San Antonio's Choice of Gyms (home, pool, health)

[skeet09]

Originally Posted by perticusrex

GASP!!!!!! Southside 4 LIFE!!! LOL::


I called too and the hours were I think till 9pm and they offered daycare included in the monthly cost. For our family of four it was only $40 bucks which I thought was pretty dang good. The only thing w the daycare is you have to plan ahead and call them to reserve a spot. I am going to sshhhhheeck it out Friday after work.

congrats on the new house btw!!!

That's good that there's daycare, that's a big plus for many families. $40/month for family of four?!? Good deal!
I'm always gonna be a southsider and westsider for life. It will always have a special place in the cranky soon to be 29 year old ticker.
thanks for the well wishes and be sure to keep the forum updated with new southside news!

[CamillaB]

Originally Posted by nismospec

what I like is that everyone believes you need to go to a gym in order to keep in shape. i run and do core workouts at home. you can buy most of the materials needed for core workouts for decently cheap.

there's also cycling, disc golf, outdoor sports, many things to do outside a gym.

to each their own, but having more gyms isn't going to fix this city's health problems.

What's also funny is how people will drive in circles for minutes at a time in order to get a parking spot right up close to an entry point and then pay thousands a year for a gym membership. What's THAT all about?

[doss1]

Thousands a year? What is this, some beverly hills-type set up?

Agree with the parking thing, though. It goes also for retail stores, etc. I got my car dinged enough times to learn that parking far away is best...even to deter theft.

[Jimrob1]

Originally Posted by Backliteyes

High-end fitness gyms aren't something I think there's a huge market for here. Both because of the average income here and the high rates of obesity (obese and overweight people usually aren't gym junkies).

Your theory is probably correct. I would think San Antonio would have more fitness minded people with all the military, and I guess colleges in the area. I don't live there so I don't know.

I know here in Portland we have so many gyms, some are high end that its unbeliveable. Funny thing is they are crowded all hours of the day and open 24 hours a day. Portland constantly is rated in the most fitness conscious cities category. Still I see so many overweight people and smokers, and people that don't take care of themselves here it amazes me. Of course I have never seen this much poverty and homelessness as in Portland either.

So Im not sure why San Antonio is always listed in the top cities for obesity and lack of fitness minded people. I would think Portland would be also, yet it makes that best list as the more fitness conscious and not overweight cities. Studies and ratings can be misleading I think. Maybe San Antonio has more gym junkies than it would appear. I would think the city could support more high end gyms.

[LovingSAT]

Originally Posted by odie91

Are all the Bally's in SA dumpy? I'm moving to SA this summer, and have a nationwide Bally's membership which I was planning on keeping.

I signed a contract with Ballys based on the time and information the sales person gave me. A couple of weeks later I went and they were closed, read the time on the door and it was not what they had told me. Contacted BBB and was told I should have checked the sign and the times before I signed.

My contract is not up and I continue to pay, I am not happy with Bally's, I should have stuck with Golds. IMHO Bally's is not honest, and not customer driven.

Just a word of caution based on my personal experience.

[bg2ntst]

Originally Posted by LovingSAT

I signed a contract with Ballys based on the time and information the sales person gave me. A couple of weeks later I went and they were closed, read the time on the door and it was not what they had told me. Contacted BBB and was told I should have checked the sign and the times before I signed.

My contract is not up and I continue to pay, I am not happy with Bally's, I should have stuck with Golds. IMHO Bally's is not honest, and not customer driven.

Just a word of caution based on my personal experience.

I've been a Bally's member for over 20 years, have been in clubs all over the country and have never been in a single one that I thought was dumpy or not fairly well equipped. Not saying they are perfect and they have had some financial problems over the last few years, but they have lots of clubs in lots of cities and they have reasonable dues. I don't think they're dishonest, but they are sales oriented like any other gym. That's how gyms make money - constantly bringing in new members. And I've always felt Bally's has hours of operation that would fit most anyone's schedule.

[LovingSAT]

but it did not fit mine. And you are right not all are dumpy... I do not like the one at the Quarry Market but the one on San Pedro is very nice, the people are nice.... I still am not happy with the issue I had which leads me to think of them as dishonest. and no the times did not work for me, perhaps for most but not for me. I am glad things worked in a good way for you, wish I had the same story to tell.

[stc]

The "San Antonio is a fat city, so there should be more gyms" opinion is sort of a misnomer. The way those 'titles' are calculated is a formula. It's something like taking the ratio of fast food restaurants to gyms in the city. It's not a body fat test, or BMI. So, adding more gyms because we're "fat" wouldn't make people workout. It would just change the ratio that those titles are calculated by.

[Velvettt]

I'm bumping this up again.

My husband and I are in our 50s. We both have issues with joints, blood pressure, etc. We normally ride bikes as our exercise, three or four times a week, 10 mile rides. Thanks to a health problem, we've been off the road for a couple of months now and we both really feel it. We need to do something indoors for a while.

Can I have some recommendations for a place for us to go, please?

Requirements:
enough stationary bikes so we don't have to wait
ditto treadmills
decent locker/change/shower rooms
pool would be nice but not a deal breaker
CHEAP and no yearly contracts

We really aren't interested in any other amenities although I might like yoga.


Anyone have any recommendations?

[crittergal]

Originally Posted by sapphire

I belong to Fitness 19 (which is where they do NOT know how to put weights back, nor do they know to wipe their ass sweat off the machines, nor do they do the circuits IN ORDER DRIVES ME CRAZY) but it's cheap and the equipment is decent.

I also walk for free in my neighborhood--lots of miles and semi-hilly streets. I also do water aerobics through a neighboring subdivision (mine only offers classes during the day for some reason). Actually, that will be starting this coming Monday (very reasonable $40 for 4 months) but up until now I've been going thru the city at the Durango natatorium. That is $30 a month, which was great until I found it close to home and much cheaper.

There are alternatives out there. Me, I'm not looking to pay a boatload, even though my health is important to me. I walk for free and do the things that I like to do without paying for all the extras that some of the gyms offer. For instance, it's not worth it to me to pay for a pool when my homeowner's association has one that my assessment pays for.

Sapphire, I was interested in finding out about Fitness 19. I found one on Huebner, but that is farther than what I was looking for. I thought there was one somewhere around Braun and 1604 but when I went down Braun today I didn't see it or maybe there isn't one in that area.

When you say cheap, what do you mean by cheap, because that is what I'm looking for, and no contract. Thanks!