Gyms/Fitness Centers in Cinci (Mason, Lebanon: for sale, college, living)

[peanut33]

Has anyone been to the YMCA on Kingsley Drive?

[Chemistry_Guy]

Both UC and Xavier have pretty decent fitness centers that have reasonable community membership rates. I love college gyms because there are always dozens of guys playing pickup basketball, while the lap lanes are empty. At more 'adult professional' gyms, the basketball courts are empty and the lap lanes are crowded.

Gym culture does crack me up a bit, though. My ex wife would drive ten miles to an expensive gym just to walk on a treadmill for an hour and then sit on some resistance machines for 45 minutes without breaking a sweat.

I have enough intense physical work to do at my house for strength training and trail running with my dogs and bicycle commuting for cardio that I never feel the need to go to the gym except to swim a few miles or play pickup sports when I get the urge. When my youngest brother was talking about joining a gym despite the fact that my parents were still paying for some of his expenses, my dad gave him a 16 lb sledgehammer and a rock chisel and told him that if he had energy to burn he could make himself useful. To my brother's credit, he managed to get pretty jacked working for $5/hour doing back breaking (post hole digging, concrete slab busting, driveway pouring) work for my dad for a summer. When my dad and his brothers were younger they all looked like bodybuilders despite the fact that there were no gyms and no one had crossfit or p90x or anything like that. They just spent their evenings and weekends helping my great uncle bale hay and put up fence. I just find it odd that our culture loves gyms but hates physical labor so much.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by Chemistry_Guy

I just find it odd that our culture loves gyms but hates physical labor so much.

Great statement. I guess physical labor is just so demeaning?

[natininja]

Chemistry Guy,

Do you mean physical labor or just any sort of functional physical activity? Because they also seem averse to active transportation (walking and cycling). Many times I've seen jokes about taking the elevator to the gym. Like exercise can only be had at the gym, rather than simply working it into your daily routine. (I almost always take the stairs in a building I'm familiar with. Unless it's more than 5-7 floors I'm walking up, then I take the elevator, more because of time savings than anything.)

I always find treadmills and stationary bikes silly. I'd rather go for a walk or cycle around my neighborhood. (Especially in Cincinnati, where you can get all the resistance you want via hills.)

[TomJones123]

Originally Posted by natininja

I always find treadmills and stationary bikes silly. I'd rather go for a walk or cycle around my neighborhood. (Especially in Cincinnati, where you can get all the resistance you want via hills.)

I use various stairs in my neighborhood to exercise. I have to say that pacing up and down Mount Auburn 5 times is way more intense than anything I've ever done at Urban Active (now L.A. Fitness).

[natininja]

That's what would give me reservations about living there. I am all for walking and cycling, but sometimes you're tired and just want to get home. Having to walk or cycle up Mt. Auburn under those conditions might not make me too happy. Sounds wimpy, but I honestly do feel like I have a tolerance for such things. But that might be a bit too much. I'd have to try it out a few times and figure out if it's tolerable.

In Europe, I relied on my bike almost exclusively for transportation, and for a time I lived in a 5-floor walk-up. I loved it, although I was surprised to find out my body never totally got used to it and I was always a little winded at the top of the steps.

[TomJones123]

Originally Posted by natininja

That's what would give me reservations about living there. I am all for walking and cycling, but sometimes you're tired and just want to get home. Having to walk or cycle up Mt. Auburn under those conditions might not make me too happy.

I understand that. Though, there are better ways to get uptown than Sycamore. Liberty Hill isn't too bad, and Vine Street is pretty easy as well.

I use the various stairs on Mount Auburn for exercise. They absolutely do the trick.

[Sarah Perry]

At my age a brisk walk around the neighborhood is what's probably appropriate anyway, so I do that and I only have to invest in a good pair of shoes once in a while. I was astounded when we moved here when I checked into Y membership--it seems to be really geared toward families and I thought was shockingly pricy for an individual. But I guess the bottom line is I have a hard time with the concept of paying to exercise.

I did belong to the fitness center at Mercy Western Hills for a year or so, until I convinced myself that going to water aerobics was causing me to catch a lot of colds. I forget what it cost, but it's a very nice facility for anyone reading who's in that area. (I realize the OP is not.)

[Chemistry_Guy]

Originally Posted by natininja

Chemistry Guy,

Do you mean physical labor or just any sort of functional physical activity? Because they also seem averse to active transportation (walking and cycling). Many times I've seen jokes about taking the elevator to the gym. Like exercise can only be had at the gym, rather than simply working it into your daily routine. (I almost always take the stairs in a building I'm familiar with. Unless it's more than 5-7 floors I'm walking up, then I take the elevator, more because of time savings than anything.)

I always find treadmills and stationary bikes silly. I'd rather go for a walk or cycle around my neighborhood. (Especially in Cincinnati, where you can get all the resistance you want via hills.)

All of the above. People will drive their car to a gym and then pay for a spinning class when the simple bike ride to and from the gym would give a better workout in half the time. People will sit on a bench in front of a mirror doing biceps curls incorrectly yet they would never think of re-stacking their firewood or building a retaining wall out of fieldstones. At work, people will wait several minutes for an elevator to go up one floor. I am just a huge proponent of fitness through practical exercise. Too many people are sold on the idea that all muscle building and calorie burning happens in a gym while simultaneously believing that all hard physical work should be done by a machine or a paid laborer.

I was college athlete that followed a strict weight training program all four years and I understand that there are some aspects of training that are best done in a gym. At a high level, it is important to isolate muscle groups and rest others to maximize gains and to prevent injuries. When you are lifting every day, running 60 miles a week, swimming and doing plyometrics to avoid joint inflammation, racing, jumping, and throwing competitively every other week or so then a good gym is critical. If you are trying to lose the ten pounds you gained on vacation, a gym is a waste of time and resources.

[natininja]

^ Well said! I totally agree. People crack me up with those attitudes. Bizarre social constructs.