By MOLLY WALLACE
Whether one needs specialty classes, cheap prices or flexible hours, this guide on different gyms should help one make the best gym membership choice. The fight for the title “best gym” is on, and LA Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, YMCA and Planet Fitness Gyms are the contenders. With all of them located within a three mile radius from campus, these four gyms are constantly being compared to each other for the best service and facilities, which therefore helps in obtaining the most members. Their monthly prices vary, but all these gyms offer multiple membership plans to fit every hopeful work-outer’s needs. Some offer specialty classes and a variety of equipment, while others offer the friendliest service or the cleanest facilities. Whether one focuses on cardio or muscle-building, all these gyms claim to help out in one’s search for his or her’s personal goal, mentally or physically. The decision on the best membership is at one’s discretion, but here’s a guide to help.
LA Fitness
Greeting each customer as well as each potential customer with a smile, this gym’s main focus is its member’s improvement. It offers a boot camp each Thursday at 7 p.m, as well as other classes, like cycling, yoga and kickboxing throughout the day. These classes can get crowded; however, the workout equipment is never as over-populated. Whether members are there at 7 a.m or 5 p.m, there is always equipment available for use. Some of the different gym memberships offer free personal trainers and the ability to ask these trainers for help with equipment. This gym is equipped with a basketball court, swimming pool, sauna, hot tub, the friendliest employees around and plenty of parking space
24 Hour Fitness
As the cleanest and most modern gym, 24 Hour Fitness is great for the workout fanatic. This gym is opened 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It also offers the opportunity for student athletes on a varsity sport to work out for free from Sept. 15, through May 31, on Saturday and Sunday from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. It offers a variety of classes, from kickboxing to Zumba and is equipped with a basketball court and swimming pool. This gym is not the cheapest, but its proximity for after-school workouts in the SODO Complex off Orange Avenue, its spacious parking garage, as well as restaurants and a frozen yogurt bar surrounding its complex, makes before and after one’s workout an enjoyable experience.
YMCA
Known as one of the most popular gyms, the Downtown YMCA has earned its reputation for a reason. With indoor and outdoor heated pools, three workout centers, a gymnasium and an outdoor track, this gym’s membership offers the most. There are classes, like Zumba and yoga, offered with one’s membership, as well as a massage therapy program and personal trainers for additional cost. For teens, there is a “dollar a day” membership available, as well as other after-school programs and an open gym. Recently renovated locker rooms are a plus, while the limited parking spots outside can be a hassle. The YMCA also offers a chapel room with a prayer request box, which helps support one’s physical and mental needs.
Planet Fitness Gyms
Planet Fitness Gyms offers a class that helps members build their own fitness program with the help of a professional trainer. These trainers, as well as tanning booths, are available to all members at one’s leisure. The gym gets crowded around 5 p.m., when the rush of afternoon workers comes in, but hit it right after school and one has plenty of equipment and space to work out. By the weights is the “Lunk Alarm,” which is an alarm that warns members to stop “showing off” if they are, eliminating a pressuring environment. Their motto is “the judgment free zone,” creating a friendly and supportive atmosphere achieved through aesthetic appeal and lack of amenities due to the warehouse-feel of the facility.
