Curves for women: not for me but may be for you
Written: Apr 26 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: cheaper than fully featured gyms, equipment simple to use, supportive ambience, sell is straightforward.
Cons: absolutely no frills, owners/employees don't know that much sports physiology IMHO.
The Bottom Line: I recommend Curves to beginners, people who live nearby, and shy women. It just wasn't for me.
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| platypus55's Full Review: Curves For Women |
As you know if you know anything about me, my primary exercise is running and I am pretty heavily into it. As you also know if you know anything about exercise, running is one that's fraught with injuries. If you injure yourself while running on public land or a public right of way, I'm sorry for your trouble, but except in case of gross negligence there is no one else you can blame. Keep that in mind as you read the rest of this review.
I met the ladies who run Curves for Women at a local Chamber of Commerce do in our little burg a couple of years ago. They were giving out these free one week trials so I thought I'd try it. They were very nice, and so I decided to try it. They take you to this little desk and run you through the drill.
The local curves "gym" is really just a big shop type room in a strip mall. There are no showers or changing rooms, no yuppie juice bar, nothing for small children. They do have a restroom and a water cooler, and cubbies for your stuff. You don't have to worry about anyone stealing your stuff because the cubbies are in the same room you work out in. They sell logo T-shirts, energy bars, and other assorted stuff if you want. The window is shrouded with curtains so no one outside can look in. This is an important consideration for shy women, and for women who practice Islam, but an exhibitionist like myself couldn't care less, except that the curtains also help keep the place cool in the summer.
OK, now the part you really wanted to know about: The machines. There are about 9 machines arranged in a circle.
In between the machines are these little square platforms for you to do your aerobic segments on.
This tape blares music nonstop, and cues you when to go to the next station. In this particular curves, you can just start at any station that's open.
The combination of machines give every major muscle group a workout. But rather than lifting weights like an ordinary workout machine, they're hydraulic or something. You don't
waste time adjusting anything--you just do the circuit nonstop. I am a fairly standard sized female in terms of height, so I don't know how these machines would work for people who are very tall or very short.
A couple of times during the workout you are supposed to take your pulse to make sure your heart rate is up high enough. Mine never did go up very high. I had to really focus to get any kind of lather going at all. I'm told you get out of the machines what you put in. My personal preference is a heavy weight that forces me to work, and also, a weight lets you know how hard you are working.
After you have gone through the circuit three times, you go and do some stretches that are illustrated on the wall. The owners of my local gym are very insistent on these stretches--they'll yell at you if you try to leave without doing them.
The clientele at our local curves is definitely not 20 something gym rats. People in my town don't dress up anyway, and these gals just wear practical clothes for the task at hand. They come in all shapes and sizes. It seemed to me like all the other exercisers knew each other and had good cameraderie. Everyone gets a freebie of some kind on their birthday. They have once a month drawings. They have a day where they go clockwise instead of anti-clockwise. They get involved in community walks and other such fitness related activities.
The sell: After my free week was up, I was offered a month by month membership. No yearlong contract, no tricky statuses or "this is only good for the next 20 minutes" B.S.
They know better than to try garbage like that in this little town where competition for gym business is fierce. Piss off the wrong person and pfffft! they're out of business. The offer was relatively cheap by comparison to some of the other gyms, but then, you get what you pay for. On the other hand, by the nature of the beast, you do use every piece of gear they've got.
I decided NOT to join curves for three reasons:
1. I have access to a better equipped club through my OSU affiliation
2. Although they do their best to vary it, I thought I would get bored.
3. Most importantly, it's just not hard enough for me.
Injuries: I have heard some folks complain about getting injured at Curves, and the personnel not really trained to deal with their personal physical limitations. My take on that is the following: Exercise is something I do to myself rather than something that is done to me, and I am a grown woman. I listen to my body and I cease and desist anything that is going past the point of pain. If I have any physical limitation going on, I am educated about it and I adapt my activities. With the exception of the aerobic boxes, no machine at curves requires jerky or impact moves. With the aerobic boxes, wear proper footwear and use common sense.
There are gyms where there are more highly certified personnel, but are they gonna be standing there doing prevention when I tear my deltoid doing too heavy of a weight on a bench fly? I think not. Doing anything novel incurs risks. As my neurophysiologist told me, you can be "safe" from injuries and just spend the rest of your life in your easy chair. Then your heart will plug up and you'll croak that way. Or you can go out and use up your body and do things and you might hurt something.
If you are out of shape, use common sense, start slowly and build up your strength before you start doing those cheerleading moves you did in the 60's.
Recommended:
Yes
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platypus55
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Member: Colleen
Location: Pacific Northwest
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