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hey everyone! as i do more research on raleigh and surrounding areas, clayton has caught my eye. one thing important to us is having access to a decent gym that is close. i am hoping to get some of ya'll's opinions of clayton fitness center.
does it have a good selection of free weights? i'm not much of a machine person. squat racks, benches, plenty of dumbbells? looks like they have cardio equipment, but do they have spin bikes?
does it have a 'meat market' feel (what i use to describe people prancing around in skimpy work out gear not really working out, just trying to pick someone up!)? what i love about my current gym (hydeparkgym.com) is that it's locally owned, a bit of a dungeon, with great trainers that actually know what they're doing, a great range of equipment, and no pop music blaring.
I've only driven past it a few times. From what I can tell, they have ALOT of equipment. I remember seeing a line of treadmills against the window, some weight machines and yes, spin bikes. Its actually a really good size gym!
As for your question about the meat market..uh, no. Just from judging what I've seen coming in & out, everyone looks really comfortable. I dont think I have ever seen any "skimpy clothing". My guess it is probably a "married" crowd that works out here. I know my neighbor joined this gym and he likes it. Its definately a neighborhood gym.
My husband goes to Clayton Fitness and I did for 8 years before changing to what is now KX Fitness. If you are not looking for the "meat head gym" you should consider KX over Peak. The Pineville Club is much better than either of these but costs more and is not "in town".
There are some high schoolers who frequent Clayton Fitness, as it's within walking distance of Clayton High. They have nautilis and free weights, big gym, also have basketball and i think racquetball courts....they have early a.m. and late evening hours....The few times I have been, there have been mostly high schoolers there (right after school). I definitely didn't get the "meat market" feel, though....Clayton is more of a family-oriented area (with a nice drug-infested part of downtown Clayton not too far from the fitness center haha - no worries though, I've never heard of anything bad happening there). Clayton is NOT a singles hotspot for sure - both times I was there, it was high schoolers and some 35+ people working out...not too crowded, but then again it wasn't 6:00 p.m. either.
I joined Riverwood/Lionsgate last year (because of the pool privileges included & the fact that I have four kids still left at home - but Riverwood is EXPENSIVE - GREAT little pool "waterpark" kiddie sections @ Lionsgate, - we had fun the entire summer though :-) - they allow you to bring your own food in coolers to the pool & they have a snack shop, the workout center is cozy (bigger at Riverwood, smaller at Lionsgate - Riverwood and Lionsgate are about 4 miles from each other, both in Clayton - but you get mutual privileges and can use both gyms/pools at your leisure.). Both Riverwood & Lionsgate have free weights, and nautilus too, although not as big as Clayton Fitness and no basketball court or racquetball court. Riverwood opens around 5:30 a.m. and stay open until about 8 or 9 p.m. except Sundays, where they only do afternoons. Family memberships are about 100/month that includes access to either of their outdoor pools (Riverwood or Lionsgate and a few others in Raleigh) during May-September, and their indoor pool which does not have a kiddie area (subject to area swim team practices of course). Fred Smith Company owns and runs this place- sometimes around January, they run specials and waive the $150 annual "registration fee" (whatever that is lol). If you are a resident in a Fred Smith community the membership USUALLY comes with the rental, but MAKE SURE, as sometimes it's not....I TOTALLY don't recommend buying anything they build because their houses are pieces of crap - i rented one in Riverwood for 18 months but that's another story - Talk to some home owners about home quality before you decide to rent or lease from them. Several of my neighbors had to recarpet, put new HVAC systems in, and do other major repairs on less than FIVE YEAR OLD HOMES!!! CHEAP Cookie-cutters is what they are for the most part. If you do lease, DO NOT LEASE FROM FRED SMITH CO. - lease from a private owner there - FS will jack your rent up CRAZILY....a few of my neighbors who were renting from there had TWO-THREE HUNDRED DOLLAR RENTAL INCREASES AFTER THEIR FIRST RENTAL YEAR!!)
When I checked for my sons last year during wrestling season, a monthly single membership to Clayton Fitness was running about $25.00/debit/year contract out of bank account, or $35.00 non-debit/non-contract (making straight monthly payments w/ no commitment). I know they open early a.m. and stay open late p.m., and they have a basketball court. Although it would have been great for my sons to work out with their teammates, there is an unsupervised age restriction (in both gyms - i think it's like 15 or 16?)....the bottom line is that it was more cost effective for my entire family to join Lionsgate.....
If you are in the city limits of Clayton, they have a new rec center right around the corner from my house that town residents can join for like $10 a year - open gym for school-aged basketballers, walking track on the second floor, and cheap classes like pottery, etc., but nothing like Clayton Fitness, though. No free weights, no pool, etc. It's called Clayton Community Center and it's on Amelia Church Road and Shotwell Road intersection, just down the street from Hwy. 70. It will keep the older kiddies busy a few days a week though, and was very busy this past summer when the kids were out of school.
Your only other "workout center" option (besides Raleigh) is Smithfield Aquatic Center in Smithfield (for pool/workout center). Once I did my calculations, it was about 350 bucks cheaper than Riverwood/Lionsgate a year; however, it is a whole heck of a lot more inconvenient & farther, which is why I joined Lionsgate, which is right around the corner from my house :-) Clayton Fitness would probably be your best bet if one is desiring a "man's" workout, and Riverwood/Lionsgate can be an option if you want the whole family to have access....
Good luck!
Last edited by bleighorr; 10-21-2010 at 07:42 AM..
I've been going to Clayton Fitness for a little over a year now. There is a decent mix of machines and free weights, leaning more towards machines, but the free weights they have are sufficient (heck, a few powerlifters train here, and the dumbbells go up to 150 lbs). My main annoyance is there's only one squat rack. But you can find all this out for yourself just by going in and asking to look around, and they also sometimes have one-week free trials.
As for the feel of it, no, definitely not a meat market. Only flirting I've ever seen there is by people that obviously know each other already, doesn't happen often, and it's never been bothersome. People's focus is on whatever exercising they are doing. The gym usually has rock or some top 40 music playing from a satellite station, which I enjoy, but the volume is never so loud as to be distracting.
KX is right across from Taco Bell. There is a place in the from now called KX Wiggles which is a drop in childcare center. KX is nice however it is somewhat smaller but much cleaner than Clayton Fitness. There was a time that I was a member at both.
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