out right away to test the place (I've worn my gym kit because I plan to do this at NYSC, anyway). Cardio for 10 minutes, leave with a coupon for 2 more free visits and relative certainty I will join this gym. Pros: Staff is really nice, atmosphere chubette friendly--not at all intimidating. Multiple locations for only $650 per year (single location $550), no initiation fee, locker room is clean, equipment is good. One hell of a special--join now, get the rest of the year free, and pay about $50 per month. Yippee. This is what I had planned to spend. Cons: Over 15 blocks away, small, the Lifecyle I use has no stirrups on the pedals, not many cardio machines, but then again, not many members. As it has taken me forever to walk the 15+ blocks to and from Synergy, and Synergy lists competitors' rates on it's wall (Crunch ringing in at $1400/yr) I skip the Crunch at 83rd and Amsterdam and head for NYSC early. My rep sends me off to work out, tour to follow. While I am opposed to the idea of spending more than a grand per year on a gym when the exact same amenities would cost $500 or $600 per year practically anywhere else in the world, hello, five floors and personal entertainment centers in each cardio machine--CD players and little cable TVs! It can't hurt to try, yesno? This may prove essential to my gym experience. As it turns out, it isn't, since I use only the weight machines on the second of this gym's five floors. After a thorough tour and about a half hour on the myriad Cybex weight machines, I leave with a four day free trial, which I plan to use the hell out of, and a bit of conflicting emotion. I really like it. But $1200 a year? Damn. Try to take comfort in the fact that my health insurance will reimburse me $200 if I go 50 times in six months. Pros: More, more, more. More space, more equipment, more amenities, more locations (NYSC is part of a chain that stretches from Boston to D.C.). The weight machines are fantastic, classes galore, and there are roughly four times the number of cardio machines here as at Synergy. Cons: Who the hell really needs a cable TV in their elliptical machine? And I rarely watch TV when I'm lazing about at home, so I wouldn't do it at the gym. I could lug my favorite CDs in or listen to the club radio, but frankly, for the money they're asking, I could also go to Synergy and have enough cash left over for a brand new 4th gen, 40-gig iPod, a half-dozen magazine subscriptions, and a whole new workout wardrobe. After work I visit the Synergy at 74th and Broadway (1,2,3,9, B, C to 72nd St.). Also small (a single subterranean floor), but a bit swankier than the 95th street location. Cardio for about half an hour. Like the idea of joining this one or taking the multiple locations option (liked the 95th St. staff more). Still, not much in the way of weight machines. Tomorrow: Weight training at Synergy, cardio at NYSC (I have clearly whittled my options swiftly down to these two chains). More to come. *Sounds like a lot of gymage for one morning, but you see, having someplace else to go in a few minutes cuts the sales-rep rap down to 5 minutes and a brochure with prices. We like this much more than the protracted sales pitch.

posted by Sid @ 10/19/2004 11:14:00 PM