24 Hour Fitness - Mockingbird

View from the weight room.

Well, it's been over 10 years but like the prodigal son I have returned.  I'm talking about my visit to 24 hour fitness on Mockingbird (Dallas).  I used to work out here after I had graduated from SMU but had yet to start law school.  Anyways, it's just like I left it, and that's.. alright, I guess.  One of their water fountains was out of commission first day I showed up, and it remained that way for the whole time I was there.  I get the impression it will stay that way for a while longer.

This place feels like a neighborhood gym, Like there were people of all kinds of demographics working out here.  There were a couple senior citizens, a couple of meatheads, some guys that looked blue collar, some white collar, little bit of everything.  The energy felt very relaxed, there was no loud techno blaring, and no one really seemed like they were trying to show off or anything. Everyone was just there to workout. 

Facilities/Layout

This gym is on the second and third floor of the building. However, the entrance is on the third floor so you'll get some cardio just climbing the flights of stairs.  The third floor has all the weights.  There are plenty of machines, and I really liked the TVs they had showing CNN and ESPN over the dumbbell rack.  I really liked this.  Speaking of dumbbells, they go all the way up to 125# here!  

Worth it's 2.5# weight in gold.

They may have heavy dumbbells, but they only have one set of 2.5 plates in the ENTIRE gym.  This being a big deal to me may sound strange, but right now I'm on the program starting strength. With this template, every day you lift you increase the weight by 5# from the previous day.  So if you want to increase the weight by 5#, you need 2.5# plates. I had to look for a good 5 minutes until I finally found them.  They don't even match the rest of their plates.  I think this is funny because every weight rack has a peg that is labeled for the 2.5# plate.

They have only two squat racks here, and one of them is the shitty kind that has really high guard rails.  I squat to depth, and even though I'm in the 90% percentile in height the barbell banged off the guard rail a few times when squatting.

They do have three bench racks though, plus an incline and a decline. Not to mention the bench machines.  So I doubt you will have to wait for anything, except squatting.

I should also mention that this gym is located in a building where almost everything is dedicated to making you look better.  There's a smoothie king, a tailor, a tanning salon, a supplement store, a fit foods place, and probably some others as well that I'm forgetting.

Group Classes

Seems a little sparse, and I'm finding it really hard to attend a Zumba class. Not because of fear of looking the fool (I have no problem there) but I just don't think I would enjoy it.  A couple of days ago I vowed to myself that I would try out classes that I normally wouldn't try, but for this lifter Zumba just seems so.... wrong.  I didn't get the opportunity to try the boxing class, and I'm actually really bummed that I didn't as of this writing they offer one on Tuesday and Thursday, but my schedule just didn't allow for it.  From what I've heard, their boxing classes are legit, but that's just based off of what I've heard.

Locker Room

Basic, but hot and humid.

The locker room here is serviceable, but that's about it. Like everything else about this gym, it is extremely dated.  It reminds me of a hotel's fitness center, for some reason.  I don't remember seeing any soap/shampoo provided.  Of course, I really didn't want to linger in that particular locker room.  Everything is a bit cramped, and when one person takes a shower it makes the entire room feel like a sauna. I would stay away from showering here.

Surfability

This was super easy to surf, almost too easy.  Signed up online, walked in, and then they activated the pass.  They asked if I wanted to hear about their rates or if I just wanted to try out the facilities.  I said I just wanted to try it out and the receptionist was like, "Alright, enjoy."  I didn't have a tour or anything, just left to my own devices.  I thought it was pretty cool at first, but then I realized I didn't know where anything was (it has been ten years).

I did get a nice phone call from a gentleman telling me they appreciated me trying them out.  However, when he asked me how my experience went I told him about the bad squat rack.  Like any good salesman, he tried to turn the negative into a positive, telling me that they have the TRX machine and I could do TRX squats. "Barbell squats may be old-school, but here we offer the latest in fitness technology", he said.  He then told me I should check out one of their trainers and they'll hook me up with stuff like the TRX squat.  I looked into what the TRX squat actually is, and I have to say, this will in no way, shape, or form help me get to a 100kg snatch (a personal goal of mine).  This conversation has caused me to completely disregard any advice the guy had to offer, and it really turned me off from the whole 24 hour fitness gym.

To be honest, this is probably my least favorite gym that I've tried so far.  It just felt so dated, and with the trainers thinking a TRX squat would be a great replacement for barbell squatting, I don't trust the knowledge of the trainers here.

Starting to tell others about this project, and a lot of the responses have been very positive. One friend is really jealous, and another thinks this is great because there isn't a "gym critic" out there.  They also gave me a few gyms to check out.  Who knows, we'll see how this takes off. If this takes off. I really do think I can make it to five months. Six months is my goal, but we'll see if I'm able to stretch this journey out that far.

If you know of a gym that you'd like me to try out, just mention it in the comments and I'll go see what it's all about.

Days passed: 41

Amount paid: $0