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What gym do you go to in the Jackson area? In particular, Courthouse Racquet and Fitness interests me. What are you paying for membership? The cost does not bother me as much as the process that most gyms employ when signing people up.
I lift free weights and play Racquetball. My wife lifts free weights and does cardio. We live in Eastover. Any information would be very appreciated. We are new to Mississippi.
Check out the The Club, with branches at St Dominics and at the Township at Colony Park in Ridgeland. St. Dominics location has a gorgeous indoor pool with tons of glass and natural light and a ceiling that is made of some kind of wood that looks kind of like teak. Also, the Township location in Ridgeland is about as nice a gym as I've ever seen, and I love that whole Township community. By comparison the St Dominics location is across the street from the hospital (although extremely nice). You get the feeling that's where a lot of doctors probably go. Personally I think it makes going to the gym a little more fun going to such a nice area like the Township...a remarkably beautiful area for being virtually brand-new. But of course most people I'm sure couldn't care less about that sort of thing which is understandable.
Also, River Hills is very nice and is actually in Eastover. It's primarily a tennis club with an elegant dining area, and with a workout center and indoor courts. Not sure but I don't think they have racquetball. The pool is outdoor only. If your wife is interested in meeting other people from Eastover, River Hills is a top choice. They also have a top swim team in the summers for kids, although these days Courthouse is bigger with their year-round pool.
Also, Flowood has a nice YMCA, down Lakeland Drive (a mile or so past the Courthouse branch in Flowood). Not quite as exclusive type atmosphere if that matters, but as a gym it does the job quite well.
Overall, based on your description (racquetball, weights, cardio, and coming from Eastover), I think the Club at St Dominics may fit the bill the best. With the Courthouse, you can't go wrong with their locations; Compared to the Club at St Dominics it probably feels a little less exclusive and maybe younger more lively.
One clarification...I'm not sure which places have racquetball. I decided to check some websites and it may be for that you're best with the Courthouse...just will take some calling around.
The following notes merely reflect my personal impressions and recollections, and are not to be regarded as fact:
Courthouse has the best weightroom in town, fitted-out by Gordon Weir, Jackson's Grand Old Man of Bodybuilding(and still drop-dead-gorgeous - as in breathtaking, Mature Tarzan material, dream-daddy, giant-among-men). The biggest bodies in the Metro lift there, even though (due to a compounding of stupidity) those among them who are trainers are not allowed to train their clients there. The place has Trainers, but they're part of some "program" or something...
I know people who drive all the way from Madison, because of the weightroom, and because it's one of the few gyms in the metro where you are not force-fed smarmy lovesongs from the Seventies, or canned hook-laden pseudohipster ear poison, while you're trying to pump iron. In fact, when the big fans up by the ceiling are running, you can totally avoid hearing any music at all, which is wonderful, and why it's worth an extra 25 minutes on the road to get there.
The crowd is a zany assortment of male strippers (I dare not link to the YouTube vid for that one, but a search for 'Triple X Jackson, Mississippi' ought to show you the biggest one - and that's no illusion: actually, it's near-record size, say my 'Little Birds Who Know'.), gorgeous Rankin County cops and firemen, building contractors, professional models, beauty queens getting whipped-into-shape for pageants, lots of people affiliated with the vast UMC medical complex up Lakeland, and mental health professionals affiliated with facilities in Rankin County (those used to be my Stairmaster buds, back before the Cardio Theatre, when we'd compare notes on the developing life-stories around us), and plenty of the most prominent men in Eastover.
The most prominent women in Eastover used to work out there, but "people who look like welfare recipients" scared them off. (And that's a direct quote, from a woman who built an Eastover mansion that's been published so many times everybody's lost track. She used to Be a Courthouse member, but quit, when she noticed a "change" in the people around her.) That's the downside of the brilliant idea of putting up giant billboards on the wrong side of town (I presume the ad agency guaranteed a certain amount of "coverage", and went for the billboards that rented cheapest.), in conjunction with free trial memberships printed on the back of grocery store receipts (so, basically, you could get a free trial membership, having paid for your groceries with your Babymama's foodstamps). What could go wrong? "Free" is a very dangerous word, in Mississippi, because it guarantees a stampede of no-telling-what, wreaking mayhem while there to grab whatever-it-is, because it's free. Well, anyway, the Real Wives of Eastover beat a hasty retreat to the vastly inferior workout facilities at River Hills, and to private one-on-one facilities.
Someone had also had the brilliant idea of putting in a basketball court, with predictable results. After a spate of predictable problems, and a predictable exodus of actual paying members, the bastibawl court (another something you can't have in Mississippi) was removed. But it was too late: the womenfolk had largely departed. But this is a plus, as far as the menfolk are concerned. Mississippi women tend to dominate their surroundings (I'm being nice, here. I could say worse, and it would be true.), and their departure gave the men some breathing-room. It also meant that Little Gloria was frequently the only female in a weightroom full of big, luscious, gorgeous dreams-made-flesh, Rankin County Rednecks - pretty close to being in Heaven, if you ask me.
The prominent movers-and-shakers among the men of Fashionable Northeast Jackson (and of Brandon and Madison) have developed deep bonds, over the years, with the 'Typical Rankin County Blue Collar Types' with whom they have shared the weightroom at the Courthouse. There's a lot of respect and admiration running both ways. I think that this has been the primary venue for such interactions and friendships, and it's been a very healthy thing.
The Lakeland Courthouse also has the best pool in town: enclosed, olympic-sized.
The absence of trophy wives and soccer moms is a huge plus. I cannot overstate the magnitude of this 'feature', in the positive effect it will have on your well-being (unless you're really, really, rich, or really, really underwear-model-hot, and plan on bagging a few of them, in which case, I'd recommend River Hills).
The Courthouse is still about the Racquetball, and they would love having you as a member (You will be valued more highly than other members, it seems to me...). It's actually the center of the Racquetball World in Mississippi, and big tournaments are hosted there all the time.
The Cardio Theater is pretty good, with about a dozen televisions mounted on the wall. So far, no scumbag or precious princess has been able to override the 'mute' settings on the televisions, and so you can put on your headphones (Ross always has a great selection, at 60% off), and blissfully scan all twelve TVs at once, jumping between the channels' audio, without one blaring television ruining it for everybody. That is, unless some loudmouth comes in and starts a screamingly-loud conversation. We are talking about Mississippi, after all: behavioral standards are really low. People have apparently never even heard of "The Quiet Game". And the women are even worse, which makes it doubly nice that the "welfare recipients" scared off most of the women. The fans in the Cardio Theater could be bigger and stronger, but I've found it cool enough, so far. And the deodorizer is not intolerable in that space (or in the big weightroom), although chlorinated air from the pool sometimes has made my throat a bit raw (keep those doors closed, guys...). Space seems to be music-free, which is a huge plus.
It's a big, old-style rambling health club, with two places to lift, and a variety of options, should obnoxious people or obnoxious music or obnoxious blaring televisions rear their ugly heads. Most gyms in the metro are little fishbowls where you feel "observed" by all, and where there are no alternate spaces to retreat to, if unmanageable people are causing untenable situations. That plenitude of options is why most people have kept their memberships. In one of the little fishbowl gyms, if someone is being obnoxious, then one has little choice but to cut one's workout short, and head for the door.
The building is shabby, and not well managed, if you ask me. And nobody is making the male strippers re-rack their weights, which lie strewn about the weightroom floor. Deodorizer machines make the air so toxic and perfumey in many parts of the building that I've just avoided the place, the last few times I've been in the metro. My 'Godfather' has a gym in his Madison County home, and gyms in a few of his office buildings, and I just meet my trainers in those places. But I'd rather be lifting with my Trainer at the Courthouse - if only they didn't have those dufus "rules".
http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ln...ocr6o1_500.jpg Steven Webb, internationally-drooled-over fitness model, who's worked with a number of the big physique photographers, in the big weightroom at the Courthouse. And footage... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va7jO1hWOF4 Like I've said, all the big bodies lift there, even if they aren't allowed to work out their clients there.... which is dumb, and has seriously inconvenienced and ticked-me-off, personally.
Membership fees are negligible, even if you opt for unlimited use of all clubs in the chain. That's really smart, if you, like me, are prone to finding yourself on the other side of town from home, and need to shower between a trip to a jobsite and a board meeting - or if someone has made you really mad, and you need to rush to the nearest bank of cardio machines, to burn off some adrenalin. There are Courthouse locations conveniently dotted throughout the metro.
And again... The above are merely my personal recollections and impressions, and are only to be regarded for their impressionistic and poetic value. After all, I could in actuality be a Giraffe living on Mars, and this could all be made-up.
Last edited by GrandviewGloria; 08-09-2014 at 04:36 PM..
The following notes merely reflect my personal impressions and recollections, and are not to be regarded as fact:
Courthouse has the best weightroom in town, fitted-out by Gordon Weir, Jackson's Grand Old Man of Bodybuilding(and still drop-dead-gorgeous - as in breathtaking, Mature Tarzan material, dream-daddy, giant-among-men). The biggest bodies in the Metro lift there, even though (due to a compounding of stupidity) those among them who are trainers are not allowed to train their clients there. The place has Trainers, but they're part of some "program" or something...
I know people who drive all the way from Madison, because of the weightroom, and because it's one of the few gyms in the metro where you are not force-fed smarmy lovesongs from the Seventies, or canned hook-laden pseudohipster ear poison, while you're trying to pump iron. In fact, when the big fans up by the ceiling are running, you can totally avoid hearing any music at all, which is wonderful, and why it's worth an extra 25 minutes on the road to get there.
The crowd is a zany assortment of male strippers (I dare not link to the YouTube vid for that one, but a search for 'Triple X Jackson, Mississippi' ought to show you the biggest one - and that's no illusion: actually, it's near-record size, say my 'Little Birds Who Know'.), gorgeous Rankin County cops and firemen, building contractors, professional models, beauty queens getting whipped-into-shape for pageants, lots of people affiliated with the vast UMC medical complex up Lakeland, and mental health professionals affiliated with facilities in Rankin County (those used to be my Stairmaster buds, back before the Cardio Theatre, when we'd compare notes on the developing life-stories around us), and plenty of the most prominent men in Eastover.
The most prominent women in Eastover used to work out there, but "people who look like welfare recipients" scared them off. (And that's a direct quote, from a woman who built an Eastover mansion that's been published so many times everybody's lost track. She used to Be a Courthouse member, but quit, when she noticed a "change" in the people around her.) That's the downside of the brilliant idea of putting up giant billboards on the wrong side of town (I presume the ad agency guaranteed a certain amount of "coverage", and went for the billboards that rented cheapest.), in conjunction with free trial memberships printed on the back of grocery store receipts (so, basically, you could get a free trial membership, having paid for your groceries with your Babymama's foodstamps). What could go wrong? "Free" is a very dangerous word, in Mississippi, because it guarantees a stampede of no-telling-what, wreaking mayhem while there to grab whatever-it-is, because it's free. Well, anyway, the Real Wives of Eastover beat a hasty retreat to the vastly inferior workout facilities at River Hills, and to private one-on-one facilities.
Someone had also had the brilliant idea of putting in a basketball court, with predictable results. After a spate of predictable problems, and a predictable exodus of actual paying members, the bastibawl court (another something you can't have in Mississippi) was removed. But it was too late: the womenfolk had largely departed. But this is a plus, as far as the menfolk are concerned. Mississippi women tend to dominate their surroundings (I'm being nice, here. I could say worse, and it would be true.), and their departure gave the men some breathing-room. It also meant that Little Gloria was frequently the only female in a weightroom full of big, luscious, gorgeous dreams-made-flesh, Rankin County Rednecks - pretty close to being in Heaven, if you ask me.
The prominent movers-and-shakers among the men of Fashionable Northeast Jackson (and of Brandon and Madison) have developed deep bonds, over the years, with the 'Typical Rankin County Blue Collar Types' with whom they have shared the weightroom at the Courthouse. There's a lot of respect and admiration running both ways. I think that this has been the primary venue for such interactions and friendships, and it's been a very healthy thing.
The Lakeland Courthouse also has the best pool in town: enclosed, olympic-sized.
The absence of trophy wives and soccer moms is a huge plus. I cannot overstate the magnitude of this 'feature', in the positive effect it will have on your well-being (unless you're really, really, rich, or really, really underwear-model-hot, and plan on bagging a few of them, in which case, I'd recommend River Hills).
The Courthouse is still about the Racquetball, and they would love having you as a member (You will be valued more highly than other members, it seems to me...). It's actually the center of the Racquetball World in Mississippi, and big tournaments are hosted there all the time.
The Cardio Theater is pretty good, with about a dozen televisions mounted on the wall. So far, no scumbag or precious princess has been able to override the 'mute' settings on the televisions, and so you can put on your headphones (Ross always has a great selection, at 60% off), and blissfully scan all twelve TVs at once, jumping between the channels' audio, without one blaring television ruining it for everybody. That is, unless some loudmouth comes in and starts a screamingly-loud conversation. We are talking about Mississippi, after all: behavioral standards are really low. People have apparently never even heard of "The Quiet Game". And the women are even worse, which makes it doubly nice that the "welfare recipients" scared off most of the women. The fans in the Cardio Theater could be bigger and stronger, but I've found it cool enough, so far. And the deodorizer is not intolerable in that space (or in the big weightroom), although chlorinated air from the pool sometimes has made my throat a bit raw (keep those doors closed, guys...). Space seems to be music-free, which is a huge plus.
It's a big, old-style rambling health club, with two places to lift, and a variety of options, should obnoxious people or obnoxious music or obnoxious blaring televisions rear their ugly heads. Most gyms in the metro are little fishbowls where you feel "observed" by all, and where there are no alternate spaces to retreat to, if unmanageable people are causing untenable situations. That plenitude of options is why most people have kept their memberships. In one of the little fishbowl gyms, if someone is being obnoxious, then one has little choice but to cut one's workout short, and head for the door.
The building is shabby, and not well managed, if you ask me. And nobody is making the male strippers re-rack their weights, which lie strewn about the weightroom floor. Deodorizer machines make the air so toxic and perfumey in many parts of the building that I've just avoided the place, the last few times I've been in the metro. My 'Godfather' has a gym in his Madison County home, and gyms in a few of his office buildings, and I just meet my trainers in those places. But I'd rather be lifting with my Trainer at the Courthouse - if only they didn't have those dufus "rules".
http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ln...ocr6o1_500.jpg Steven Webb, internationally-drooled-over fitness model, who's worked with a number of the big physique photographers, in the big weightroom at the Courthouse. And footage... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va7jO1hWOF4 Like I've said, all the big bodies lift there, even if they aren't allowed to work out their clients there.... which is dumb, and has seriously inconvenienced and ticked-me-off, personally.
Membership fees are negligible, even if you opt for unlimited use of all clubs in the chain. That's really smart, if you, like me, are prone to finding yourself on the other side of town from home, and need to shower between a trip to a jobsite and a board meeting - or if someone has made you really mad, and you need to rush to the nearest bank of cardio machines, to burn off some adrenalin. There are Courthouse locations conveniently dotted throughout the metro.
And again... The above are merely my personal recollections and impressions, and are only to be regarded for their impressionistic and poetic value. After all, I could in actuality be a Giraffe living on Mars, and this could all be made-up.
You aren't funny and you don't live in Mississippi.
You aren't funny and you don't live in Mississippi.
And yet, without having to look it up, I know that 'Neshomamench' means 'Soul-man', although I'm not going to tell you from which two languages the compound word derives.
And yet somehow I induced YOU to replicate my post in its entirety, with the addition of a fine shot of Steven's lat spread, even (That man has a back like COBRA. The video doesn't do it justice. "He's like that photo by Dianora Niccolini, where she has a Billy Doll floating in a lake, and he looks ALIVE!" "Are you kidding? He IS a living Billy Doll...only straight... In fact, somebody famous in New York dressed him up in the Billy Doll Sailor Suit! His proportions are BETTER. He's superhuman!"http://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb...9gr2o1_500.jpg ). (I would add that Webb is far from being the only famous musclepersonage who's spent years pumping iron at the Courthouse: http://www.troyphillipsphotography.c...r_PaulT_sm.jpg )
And yet somehow, despite only owning a few chunks of Mississippi, I know more about the place than you, who actually exist there (I wouldn't go so far as to call what you do "living", but I am truly sympathetic.). But cheer up, Chippermonkey! Your Mom only has one more day before she goes back to her office, and you've got the house to yourself, again.
To the earlier post, I would like to add that The Courthouse, Lakeland, has an in-house physical therapy provider, and things like Yoga classes, which are pretty good. There's always something like 'Boot Camp' or cross-training going on. Just a matter of getting the schedules. And I'm sure the current trainers are fine, if not the megabodies with whom I prefer to interact.
Last edited by GrandviewGloria; 08-09-2014 at 08:12 PM..
The downtown courthouse location (in the parking garage across from the federale building) is the cleanest and best run gym I have ever been to. It is small with no racquet ball courts, but does have a half basketball court. I highly recommend it, I don't know the cost (I'm on an employer plan), but would guess you can get a $50 rate with a long term contract.
Not a ton of eye candy, just downtown working stiffs trying to get an early morning, lunch or after work workout. I do over hear a lot of lawyer talk and WLBT on air personalities workout in there from time to time.
I'll be in town for a week starting Monday. It looks like it is Courthouse for us.
I belong to three gyms where I am coming from. The "place to be seen." The place down the street and the hardcore meat head gym. They all serve an appropriate purpose (networking/face time, actually going regularly and tune ups in training) but it would be wonderful to combine those functions.
I'll be in town for a week starting Monday. It looks like it is Courthouse for us.
I belong to three gyms where I am coming from. The "place to be seen." The place down the street and the hardcore meat head gym. They all serve an appropriate purpose (networking/face time, actually going regularly and tune ups in training) but it would be wonderful to combine those functions.
In your first post you mentioned being married. So why do you care about "being seen?" By whom are you trying to be seen?
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