My boyfriend Gym
Anyone who has ever asked me what gym I go to out here probably thinks it sounds something like "LAFitnessIhateit" or "LAFitnessit'sdisgusting". I feel the need to include a descriptor in the name or else people might think I actually go there by choice. My gym experience since I moved to LA is probably the one area of my life that has suffered from this move.
I won't even start with how much I loved Crunch in New York. I loved it like I would love a boyfriend, if I ever had one of those. I think I loved it more than I could ever love a child. It was truly perfect, made just for me, created with me in mind, I am sure. There is one Crunch out here, and it is supposed to be a good one as well. Good if you like a scene - which I do. The unfortunate part is that it is on Sunset Plaza, which is completely inconvenient - probably about a 20 minute drive from home, and 30 minutes from work. Not a far distance if you're going out for dinner or shopping, but too much for a four day per week commitment.
So, when I moved here, I learned that I had two gyms relatively close to my apartment. Sports Club LA, which is the best of the best, and charges about the same price I pay in rent for a monthly membership (I'm exaggerating, but not by much); and LA Fitness, which supposedly was comparable to New York Sports Club in its amenities, clientele, and number of locations around the city. Knowing that Ted's brother went to LA Fitness, I checked it out, it seemed fine, and with no year-long commitment, I could cancel anytime. Since then, I have been dreaming of the day I could cancel and enter the arms of a better place, one in which offers towel service so people who sweat all over everything can actually control their environment, one in which has machines that were made after 1965, one in which is NOT filled with college students, and one in which things are actually maintained so that I can find my 15 pound weight where it says "15 pounds" and not under the 65 pound section or over by the stairmaster, or one in which I don't have to look at the same dirt on the same machine for weeks at a time. And don't even ask me about the traffic and parking situation. Just don't ask.
A light appeared at the end of my tunnel about two months ago, when I noticed the big happy sign across the street from my gym that said "Equinox Coming Soon!". Equinox is a step above Crunch and a step below Sports Club LA. In NYC, it was the expensive gym where a lot of Wall Street types and power people worked out. It wouldn't necessarily be my first choice, but I believe in trading up when the situation calls for it. So, optimistically, I called, and was told the club wasn't opening up until late-summer, early fall. Bummer, I thought, but I can stick it out until then. Everyday, when I walked into the LAFitnesspit, I would gaze longingly across the street, hoping to spot some sign of progress, something new to let me know that my wait was not in vain.
This week, with summer being in full swing, I thought I would call again for an update. Surely it can't be much longer by now. But the guy on the other end of the phone told me that we are now looking at November, however, we have a great deal going until the end of the month, and if I sign up now I can save however many dollars. Tempting, but I didn't think it was the best idea to put money down for a club that hasn't opened yet. I mean, what if an earthquake destroyed the club before it opened - would I get my money back? I hung up. I mentally prepared the funeral for my dream of changing gyms this summer. Then because I couldn't turn away from the website, I noticed they had a club in Pasadena, near where I work. Now, I've never been one to bring my gym clothes to work - I need to go home first, just to make sure I pick the right outfit, choose the right music (no longer an issue thanks to iPod), and basically just make sure I don't forget anything. It's too much pressure to always have to try and remember everything in the morning. But you know, life is all about sacrifice and compromise, and I thought, I'm willing to play with change. In NYC, another issue was always about the transportation of the gym bag; here I have a car with a trunk, it just might be time.
So I called back. At the thought that he might make a sale and meet his monthly quota, the guy put me on the guest list for Pasadena for Wed night. All day Wednesday I felt like I was preparing for a first date. It could have been my date with destiny - the day my gym life changed forever. Or at least for the immediate future. (And that's all we really have sometimes, isn't it?)
Anyway, I wanted to love it, I really did. I drove into an enormous parking structure with row after row of welcoming spaces. Pick me, pick me! I found out that Equinox comps 2 hours of parking - not 1 1/2 hours like LA Fitness - which was a sigh of relief. (Not that I work out for two hours, or even an hour and a half necessarily, but when you factor in looking for parking, changing, waiting for equipment, stretching, and all that, it's easy to cut it pretty close). The club was immaculate, but almost too immaculate, to the point that it felt sterile. It did have the most current equipment, and plenty of it. But the club seemed empty. A selling point in that there were no lines, but it looked more the way it should on a Saturday afternoon, not a Wednesday night. The manager explained how each cardio machine had it's own audio box to connect to the TV, but frankly, now that I have my iPod, it's not really a selling point for me to consider that that's how my dues are being spent. Same thing with the Kohler sinks in the bathroom that really belonged in a spa or at the restroom at Spago. On the upside, the locker rooms were fabulous, the towel service is beyond, the machines and weights are top of the line, they have everything I could ever want and more. I guess that's the thing - I don't necessarily want or need the "more".
In any case, I am going back after work today, since I was put on the guest list for three days. I can always use this gym until the Westood branch opens, but I still feel a little weird about that - especially because I didn't love it. If it was something that I absolutely couldn't live without, I'd say, sign me up right now! But I guess that's a good thing, because at least this way I can make an informed decision. Which brought me to my next idea, that maybe I should call up every gym in the LA area (Crunch, Bally's, 24-Hour) and ask for a guest pass. Then I can try out everything, and see what I really love. Take the online dating approach to choosing a gym. Of course, the danger is that I will fall in love with Crunch all over again, and it will be a distance issue, but what is a relationship without a healthy dose of heartache? So, I don't know. We'll see how much free time I have on my hands and how much effort I want to put into making the calls, finding the gyms, figuring out the parking, learning a new layout, etc. On the other hand, whoever said that love was easy?
I won't even start with how much I loved Crunch in New York. I loved it like I would love a boyfriend, if I ever had one of those. I think I loved it more than I could ever love a child. It was truly perfect, made just for me, created with me in mind, I am sure. There is one Crunch out here, and it is supposed to be a good one as well. Good if you like a scene - which I do. The unfortunate part is that it is on Sunset Plaza, which is completely inconvenient - probably about a 20 minute drive from home, and 30 minutes from work. Not a far distance if you're going out for dinner or shopping, but too much for a four day per week commitment.
So, when I moved here, I learned that I had two gyms relatively close to my apartment. Sports Club LA, which is the best of the best, and charges about the same price I pay in rent for a monthly membership (I'm exaggerating, but not by much); and LA Fitness, which supposedly was comparable to New York Sports Club in its amenities, clientele, and number of locations around the city. Knowing that Ted's brother went to LA Fitness, I checked it out, it seemed fine, and with no year-long commitment, I could cancel anytime. Since then, I have been dreaming of the day I could cancel and enter the arms of a better place, one in which offers towel service so people who sweat all over everything can actually control their environment, one in which has machines that were made after 1965, one in which is NOT filled with college students, and one in which things are actually maintained so that I can find my 15 pound weight where it says "15 pounds" and not under the 65 pound section or over by the stairmaster, or one in which I don't have to look at the same dirt on the same machine for weeks at a time. And don't even ask me about the traffic and parking situation. Just don't ask.
A light appeared at the end of my tunnel about two months ago, when I noticed the big happy sign across the street from my gym that said "Equinox Coming Soon!". Equinox is a step above Crunch and a step below Sports Club LA. In NYC, it was the expensive gym where a lot of Wall Street types and power people worked out. It wouldn't necessarily be my first choice, but I believe in trading up when the situation calls for it. So, optimistically, I called, and was told the club wasn't opening up until late-summer, early fall. Bummer, I thought, but I can stick it out until then. Everyday, when I walked into the LAFitnesspit, I would gaze longingly across the street, hoping to spot some sign of progress, something new to let me know that my wait was not in vain.
This week, with summer being in full swing, I thought I would call again for an update. Surely it can't be much longer by now. But the guy on the other end of the phone told me that we are now looking at November, however, we have a great deal going until the end of the month, and if I sign up now I can save however many dollars. Tempting, but I didn't think it was the best idea to put money down for a club that hasn't opened yet. I mean, what if an earthquake destroyed the club before it opened - would I get my money back? I hung up. I mentally prepared the funeral for my dream of changing gyms this summer. Then because I couldn't turn away from the website, I noticed they had a club in Pasadena, near where I work. Now, I've never been one to bring my gym clothes to work - I need to go home first, just to make sure I pick the right outfit, choose the right music (no longer an issue thanks to iPod), and basically just make sure I don't forget anything. It's too much pressure to always have to try and remember everything in the morning. But you know, life is all about sacrifice and compromise, and I thought, I'm willing to play with change. In NYC, another issue was always about the transportation of the gym bag; here I have a car with a trunk, it just might be time.
So I called back. At the thought that he might make a sale and meet his monthly quota, the guy put me on the guest list for Pasadena for Wed night. All day Wednesday I felt like I was preparing for a first date. It could have been my date with destiny - the day my gym life changed forever. Or at least for the immediate future. (And that's all we really have sometimes, isn't it?)
Anyway, I wanted to love it, I really did. I drove into an enormous parking structure with row after row of welcoming spaces. Pick me, pick me! I found out that Equinox comps 2 hours of parking - not 1 1/2 hours like LA Fitness - which was a sigh of relief. (Not that I work out for two hours, or even an hour and a half necessarily, but when you factor in looking for parking, changing, waiting for equipment, stretching, and all that, it's easy to cut it pretty close). The club was immaculate, but almost too immaculate, to the point that it felt sterile. It did have the most current equipment, and plenty of it. But the club seemed empty. A selling point in that there were no lines, but it looked more the way it should on a Saturday afternoon, not a Wednesday night. The manager explained how each cardio machine had it's own audio box to connect to the TV, but frankly, now that I have my iPod, it's not really a selling point for me to consider that that's how my dues are being spent. Same thing with the Kohler sinks in the bathroom that really belonged in a spa or at the restroom at Spago. On the upside, the locker rooms were fabulous, the towel service is beyond, the machines and weights are top of the line, they have everything I could ever want and more. I guess that's the thing - I don't necessarily want or need the "more".
In any case, I am going back after work today, since I was put on the guest list for three days. I can always use this gym until the Westood branch opens, but I still feel a little weird about that - especially because I didn't love it. If it was something that I absolutely couldn't live without, I'd say, sign me up right now! But I guess that's a good thing, because at least this way I can make an informed decision. Which brought me to my next idea, that maybe I should call up every gym in the LA area (Crunch, Bally's, 24-Hour) and ask for a guest pass. Then I can try out everything, and see what I really love. Take the online dating approach to choosing a gym. Of course, the danger is that I will fall in love with Crunch all over again, and it will be a distance issue, but what is a relationship without a healthy dose of heartache? So, I don't know. We'll see how much free time I have on my hands and how much effort I want to put into making the calls, finding the gyms, figuring out the parking, learning a new layout, etc. On the other hand, whoever said that love was easy?
posted by Lori @ 9:47 AM
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