I’m on a health kick. My youngest child is fifteen months old this month, my son has just turned three. We just moved back to the city after a stint in Wildwood, NJ, and I’m hoping that the clouds currently awash over the New York skyline will not impede the onset of spring. In short, I’m ready for action and need very little convincing that a regular exercise regime will help me manage the stress and strain of daily life (kids, work, husband, house, etc).
Last night, I started browsing online. I googled gyms in my immediate area and came up with one or two hardcore body sculpting establishments. Since I’m not all that interested in becoming the next female counterpart to Hulk Cogan, I passed on that one and decided to try searching gyms in my old neighborhood (still one of my favorite spots in the city).
I was a member of the New York Sports Club in Tribeca for almost a year in 2006 so that was the first club I looked up again online. It’s a reasonably good facility (or was in 2006 anyway). It’s conveniently located for me, even now. It’s close to a number of other places my family frequents (the community center, the library, my husband’s gym over by the waterfront).
Still, there’s something about finding the right gym. The more I looked through the NYSC website, the more I was wondering what else is out there.
I decided to check out the two other gyms in the area: Equinox and the Eastern Athletics Sports Club. Well, both of these gyms look like they’re pretty flashing…relaxing environments, tons of equipment, interesting classes. Only problem is, you can’t find pricing information on either of their websites. Not a good sign but I try and check them out anyway.
As it turns out, Equinox requires something like $500 upfront and then charges $130 per month thereafter. If this doesn’t sound like daylight robbery, then consider that the gym (with a pool) by Riverside Terrace in NYC costs around $750 a year per person (less for residents of the building). I’m sure even Bill Gates has got better things to do with $500 dollars than hand it over to an elite sports club.
As for Eastern Athletics, I read a couple of positive reviews about their set up. That’s intriguing, but there’s no information on their website about the services offered at the gyms in my target areas, let alone the pricing for membership.
Bottom line, concluding this exercise and this blog posting: stick with what you know. NYSC lets you know their pricing upfront (before you hand over your contact inforamtion), you can check out most of the relevant information about individual gyms by visiting their website, and the particular branch is just about everywhere on the East Coast (read: they must be doing something right).
