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Had a question in regards to gyms in NYC.
I’m usually at the gym 5 days a week, being in my early 30s.
I mainly lift (Squat, Bench, Dead) as opposed to cardio.
Anyway, I currently go to Lifetime Fitness but they are not close by to me in the city.
I’ve got my choice of 3 gyms nearby:
-92nd St Y
-NYSC
-Equinox
I’ve been told Equinox, if I can afford it, would be the place to go.
It’s pricey ($240 a month) but there is no initiation fee.
NYSC is only $90 but it got really bad reviews.
92nd Y I heard is more for elders.
Again, what’s most important for me is that I can get the weights and machines I need, usually at 4-5 PM. As well, being from outside town, I do find the gym to be a great place to meet people with similar interests.
Equinox worth it for me or excess luxury?
I’m used to Lifetime in the suburbs.
I work in FiDi which gave me the opportunity to use "flagship" gyms. I was a member of NYSC, Wall Street with a passport plan. It was $80 which I eventually reduced to $40 using a corporate discount. It was a decent gym because it was a flagship location. However, there was a time the showers were down and I had to use satellite locations. They sucked. Once or twice I went to midtown and used the one inside a hotel that has a pool. That was nice, but very inconvenient.
Verdict: NYSC varies from location to location. Your home gym is the location you need to care about.
In addition to having that membership, I was receiving Physical Therapy that was inside Equinox, also on Wall Street. It was very nice, the locker rooms were clean and the towels were much cushier and softer. Pretending I didn't have a corporate discount, was fancy soap and cushy towels worth doubling my gym rate? NO. I wasn't doing classes so it didn't matter if their trainers are better etc. Most of the work I do is in the style of CrossFit which only requires a mat, a rowing machine, bicycles, treadmill, free weights, nothing special to any particular gym.
Verdict: Equinox: It's not worth the price
I took a long hiatus from the gym due to many injuries and lifestyle changes that make it hard for me to even go to the gym. I joined Planet Fitness because of their bottom of the barrel pricing. If I wasn't going to the gym, (which happens), at least I'm not throwing away a lot of money. Yes, I have to bring my own towel. This location, on Broadway also seems to be a flagship, so it's pretty decent, relatively. I haven't gone there many times and it's imperfect, but at $10 a month, I'm not kicking myself for a membership I'm not using. One workout makes my monies worth, even if I have to bring my own darn towel.
I forgot to mention, when NYSC moved to Broad, and lost both the sauna and steamroom, I could not in good conscious see any darn difference between IT, and Planet Fitness. They were spaced two blocks apart, equal difference from my office, equal amount of equipment that mattered to me; the only difference was $35 and towels. So I picked Planet Fitness. (Also the women's locker room was a normal size, not the claustrophobic one that NYSC had become.)
All in all, what matters is not the name brand, but the particular location and what it has. Over the years I have been to many NYSC locations. Except for the one in the midtown hotel, and the former Wall Street location, they all were pretty meh. So if I'm doing meh, let it cost less.
Now if you have enough disposable income for Equinox and you want the extras it affords, go for it. But if you are just doing simple weights, any gym will due and the only factor should be cleanliness.
PS: I never encountered people at the gym who were looking to meet other people. People are pretty serious in their workouts, in my experience.
A gym is a gym for the exception of Crunch - I used to always get flu-like symptoms after working out there.
I have a passport membership with NYSC. These people charge me $59 per month, but I have the price fix where every January I pay something like an additional $60 just to keep that price. I've been a member of NYSC since the 90's, and back then, I used to pay a good 140, until I redid my membership.
I never encountered people at the gym who were looking to meet other people. People are pretty serious in their workouts, in my experience.
I agree as someone who worked at gyms and been a member to many of them.
I know for me when I check in, I greet the person working the desk and don't talk to anyone until I leave and say bye to the desk staff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stormgal
A gym is a gym for the exception of Crunch - I used to always get flu-like symptoms after working out there.
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Wow, really? I used to work at crunch, like 20 years ago. They were very clean then. Guess they went downhill.
I agree as someone who worked at gyms and been a member to many of them.
I know for me when I check in, I greet the person working the desk and don't talk to anyone until I leave and say bye to the desk staff.
Wow, really? I used to work at crunch, like 20 years ago. They were very clean then. Guess they went downhill.
I also agree. I say hello to the front desk but keep to myself afterwards. I don't want to spend an entire day at the gym talking. I see a lot of people texting on their phones on the gym floor.
I also agree. I say hello to the front desk but keep to myself afterwards. I don't want to spend an entire day at the gym talking. I see a lot of people texting on their phones on the gym floor.
Where I live now, I have been going to my gym since 2010 so everybody locally I know, is from there.
Just join blink fitness (parent compant equinox) they are pretty clean and "aspirational" i paid $280 fkr the whole year for access to any club. No other fees. Think that works out to about $23 a month.
The NYSC has such scary reviews I didn't even consider it, but sucked it up and paid for Equinox. It is really clean and usually has equipment available when you want it. Whether that's worth about $200/mo. is up to you, but I figured that if it wasn't clean, that would just be my excuse not to go.
Also check if your employer may have a deal with Equinox. Many companies do in NYC ask membership services. Lifetime NYC club is on 42 amd 11th ave in the Sky Bldg.
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