I'm Going To Find My New Bod At 24 Hour Fitness
Written: Mar 08 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Clean, friendly staff, inexpensive childcare, open 24 hours
Cons: Pricey, childcare is not available 24 hours, some annoying patrons
The Bottom Line: 24 Hour Fitness has been a great experience for my husband and me. They have a lot of equipment and a friendly staff.
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| wifemommyteach's Full Review: 24 Hour Fitness |
Up until I graduated from high school, I was a very "fit" person. I played soccer and softball from the time I could write my name, I ice skated, and took gymnastics, dance, and tennis lessons. I ended up playing tennis, soccer, and softball for four years in high school, along with club soccer and summer-league softball. I may not have been a skinny minnie, but I was in great shape. And then I graduated from high school and headed off to UCLA where I had to make a choice: The Softball Team or The Theater Department? I chose academics, and my body has suffered for it.
Now, 7 years and 1 child later, I am about 75 pounds heavier and have 1/4 of the energy I used to. Next to my ex-active duty Navy husband with his narrow waist and rippling muscles, I feel simply pathetic.
Being very into working out, but unable to now that he's not living 100 feet from the gym on the ship, my husband has really been chomping at the bit to join a fitness club. I knew that I really needed to, but was very into making excuses for lack of time and necessity. Of course, being the sole supporter of my family on a teacher's salary, I also thought I'd never be able to afford gym membership.
My husband did a lot of research online about fitness centers in our area. He finally decided that 24 Hour Fitness looked like the best thing for both of us: Me wanting to lose weight, take aerobics, work on cardio, and do moderate machine weight training, and him wanting to work with the free weights and build up a lot of bulk.
I think the first thing that appealed to him was the 24 Hour Fitness web site. It is truly comprehensive with articles about weight loss, proper eating, fitness, body building, and overall health. They also have weight calculators, areas where you can track your own progress with fitness, eating, and weight loss. They also have mailing lists for almost every fitness-rtealted topic under the sun, including a healthy meals recipe mailer.
I decided that I was going to buy us this membership for Valentine's day, so on the Friday before hand, we headed down to a 24 Hour Fitness near us. There are actually about 5 in our vacinity, but this one is the largest and it's the closest to my work. They were having a special for New Year's that was still running, which was 50% off enrollment, or 2 for the price of 1.
When we entered the gym with our son, Aidan, who is two, we found the girls at the desk to be very prompt and polite. We had to fill out an information sheet, and then we met with the salesman, Todd, who first gave us a tour of the facilities. Our first stop was the daycare center. It was very clean, had two caregivers who were very nice, and was set up like a mini Chuck E. Cheese, complete with playland. Aidan immediately ran towards the slide. We signed him in, and headed off on our tour. Todd showed us the different types of weight machines available, the 24 treadmills, 20 cross trainers, 12 upright bikes, and 15 reclined bikes. He then took us down to the aerobics room and showed us the class schedule which is really flexible for people like us who have no time during normal hours of theday. The free weights room had my husband drooling on his tennies. I knew he couldn't wait to tear off his street clothes and start pumping iron.
We all headed back up to the sales area and listened to todd's pitch. I think he knew that this was really what we wanted, so he was pretty laid back pressure-wise. In fact, he gave us so many choices I was amazed. We decided on a couples' sports package which entitles us to visit any 24 Hour Fitness in the world, including the sports facilities. Our enrollment fee and first and last month's dues came to $421, and we'll pay $59 a month for the two of us in dues. It is worth this much to me to get myself back into shape. At the end of our visit, todd signed us up for a consultation visit.
We returned the next day and met with David, a personal trainer. He was very nice, but I felt a little intimidated with this ripped, young, buff guy pinching my fat and weighing me. George says he felt like he was being talked down to, but I think that's just a bit of gym machismo. After the pinching and weighing, we sent George off on his own, and David showed me several of the weight machines. He taught me how to use the treadmills, bikes, and crosstrainers. After the mini-workout, we sat down and discussed my goals, how long I expected them to take, and what it would take for me to get there. He mentioned a t24/5 program, which is like an introductory personal training package, but I told him that I was broke after paying the enrollment fee. He took the hint, and much to my surprise, he didn't mention it again. He made an appointment with me to come back the next day to learn some more of the machines.
The next morning, bright and early, I was back. No mention of the 24/5 program, and a fun 45 minutes of learning machines. Once he was done demonstrating, he gave me an outline of which exercises I should be doing, how often I should be doing them, and how much weight I should be lifting. He also recommended some supplements, which I did end up purchasing recently.
I was on my own. I'd had my consultation, I'd told more men how much I really weigh than I ever wanted to, and I had a goal...lose 65 pounds and tone and firm up my cesarean roll. I have been back to the gym close to twenty times since that day, and almost every experience is great, and I leave feeling beaten, but energized.
I have to be honest, there are some things that annoy me, and these things are mainly the other gym members. Being a junior high teacher and being with teenagers all day long, I am a bit annoyed by the vast number of teenagers who come to the gym merely for social purposes. They don't use the equipment correctly, and sometimes, they even use it like a lounge to pose on and attract members of the opposite sex. I also am annoyed by people who stay on the cadio equipment for hours at a time. It is posted all over to stop at 20 minutes if people are waiting, but many of the people at the facility I frequent are extremely well off and think the world stops for them. I also tend to be bothered by people who stand and stare at me when waiting for the machine I'm on. This is the patrons, though. I have never had a bad experience with a staff member.
The daycare is also a hit. Aidan asks to go play with kids at the gym, even when he's been at preschool all day. He can only stay for two hours, and it's not offered 24 hours a day, but for $3 a day, it's worth it. In fact, I bought a $100 card which will pay for 50 visits to daycare, and for doing so, I got a free 30 minute massage.
Overall, 24 Hour Fitness has been a success for both my husband and I. We tire of waiting for machines, but hey, we live in Orange County, CA...what can we expect??? Our favorite time to work out is after 10 P.M. since the gym is relatively empty, and it works so well with our busy schedules. 24 Hour Fitness is the only gym with this time slot available.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
wifemommyteach
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Location: Walnut, CA
Reviews written: 113
Trusted by: 71 members
About Me:
Mommy to Aidan Thomas (8) and Asher William (5)
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