Powerhouse Gym - A fitness center for Ephedra, Clothing and Equipment
Written: Jan 28 '03 (Updated Sep 30 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A lot of great equipment and classes. Good hours, nice staff, clean facility.
Cons: The fee is not locked in. Small abdominal area.
The Bottom Line: This is a wonderful gym especially if you are not a novice. The facility is clean and the equipment is bountiful.
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| jo.com's Full Review: PowerHouse Gym |
Since this review was written we have joined this gym.
For 1- 1/2 years I have belonged to World’s Gym. Recently a Powerhouse Gym was built much closer to my house than World’s, which is really quite a distance. My husband and I took advantage of the free week + offer that we got.
The Powerhouse Gym I am reviewing is located at 7 Herring Pond Road in Cedarville, MA. These are franchised fitness centers but I have seen during traveling other Powerhouse facilities and they look very similar. It is possible, though, that not all locations offer the same programs or equipment.
I would suggest you do what we did. We toured the facility once; we worked out there once at a different time than we toured it and then we took them up on their current promotion which is why I put a + after free week above.
We left our first gym in this area to join World Gym for many reasons. One was that World Gym fees were less than our previous gym. It doesn’t offer a pool, racquetball court or basketball court in our location. We didn't need any of those things. Neither does Powerhouse Gym so I am really comparing World and Powerhouse. Though Powerhouse takes 1/2 the time to get there than it takes me to get to World Gym, for me that would not be the only reason for switching. Studies show that people are less apt to go to their gym if it is more than 10 minutes from home or work. (From the Personal Trainer Manual) In my case since I am a personal trainer, having to drive a distance isn’t a huge issue for me although I know there are times I would go to a night class and don’t if I’ve worked out in the morning because it will take me 25 minutes to get there.
The hours are 5:00 a.m – 9: 00 p.m Monday – Friday and 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m Saturday and Sunday. Those are good hours. Some gyms open at 5:15 a.m including World, but other than 24-hour gyms this is the earliest I have seen one open.
There is limited parking in the front of the gym but more parking behind it.
What I like about Powerhouse Gym:
1. The weight training equipment: It is fantastic. Of course it is new so it all looks beautiful. As you walk in you see a very pretty lobby with a stone bottom counter. You face a sea of equipment. In spite of the fact that there are a lot of pieces here, there is room to move around. Unlike other gyms where machines are so close to one another you have to squeeze through or be careful not to hit a bar, that is not true here.
~The work out machines include brand names such as Body Masters, Life Fitness and Hammer Strength.
~They have 2 complete sets of free weights plus another set of light weights meaning we have never had to wait for a dumbbell. Many of the machines are duplicates or in some cases there may be 5 of one type, for example 5 different types of leg press machines. In addition there are 2 crossover cable machines with every imaginable piece of equipment to attach to a cable and at least 2 Cybex stations. The area with dumbbells, bars and Smith Machines, although not a separate room, is off to the side so there is some privacy. Some people don’t like to be watched when working with this type of equipment. This may be an accident or coincidence but it works well here.
~The whole floor is made of rubber so it is comfortable to stand on and tripping over carpet won’t happen! Powerhouse is set up much like World Gym. One huge room has the equipment set up in it primarily in areas that work various body parts. For example on the wall it will say biceps and that is where you will find the biceps machines and dumbbells, for the most part. Of course you can work your biceps on the cable machine also so I am generalizing somewhat so you can get the layout. It is user friendly unless you are new to a gym. If you are you will find this totally overwhelming and will either have to hire a personal trainer or go elsewhere.
World Gym has a circuit room in which you will find every piece of equipment needed to work every body part, some cardio machines and a set of light weights. Many people who are new like to work out 3 days a week and work their whole body at one time. This is ideal for that. It is also ideal for people who may be intimidated by the huge work out room, the people weightlifting or older people who may not feel comfortable in the larger room. Powerhouse does not have a circuit room, which is perfect for newcomers.
2. The cardiovascular equipment: There are about 70 different cardio machines including elliptical trainers, treadmills, bikes, and stairclimbers. The equipment is by Life Fitness, Cybex and Star Trac Pro.
In addition to the fabulous equipment they have 8 televisions which are hooked up to a gadget on each machine. This is called their cardio theater. Just plug in your headphones and you can watch 8 different channels.
3. Other amenities:
~A really pretty room for childcare. This is for children 3 months to 12 years of age and costs $2.00 per visit for the first child and $1.00 for each additional child.
~2 tanning rooms.
~A very nice looking massage room.
~A physical therapy room.
~There is a beauty salon connected physically to the gym though the gym does not own it.
~There isn't a juice bar but there are plenty of power drinks, bars and bottled water sold.
4. Other rooms:
~They have a gorgeous spinning room for classes. (Spinning is stationary bike riding done in a group with a trainer leading.)
~The group exercise room is huge. Unlike World Gym, there are thick mats available and stability balls. That is one thing I really dislike about World. They do not provide stability balls for their class so you have to bring your own back and forth. There were enough in this room for a room full of people.
~The locker rooms are very large and clean. There are plenty of lockers and in a separate area are showers with a separate changing area. One thing I like a lot is that the door to the shower closed. It isn’t a curtain exactly the same door that is in each toilet area. Hairdryers as well as cotton balls are available. There is a steam room in both the women and men’s locker rooms. There is only soap, though in the bathroom and showers. World have shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hand lotion and mouth wash which is really nice.
6. The classes:
There is no charge for spinning classes. There is at World Gym, which is too bad so that is a nice feature. They offer 33 classes including Pilates, Yoga, Step classes and KickBoxing. World Gym offers only 23. In addition I really like the fact Powerhouse has 4:00 and 4:15 p.m. classes. That is a good time for teachers and World Gym’s classes don’t start until 5:30. I’ve often wanted earlier classes and I was able to go to a Sculpting Class and a Pilates class in the after noon.
7. The price:
One fantastic feature of World Gym that Powerhouse doesn’t offer is a locked in fee. I was told that most likely if the fee goes up people who join now will be grandfathered in but that isn’t in writing! Powerhouse’s enrollment fee is $100 ($150 for a couple) versus $99 each at World Gym but their monthly dues are $45.00 rather than $39.00 for an individual member or $35.00 for two people who come together.
$70.00 per month versus $90.00 per month. So according to my accountant husband, Powerhouse Gym is $190 more for two people over the year which isn’t a huge amount but if the $45.00 goes up, which it sure could, it presents a problem! They do have some deals; for example you will get a discount of 10% if you pay the total amount up front. There is a 20% senior citizen rate.
There was at no time any selling pressure whatsoever. The prices are written on a piece of paper so there is no mystery. You can get it just handed to you. That was very nice!
Other information:
There are personal trainers available on request as there are at World Gym. There is not a lot of staff walking the floor, which surprises me in both places. In fact other than trainers who don’t pay attention to non-paying clients, there is no one on the floor. To me that is an injury waiting to happen. Our first gym had too many staff people and these two I am comparing have too few.
The staff behind the desk are very nice as are the class instructors.
The abdominal area has some nice benches – some types I have never seen but it is long and thin so there is no place in that area to get on the floor and do ab work if you want. There is a space in the corner of the gym that has an empty floor where people generally stretch and do mat work or the cardio classroom is available to use if there is no class.
My final thoughts:
I am very happy at World Gym and doubt I will switch. I am afraid that Powerhouse Gym’s fee will go up. I do like Powerhouse a lot. I love their equipment and classes and those are the two main features for which I am looking. They sell clothes and supplements (including Hydroxycut) which I have mixed feelings about. I don’t mind the clothes or the powdered mixes but in spite of my using Xenadrine, I am not thrilled about a gym selling it.
I would definitely recommend Powerhouse Gym. It has never been too busy there that I couldn’t get a piece of equipment including cardio machines. The name of it is a bit intimidating but in general, there are no more super looking body builders here than any place else I have been. Of course the busiest times are after work and I generally went in the mornings but I did go twice in the afternoon and found it to be busy but not so crowded I was uncomfortable. There is a mixed aged group. I have noticed in many gyms that ones with pools attract an older crowd (even older than I am!) but all gyms have their share of seniors and Powerhouse is one of them as well as very young people.
Feel free to leave me a question or comment.
You may be interested in reading:
How to Choose a Health Club
Curves for Women
World Gym
Recommended:
Yes
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