They are individually owned so quality will vary of course.
I’m newly retired, recently checked out several gyms including PF before joining AF in our new retirement area.
I HATED everything about PF except the membership fee.
My fitness level is way below posters here but I see alot of serious people at AF, including many obviously training for events.
Also, dedicated retirees I see regularly.
It’s perfect for me.
Medium size place, immaculately maintained, 24/7 access.
Unisex single bathrooms with shower.
Maybe 8 treadmills, 3 ellipticals, stair stepper, assortment of individual equipment, benches, free weights, etc etc
Year membership is $49 month.
There are “real” trainers for hire.
It’s the perfect size, atmosphere, equipment, cost for me.
There is staff every day 9am-7pm but key access at other times.
The best part is I get to play with the owner’s adorable dog who quietly patrols the place many days.
It’s my reward for the torture that is exercise to me?
I hate when gyms aren’t flexible - if they really want to help people with health, they need to be a bit flexible to individual needs! How many people are willing to throw away $140/month for 6 months?! Instead they lose a customer.
Do you have any association with a local university? Alum, staff, sometimes community members are allowed to join their rec centers. I work for a univ and belong to our rec centers - plenty of 30-70 year olds mixed in with the 22 year olds!
@Bromfield2 I belong to my local YMCA. I’ve met a number of people who come to Ca for the winter from several colder states. I don’t know if they use a reciprocal program or if our local YMCA allows them to suspend membership while they are out of state. I know all YMCA are different but mine has a great variety of classes and equipment. The members also vary from young to old, those who are hard core fitness sneakers and seniors. I like that I can have all my fitness needs met in one place. Strength training, Pilates, weight room, cardio room and the track are the things I mainly use but they offer many other types of classes. In my area I’ve found most of the gyms have high quality trainers.
You know the YMCA is a decent place to work out too. When I travel back to visit my kid at school, I’ll typically use the local YMCA there. Fairly modern with basic equipment. To me, it’s a large hotel gym, but you can get a workout in as long as you don’t make ANY noise and you keep your shoes on. :lol:
Thank you for all the suggestions. I did speak to the manager of the gym where I used to belong and they were not willing to accommodate me, even though I had been a member for 10 years. It was IMO a very poor way to treat a long-time customer, especially someone who paid extra for personal training sessions.
One of my problems is that I’m in a semi-rural town in Central Massachusetts. I’m 25 miles from the closest YMCA. My H is a Harvard alum, but even if he could access the gym facilities, not sure I could and it’s too far–22 miles to Cambridge. I went to college/grad school in the midwest–Go Blue. So no alum connections.,
My town senior center does offer classes–Tai Chi, yoga, and Pilates. Pilates is at the studio where I take classes and I’ve been there (for another class) when the senior mat class was in session. Not bragging, but I’m way beyond the folks in the senior class I observed (there is only one). I have not seen any strength training sessions offered through the senior center. I do prefer “older” trainers–my trainer at the vacation place just turned 50 and I love her. But then the trainer at my old gym, who helped me get to the point where I could bench press 100 pounds, was two years younger than my youngest child!!! He was great.
The closest strength training gyms that I found (via Google) are Anytime Fitness and Planet Fitness (both are within 10-14 miles). Both have low monthly rates, say there is personal training, and that I can stop membership whenever I want. A Yelp review for the Planet Fitness, however, indicates that a number of people have had issues trying to suspend their membership. I have an appointment to visit Anytime Fitness this week.
@abasket Thank you for the link you posted–there was a spinning studio listed that also offered group strength training classes and you could buy passes. I’m definitely going to call them. Not sure that they had personal training, but I’ll check it out and will report back.
I’m surprised that more gyms haven’t adopted the class pass option that pilates, barre, and spinning studios use. Also, I really love the Mind/body app–it’s so easy to sign-up for classes using it.
My husband is about to check out our Anytime Fitness because our Prairie Life closed earlier this summer. We have an incredible LifetimeAthletic gym 2 miles from our house, but it is more than he needs and is expensive. They do let you suspend the membership, though. He cycles outside from March to about now, so relies on the gym only in the winter months for weights and maybe spin class. He’s going to set up his bike trainer in the basement (he says).
I’m starting to get some elbow pain & my hunch is it’s the chin-ups.
I currently do chin-ups in the basement on a straight bar. I have to tuck up my feet/legs due to the low basement ceiling.
I have two ideas for a solution.
Get a thinner pipe for the chin up bar. It's a 1.5" (?) pipe and although it's very strong, I feel a lot of tension in my hands (running down my forearms) trying to grip the bar.
Buy a set of gymnastics rings and attach to the bar for a neutral grip.
@Midwest67 I’m very sorry to hear that you have pain in your elbow. That’s a bummer.
Advil is your friend.
The bar that I use at the gym (and a similar one at home) is the Rogue Speal bar. It’s diameter is 1.25”. I think it’s whatever feels comfortable in your hands. Rogue sells fat and skinny bars.
Gyms do usually have multi-grip pull-up bars on their cable machines to facilitate comfortable (and works different muscles) pull-ups or chin-ups. Rings would work, but they add difficulty (lack of bar stability) to your pull-up exercise due to their non-fixed (free) position.
IIRC, you use the supinated (palms facing you) hand position, have you tried the pronated (palms facing away) position? The supinated hand position I believe will put more pressure on your elbows.
Today one of the owners brought in his body building (physique) competition team to the gym. ?
Literally, they spent about 2 hours there, which roughly translated to 1 hour of kibitzing, 45 minutes of looking in the mirror with their shirts off (not the women of course) and 15 minutes of exercise. ?
I think a visit to the hardware store is in order – maybe I can figure out a way to rig neutral grips on the joists on the cheap.
I did negatives today. Started at the top chin-up position and slowly let myself down. 3 sets of five. I was hoping it would give my muscles some work but not further aggravate my elbow.
Feeling extra arthritic this week. The bar felt so heavy in my hands and wrists!
Body building is for the young. It seems so static and stationary. Seems like the 1970’s.
There are always days where the bar feels heavier than normal. Last Thursday, my legs felt like I had weights around my ankles.
I’ve probably said this before, but bench is not typically programmed in CF. I typically try to add it to my Wednesday and Saturday workouts. But I didn’t get to it today. Depending on how my shoulders feel (snatches, cleans, pull-ups and burpees today), I may get it done Sunday.
I’m running my annual 10K turkey trot Thursday, so I’d like to get about 5-6 miles in tomorrow. At the moment, running seems like a lot of work.
My neighbors actually competed in bodybuilding. Don’t ask.
Managed to finish up week 5 of my base program but my shortness of breath has unfortunately continued, so a repeat echo has been scheduled. No more than 6 miles permitted. No danger of getting close to that right now! Friday I was exhausted after a terrible week at work so was in bed by 9 and slept nearly 12 hours, a record for me. Today I’ll be walking with the pups.
I think I’ve been tested for about everything, Midwest! Not anemic. Only significant blood finding was low platelets - I’m not producing them very quickly. Liver values within normal, blood glucose 82 (not even fasting). I just need to stop being Dr. Google.
Today Mr. Sabaray and I enjoyed a beautiful short trail hike with the pups. Fun for the whole family.
I know you guys aren’t runners, but I watched the best film today - “Brittany Runs A Marathon”. It’s on Amazon prime. It could have been me - other than the excessive alcohol and casual sex the protagonist indulges in initially. Seriously, an ordinary person who becomes a marathon runner. Highly recommend it for anyone setting a goal.
(Michigan native and several family members are grads! But H is GO GREEN!)