SWEAT

So a commenter asked that I check this place out, so here I am in the park cities (Inwood area) trying out Sweat.  Sweat is a local gym, so local that it’s not even a chain.  Had I known this, I might’ve not surfed this place. The staff is so generous and kind, and a single membership means so much to them, that I don’t like teasing the little guys.  This place is small, but it has pretty much everything.  This is the first gym I’ve seen that has aerial silks. 

View from the lounge area

If they don’t have it, they will get it for you. Like the guy showed me they have drop pads for when you want to drop the weight (the floors are polished concrete).  I commented to myself about bumper plates, and he said, “Oh those, those are pretty cheap. We could get some if you’d like.”  Like I said, super nice and super generous.

Given this gym’s proximity to the park cities, I get the impression a lot of Parkies and Devonshire folk come here to workout.  Lots of women during the early afternoon. Met some bartenders that come here to workout. None of the guys I saw were the musclebound kind like at LA fitness or at Gold’s Gym. Though I did see some cutoffs I never saw a tank.  A lot of the women here wear booty shorts, but no one’s outfit was that flashy, if that makes any sense.  So I got the impression this crowd is like a very small, subdued Equinox. I saw one guy rip off the pistol squat progressions that I was working on, thought that was pretty funny.  There were also quite a few high schoolers lifting here.  I’ve been told it never gets really busy, and I’m inclined to believe that. I think the gym is just about the right size.

Layout/facilities

Drop pads if you're
going to drop big weight

It’s small but has a converted space/loft feel, which I really dig.  The floors on the first floor are polished red concrete, and they have a wood lattice design on the walls. They have lots of weight machines, but they only have one squat rack and one bench rack.  More than once I’ve had to wait on someone else who is using the squat rack (though never for squats :/ )

This gym is on a corner so in addition to the two stories of open air you get light coming in from the front and side. The dumbbells only go up to 100# here, but obviously that’s not a huge issue for most people. I imagine if you requested it they would get more for you.  The first floor has cardio equipment and weights, the second floor has a Pilates studio, group class room, and a cardio deck overlooking the gym.  The cardio machines all have headphone jacks to plug into so you can listen to what’s on the TV’s in front of the machines.  If you forget your headphones they’ll provide you with a pair, which I think is nice.

Group Classes

Because it’s a small gym they don’t have a lot of group classes, but they have a program where you can play a video on a drop-down screen in their group class room and do a yoga workout to the video.  So you can do a group exercise without being in a group.  I actually kind of like this.  Even though it’s like doing a workout dvd at home I think the separation of space is great and you can do what you want whenever you want to.  They also have Pilates reform and Cadillac and all the Pilates toys available.

Locker Room

Like the rest of the gym, this is on the small side but has everything you need.  Everything is clean and I like how the lockers have their own key.  They also have cubby holes in the front desk if you come dressed to workout.  The bath is stocked with all kinds of things that you would need. 

Sadly I saw no shaving equipment, but again I'm sure if I asked for it they would get it for me.  They had pretty much everything else, deodorant, lotion, hairgel, mouthwash. Pretty much everything you need.  They also had a radio playing Christian Rock.  I have a feeling a member changed it from 93.3 so I just changed it back.  

Surfability

Because this gym is so small you have to call and talk to them to ask and get a trial membership.  When I asked for one the guy was like “Sure, how about a week? Ten days? Does ten days work?”  God dude way to really made me feel like an asshole with this one.

Days in: 62

Amount paid: $0

Uptown Energy Fitness

So I decided to check out Uptown Energy, and it was… interesting.  Before I started this little adventure, I used to think a gym’s ambiance didn’t matter. I mean, the weight stills weigh the same right? But I think, as I tour all the gyms in Dallas, I’m starting to get picky.  Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by the likes of Equinox and Lifetime Athletic. But I’ve started to understand how a gym’s ambiance can affect my mood, and thus affect my workout.

Uptown Energy’s feel is kind of like the Mockingbird location of Trophy fitness, but larger.  It kind of feels a little dark, like you’re working out in your mom’s basement.  They have really cool art on the walls, mostly provided by members who workout there.  I was told noon was when the meatheads come out, and I saw some guys who take it seriously there. Though no one was as big as the dudes at Gold’s or LA Fitness. 

Facilities/Layout

Notice the art on the walls.

The guy said they all have the latest equipment, but if their rowing erg is any indication they have really old equipment. When I warmed up on the rower it felt practically medieval, with the chain clanking and it just felt… rough.  They only have one squat rack (booo) and they didn’t have bumper plates, though when I brought it up the guy said they were getting some.  The bench racks were also not the best. They are the kind that rest the bar way over your head so when you lift off your arms are in a vulnerable and awkward position.  The racks also, and I cannot overstate how much this annoys me, only have three pegs on each side

for holding weights. That means you have only three pegs for holding 5, 10, 25, 35, and 45 pound plates.  All the juggling of the plates turned out to be a workout in of itself.  The dumb bells go up to 150#, so that is really nice.

Group Classes

Very serviceable locker room. 

I was really interested in a 30 minute class the website listed as “dynamic stretching”.  Sprinting twice a week while lifting three times a week is starting to wear me down some, so I’m really interested in the regenerative/relaxing classes. Unfortunately, this was not the case. When I showed up it was explained to me that the stretching is actually just a 15 minute portion of a boot camp class.  Since I was sprinting later that day I really didn’t want to do a boot camp class. The instructor tried to get me to join, but I was a little pissed and yeah, felt like going home.

So it seems all their classes are the high intensity stuff.  It’s not my cup of tea, but if you’re into that kind of thing then they have that option here.

Locker rooms

Real basic, but they had nice shower stalls.  Nothing really else was noteworthy, everything was clean.  I liked the TVs, that was a nice touch.

Surfability

They were prepared to give me a free tour and a free workout, but then I busted out with the 3day trial pass and they seemed a little disappointed that they had to give me more free workouts.  They let me go workout and when I was finished they then talked to me about membership. I hesitated because they didn’t have bumper plates and a platform, and they told me they were working on it. It was kind of funny because the saleslady had no idea what Olympic weightlifting is and kept calling it super power lifting and other funny names.  They weren’t as friendly as some, kind of felt a bit of pressure to buy, but that also could have simply been their eagerness to have another member. I guess you could say I smelled a bit of desperation in the air.

Days in: 52

Amount paid: $0

Gold's Gym - Uptown

Trying out the Gold's gym uptown.  This place is in some prime real estate, right next to the crescent hotel. I was able to just go online and print out a 7-day VIP pass.  I don't think my previous workout at the other Gold's nixed my ability to surf here because I didn't go through the online procedure with the white rock lake location.  Who knows.

For the location, they have some nice parking, three parking lots in total, but I only used the one right next to the facilities.  Almost entered through the emergency fire exit. Oops.  There are some huge guys here, I think that's the kind of guy that's a part of the Gold's gym army.  They really try to promote a strong culture here with the clothing, the whole label of the Gold’s Nation. This place seems a lot like the LA fitness Signature, although the clientele seem a little more focused on lifting than showing off. Perhaps it’s because I never came in during peak lifting hours, I don’t know. But you will find a lot of large dudes wearing tanks here, but probably not as many tattoo sleeves.  There were 1 or 2 gym bunnies lifting. Most of the women seemed to be in the group exercise classes. I guess that is the usual way of things, never noticed until I started this thing and took notice of my surroundings.

Layout/Facilities

View of the weight area.

This place is surprisingly large. The entrance is a small, one story space filled to the brim with stairmasters, treadmills, and ellipticals. However, it opens up to an expansive, two story space filled with skylights, making it feel very open.  They have their own wod area.  That’s not what they called it, but it’s a space where you can go HAM with kettle bells and box jumps and the like. Unlike the Whiterock lake area there is no rouge cage, so that’s unfortunate if you’re looking to do pull ups or need a squat rack in a pinch.

They only have two squat racks here, and every time I got to lift here I had to wait on someone else. It seems people like to use the squat rack for really heavy shrugs.  They do have two smith machines, but I don’t like smith machines at all.  This place is definitely for guys who are ridiculously strong. The dumbbells they have here go all the way up to 150#!!!

They have a yoga room for yoga and mat Pilates, as well as a cardio theatre room. The theatre room is basically you watch a movie while on a bike or a treadmill.  This will help greatly with the boring, tedious nature of long, slow distance cardio. While I was there the theatre room was actually out of order (projector light needed replacing), so I didn’t get to try it out.

They have bumper plates!  Granted, it’s with a ghetto platform that is just a slightly elevated platform that’s entirely covered in padding.  There is no wood stripe in the middle.  This kind of matters for weightlifters because you want to try to remove as much springiness between your body and the floor as possible. Springiness equates to less energy being directed up so you can’t move as much weight.  This is why weightlifting shoes usually have a wooden heel (at least mine do).  Anyways it doesn’t really matter unless you’re competing but I do prefer the firmness of lifting off of wood.

Group Classes

Again, I’m sorry to report that I didn’t go to any of the group classes. Right now my schedule is getting pretty hectic and I’m only finding time to do my normal strength training routine and it is hard to supplement that with some yoga.  Also, this gym doesn’t really seem to offer the nice, slow, relaxing yoga I prefer. Most of these classes are the kind that ramp you up, like a boxing class or a power yoga. There’s one that’s called “RPM”. So this gym seems more tailored to the uptown crowd who likes their group classes to be… aggressive. They also seem to have a lot of them, though nothing really seemed appealing to me. Again, this is all just personal preference.

Showers

Really non-descript. Basic gym shower, clean and not fancy. I don’t like that I have to bring my own lock, but I guess I’m spoiled from Equinox and Lifetime Athletic.

Surfability.

Again you have to sign up online and take the tour after signing a waiver, fairly easy.  However, I really didn’t like part of the… accessing. Part of the sales pitch is where they take your height and then you stand on a scale to get your weight and using bioelectrical impedance (BIA) to determine your bodyfat %.  First of all, BIA is not accurate at all. It has a give or take of 8%.  So if it says you’re at 20% bodyfat (like what it said with me) than I could be 14% to 26%. That’s a pretty big swing.  Second, this whole weight and height thing is silly to me.  This method doesn’t look at the fact I can ATG squat 250#, or run 100 meters in about 11.5 seconds. There are no real functional parameters here, and it bothers me.  The system said my physical age is older than my chronological age, and if I use their program/ training I can lower my physical age. 

I don’t like this. I feel like the process is designed to try to make you feel bad about yourself and that they are the only ones who can help you.  Granted, all of consumerism is based on the idea that you’re inadequate and you need X to make yourself better, but when it comes to being physically fit it really grinds my gears.

I mentioned, like I always do, that I am recovering from an injury and the salesman, like they always do, tried to sell me on the trainers. I really need to stop saying I'm recovering from injury.

Days in: 48

Amount paid: $0

What it's Like to Gym Surf

This project is really starting to wear me down in quite a few ways, some expected and some not so expected.

At first each new gym was a new adventure. A new place just waiting to be explored and enjoyed.  However, as time marches on and I keep going to more and more gyms they are all starting to blur together and are starting to look the same.  Especially with the shorter trials, things can get confusing. Once already I automatically drove to LA Fitness and when I parked I suddenly realized that was last week and I need to go to 24 Hour Fitness.  That was fun. 

The tours are starting to grind on me a bit, and I find myself having a snarky inner monologue while the sales person explains everything. Oh you have weight machines?!!!!?!?!?!? Oh you have a cardio room!!!??!?!?!  Wow this yoga room sure is different from every other yoga room I’ve seen!!!!  Stuff like that.  I am trying to hide the boredom from my face while they talk to me, but I’m not sure if I’m doing a good job or not.

But I think the biggest thing for me, and this is surprising, is that it feels like I’m braking up with someone every time I leave the gym for the next one.  This experience is a lot like dating.  I go to a gym, I get to know the people, the salespeople are all friendly and hopeful that I’ll agree to a long term commitment, and then bam I’m the jerk just get up and walk away. I leave without giving a reason (most of the time).  They call and leave messages wondering what they did wrong, if there’s anything they can do. But I don’t return those phone calls, I just move on to the next, new, exciting gym.  I think it would be easier if I just came in, lifted, and left but for the sake of getting to know the gym I’m talking to people and making (very short-term) friends.

This doesn’t happen as much with the huge gyms where I’m just a number, but with the small chains, or the gyms that are so small they are not even a chain, I feel bad.  I see the hope in their eyes that they’ll get a little bit more income for their business. And nope. Sorry. It’s not you, you see, it’s me. I’m in this time of my life, you see, where I just can’t commit. I need to go and sow my gym oats, see what’s out there.  I’m living a lie, I’m not the least bit interested in settling down, but I’m going into this full well knowing you’re hoping for a long-term relationship.

However, I really think what I’m doing is a good thing. Sure you can look at reviews on gyms on yelp, but most of those are by people who maybe tried out two gyms at most and end up loving it. I also think my write ups are a little more valuable than other write ups you’ll find because I’m a lifter first, then a writer, so I actually know what I’m talking about.  So I think it’s a good thing for the people of Dallas to be able to have a website that does independent reviews of the gyms in the area.  Plus, I really like not having to pay…

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