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5 gyms, part 2
Aug. 15th, 2013 23:43next on my list, working myself back towards downtown, was the lifestyle health & fitness. the name is a bit of a turn-off, but at least in this case "lifestyle" is actually meaningful instead of derogatory.
at reception was laura, a very chirpy, very young woman, who was also very friendly and interrupted her sushi meal immediately to answer my question even though i said she could finish eating, really, i wasn't in a hurry. showed me their class schedule, their pricelist, and then the gym. this place has been here for a long time, apparently they have adylt members who originally came to participate in "aquatot" programs.
pool! they have a pool. 25 lovely metres of pool, newly renovated, surrounded by non-slip tile, completely with aquacize classes. their classes in general are a good mix of easy, gentle beginner classes and power stuff. the tour was too fast; laura seemed to run at about 3 times the rps i am. and i was preoccupied by the pool! this gym got 100 extra points just for the pool.
they have a number of affiliated trainers. no fat ones (nobody has fat trainers), but these at least varied in age from very young to very old; they have two trainers who deal specifically with rehab and old age issues. that is promising. alas laura thought there was no established way to have an interview with a trainer without becoming a member, but she was very understanding when i said that that wasn't going to work for me, and told me to leave my name and she would find out for me whether we could do something about that. she also gave me a guest pass for 7 days of trial.
the facility felt well-used, but parts of it were quite new and airy (the pool, the aerobics and yoga rooms). they have two levels; one the co-ed area, one for women only. there was some banter between people who were working out, which felt friendly (all the other gyms seemed more like people hardly talked to each other). somebody might have flirted with me. maybe. i am never quite sure of that sort of thing -- it wasn't obnoxious, which matters. the website said they had a community atmosphere, but didn't give that impression -- but the actual place does.
this is my definite favourite so far. i need to figure out the trainer situation.
last was vi fitness. they have two nanaimo locations, one co-ed, one women-only. they also have other gyms on the island, including courtenay, where we might be moving if the paramour's mother decides to come out here. that would make longer-term membership an easy thing to handle.
these guys were on the ball. i had no sooner said "hi, i'm thinking of joining a gym" to the person at reception as she had grabbed somebody (cassandra) for an intake interview -- there were several people at reception, which i like a heck of a lot better than only one person handling everything. she asked a lot of good questions, and then told me about the gym, their "bodyage" system, their classes, and gave me a tour. very bright, spacious facility with easy-to-use machines (each machine had very clear instructions on it, and brightly coloured, orange knobs to show which bits adjusted) -- this is nicely geared towards people who might be new to gyms. there was absolutely no condescension here when i said i was a newb. there were some people present who were definitely new as well; taking their time to get their machines ready. there were several quite heavy-set people. the intake rep was ready to make an appointment with a personal trainer for me right away, though i did not get a choice (and IMO she made a suboptimal decision, but for all i know that was the best she could do). i could of course ask for another trainer interview, which i'll do if i decide to join. i also need to find out whether i can bring my own.
while i liked the personal attention, i didn't like the hard sell that came right afterwards ("if you sign up today we'll waive the initiation fee"). she wasn't terribly pushy about it though, and remained friendly after i laughed a bit and said "please don't push it, i never buy on impulse". well trained.
this is probably my second favourite so far because the personal attention feels good at this stage -- a far cry from the first place which was about as impersonal as you can get.
i booked an appointment for the next day with rachael. more on that after i've slept.
no kayaking; i drove by departure bay, but was worn out from talking to so many strangers.
neither northridge nor harbour city fitness have called me back about personal training. gloria (the trainer i really liked from the website of the nanaimo athletic club) emailed me back, and we have an appointment for monday.
at reception was laura, a very chirpy, very young woman, who was also very friendly and interrupted her sushi meal immediately to answer my question even though i said she could finish eating, really, i wasn't in a hurry. showed me their class schedule, their pricelist, and then the gym. this place has been here for a long time, apparently they have adylt members who originally came to participate in "aquatot" programs.
pool! they have a pool. 25 lovely metres of pool, newly renovated, surrounded by non-slip tile, completely with aquacize classes. their classes in general are a good mix of easy, gentle beginner classes and power stuff. the tour was too fast; laura seemed to run at about 3 times the rps i am. and i was preoccupied by the pool! this gym got 100 extra points just for the pool.
they have a number of affiliated trainers. no fat ones (nobody has fat trainers), but these at least varied in age from very young to very old; they have two trainers who deal specifically with rehab and old age issues. that is promising. alas laura thought there was no established way to have an interview with a trainer without becoming a member, but she was very understanding when i said that that wasn't going to work for me, and told me to leave my name and she would find out for me whether we could do something about that. she also gave me a guest pass for 7 days of trial.
the facility felt well-used, but parts of it were quite new and airy (the pool, the aerobics and yoga rooms). they have two levels; one the co-ed area, one for women only. there was some banter between people who were working out, which felt friendly (all the other gyms seemed more like people hardly talked to each other). somebody might have flirted with me. maybe. i am never quite sure of that sort of thing -- it wasn't obnoxious, which matters. the website said they had a community atmosphere, but didn't give that impression -- but the actual place does.
this is my definite favourite so far. i need to figure out the trainer situation.
last was vi fitness. they have two nanaimo locations, one co-ed, one women-only. they also have other gyms on the island, including courtenay, where we might be moving if the paramour's mother decides to come out here. that would make longer-term membership an easy thing to handle.
these guys were on the ball. i had no sooner said "hi, i'm thinking of joining a gym" to the person at reception as she had grabbed somebody (cassandra) for an intake interview -- there were several people at reception, which i like a heck of a lot better than only one person handling everything. she asked a lot of good questions, and then told me about the gym, their "bodyage" system, their classes, and gave me a tour. very bright, spacious facility with easy-to-use machines (each machine had very clear instructions on it, and brightly coloured, orange knobs to show which bits adjusted) -- this is nicely geared towards people who might be new to gyms. there was absolutely no condescension here when i said i was a newb. there were some people present who were definitely new as well; taking their time to get their machines ready. there were several quite heavy-set people. the intake rep was ready to make an appointment with a personal trainer for me right away, though i did not get a choice (and IMO she made a suboptimal decision, but for all i know that was the best she could do). i could of course ask for another trainer interview, which i'll do if i decide to join. i also need to find out whether i can bring my own.
while i liked the personal attention, i didn't like the hard sell that came right afterwards ("if you sign up today we'll waive the initiation fee"). she wasn't terribly pushy about it though, and remained friendly after i laughed a bit and said "please don't push it, i never buy on impulse". well trained.
this is probably my second favourite so far because the personal attention feels good at this stage -- a far cry from the first place which was about as impersonal as you can get.
i booked an appointment for the next day with rachael. more on that after i've slept.
no kayaking; i drove by departure bay, but was worn out from talking to so many strangers.
neither northridge nor harbour city fitness have called me back about personal training. gloria (the trainer i really liked from the website of the nanaimo athletic club) emailed me back, and we have an appointment for monday.