Three years ago, I took a tour of LifeTime Fitness because it has a climbing area, two large basketball courts, five raquetball courts, three pools, two hot tubs, cardio equipment, the all important weights, group fitness rooms, a pilates room, a spa, cafe, chiropractor, daycare, and towel service. The weights, climbing area, and hot tubs appealed to me. So anyway, I got walked around the gym by a mostly plastic chick who really didn't seem to give a shit about her job. She quickly rushed me around and didn't even show me the weights. We walked upstairs and very quickly back down to her office. I learned that this place, while posh, was out of my price range. So I left it alone and tried like hell to get a part time job there only to be ignored entirely.
So then I went down to Cardinal Fitness and signed up that day since they waived all the fees and I only have to pay twenty a month. Sure the place is only weights and cardio, but that place has put nearly thirty pounds of muscle on me. I seriously went from being one of the most normal sized people there to becoming one of the biggest. I love that place and its people.
And then I got hired at Lifestyle Family Fitness nearly a year ago. I have very slowly warmed up to this group of people and while I mostly work out at Cardinal Fitness, I enjoy workouts at Lifestyle. Lifestyle has a gym nearly three times the size of Cardinal Fitness and the group fitness classes and all that. All of their machines are great and a number of them work different angles than the machines at Cardinal. It is a nice addition to Cardinal so that I can put on more size.
So finally today, I decided to "mystery shop" LifeTime Fitness. I went in and got handed a sales rep that didn't even listen to a word I said, charged me thirty bucks for a day pass, and let me on my way. I was there nearly three hours today working out and farting around. Their weight area really did not impress me. Most of them are old machines that don't even max out at a good weight for me. The squat racks were just too short for me so I didn't even bother. So I maxxed out just about all the leg machines and then moved on to my chest. After a very mediocre leg workout I started my chest with many a pushup because I didn't even want that to go badly. I did chest for about an hour and then decided to go on and check out the rest of the facility. The climbing area was closed the entire time. I didn't want to play in the raquetball court by myself so I skipped it and I don't like basketball so I skipped it too. I donned some swim trunks and headed into the hot tub for a bit. It wasn't as hot as the hot tub at one of the Lifestyle Family Fitness gyms but whatever. I sat in for about fifteen minutes and then farted around in the outdoor pool for a little bit before heading back into a hot tub. After drying off and putting my shirt back on, I checked the climbing area one more time so see it was still closed. Sucks. Oh, and they do not allow gum chewing in the weights area, which is completely and totally stupid. In the end, I am left with neither a good or a bad opinion of that gym. I certainly would not be able to put on a lot more size, but the climbing area is pretty sweet, it it is ever open. I could easily see myself spending two-three hours a day there if I had a membership but at their prices it just wouldn't be worth it. Their sales reps outright suck. So in the end, I learned that I really am happy with my gyms and this "Cadillac" of a gym was just dressed up real pretty with not a lot to really help me reach my fitness goal. So I guess learning that the grass is always greener was my lesson for the day.
Now back to Cardinal and Lifestyle to focus of getting bigger.
