Diesel Fitness

So I got a free workout in at Diesel Fitness, yet another uptown area gym.  It’s only got two locations, but I really wanted to try this place out. It kind of comes across as  a crossfit type gym because it seems like you enter the diesel system and come out faster, stronger, and leaner.  It is, in fact, not a crossfit gym, but more of a typical gym that focuses on personal training.  They are a small gym that values personal training, so all their trainers have 10+ years of experience.  The manager said sometimes people leave Equinox/Lifetime because Diesel offers better rates. When talking about their clients the manager dropped a lot of celebs names, some Yankee pitcher, local news reporters, Dallas cheerleaders, people like that.

A view from the Track.

This is a very not-crowded gym, even during their peak hours you’ll find it to be open. They say they are able to not have too many members because their turnover rate is so low.  I noticed they only had one squat rack, at least in their normal weight training area. They have a “leg zone” that might have another squat rack. Funny enough, they have a sign limiting people to 30 min to the squat rack. I got to use it without any waiting, but there were like 8 people in the gym at that time.

Because it is a small gym, the manager said they sometimes play loud music with curse words. So if you don't want to wear your headphones and listen to non-PC songs this is the place for you.

This gym has a small, friendly feel to it.  From the people I saw, there people of all ages and walks of life here. It feels like a neighborhood gym, but white collar instead of blue collar because we’re in Uptown.  Instead of "Hey you see Vinny’s new IROC?", it's "Did you hear how much Jenkins got in commission last month?"

Layout/Facility

Drink your heart
out, Equinox

I would have to describe this place as a mix of old school and new school. They have weight/cardio machines but they don’t have the latest and greatest and they have some old stand-bys like a rope to climb, yet the treadmills have screens that allow you to facebook on them.  They have industrial-looking metal signs, but the actual architect speaks of an older building (In fact, the building was built in the early 90’s with a gym in mind).  Like they don't have a towel service (keeps overhead low), yet the water is dispensed from clover machines (as if in response to Equinox's GE homespring setup).

They have a half-court basketball, a group exercise room, a 1/16 mile track that runs the second floor.  There is an independent massage therapist who works out of the second floor who gives discounts to members. I might have to go check her out sometime if I’ve got a few knots that won’t go away. They also have a tanning bed for members. Gotta work on that vitamin D I guess.

Emphasis is definitely more on working out than schmoozing. This is not a meat-and-greet like the LA Fitness signature club in uptown.

Surfability

Low pressure here. Like, super-low. They don’t have commissions, and they seem pretty happy with the way things are, so it's very casual.  For example, I was almost a little hurt with how nonchalant the manager was when I explained why I wasn't ready to commit. There was now sense of desperation like in Uptown Energy, and there was no real pressure sale like at some others (I'm looking at you Gold's Whiterock).  It's just a shame that they only offer one workout for free.

Days in: 83
Amount spent: $0

Classic Pilates

Cha-Ching!

So my wife got a manicure at the opening of some manicure pedicure place and with the appointment came a bunch of free swag. One of the things that was included was a free week at Classic Pilates. She wasn't interested but it was free, so I was.

Classic Pilates is in a real nice area of Dallas near Turtle Creek. It's actually over where Equinox is located.  The studio is very cozy is very adequate is bright and sunny. Although sometimes it was all emasculating to be doing vbarre stretches while looking out and seeing the construction workers across the street checking out the class while on their lunch break.

Facilities/Layout

The AC tube thing was here for
only one day, then it was gone.

It looks like any pilates/yoga studio it's very good very clean they have water filter water and it's free and I saw some people and grab a banana or some other fruit after class and I think think it was all free too so that's a really nice touch. I actually had got the chance to have some puréed juice water after a class it was very refreshing and light so it's nice that they provide those little perks.

Pilates

I've done Pilates over the years, so this was not a totally new experience for me.  Once again I'm the only man in the class because it's noon in all the guys are working in all the women are taking a lunch break or are not working, I don't know.  I will say though that this studio offers a mens only reformer class. I'm very much interested in this, but since it wouldn't have been free I decided against it. ...Though I may come back and actually pay for that experience, it's that cool of an idea to me.

Although I've done quite a bit of pilates over the years, I am by no means a master so I don't feel very capable of giving a in-depth critique of the instructor.  I will say that it was a very difficult workout for me, but it seemed fairly doable for the other members, two of which were doing it for their first time ever.  So perhaps I'm just struggling because I'm an inflexible dude.

Vbarre

Actually got to meet the instructor here who invented Vbarre. She was very nice and pretty much what'd you'd imagine: personality fit into a dancer's body.  She was very friendly. In fact, all the instructors were very friendly.  

Vbarre is some variation on the Barre method. I think it has more cardio? I'm not sure.  I'm interested in the core work because I'm recovering from treating various injuries in my upper/mid/lower back.  With my back muscles suddenly able to (but not knowing how to) work correctly, I have to make sure to develop proper mechanics from the get-go.  Thus my ability to, uh, ignore the fact that vbarre seems to be designed for women who want to look like a ballerina.

The class felt similar to a pilates class in that you really work on posture.  However, the movements definitely felt more ballet-inspired.  I haven't heard "second position" in almost thirty years (my mother put me in ballet class when I was young). So there was a bit of nostalgia for me.  For some exercises we used a mat that allows for sliding our feet. This was used for things like mountain climbers, which I imagine is an example of how Vbarre differentiates from traditional barre.

I found these movements to be much easier than in Pilates, probably because most of them don't reveal my tight hamstrings like trying to hold an L position.

Surfability

Obviously I got lucky finding the free week to try. However, they do offer a free class at like 6:15 every Thursday, where the class is an opportunity to train the instructor.  So if you like your Pilates in the morning then you've got a free workout once a week here.

All in all, I really like this place. Very friendly and nice, and the instruction seems to be pretty darn good.  They were pretty funny in that they kept trying to get me to convince my wife to join, probably because they figure her to be a more likely long-term client and didn't take me too seriously.

If I do ever come back for the men's only class. I will update this post accordingly.

Amount spent: $0
Days in: 79

Beyond 500

OMG THEY R PLAYING KE$HA THIS IS MY JAM BRING IT ON I AM KILLING IT RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!

*Takes deep breath*


So there's a new Beyond 500 location on Henderson and to promote it they are offering free classes throughout the week.  So I decided to give it a try.  

Because I work at home I tend to work out at around noon so I signed up for the noon class. This means that I tend to work out with women.  I don't know why but it's very rare to find guys working out at noon.  Well, that and this is group exercise not named crossfit so it's rare to find guys. So as usual I was the only dude in the class. This doesn't usually bother me I mean everybody is always so focused on their own individual suffering that they're not paying attention to anybody else. However, I do feel a little out of place while waiting before class starts.

But if you are a woman and like wearing lululemon, you'll fit right in here.

Facilities/Layout

No power cord needed.

This place has lots of light through the windows, yet it's kind of dark inside.  They have track lighting throughout and exposed ducts, so it's a very urban feel.  There is a line of treadmills facing a wall of mirrors and then two rows of pilates benches behind the treadmills. 

Their treadmills are actually really cool. They don't require any electricity or anything it's basically a inclined loop so the closer you are to the front the faster it goes. It's really ingenious.  However, I didn't know that getting onto the machine and almost fell down because when I first stepped on it I stepped on the high part so it immediately started to take off.  There was a bit of a learning curve, but once I figured it out though it was actually pretty cool.

Classes

This place is basically guided group circuit training.  The instructor divided us up into three different groups and before he started the workout he explained what each group was doing while demo'ing the movements.

People prepping before class

The template was to work at each station for a five minutes.  We had a one minute break between stations and we did each station three times. For example, I started out on the treadmill, then I moved on to a Pilates bench and did three different movements (10 reps a set) and then when time is up I moved to the third station which was working with the kettle bells.  There is did three different movements, all in sets of ten.

The instructor turns on some mad beats, started the timer, and we were off to the races.  Throughout the workout the instructor is talking through his headset, reminding us of what we are supposed to be doing so you're never really at a loss of what to do.

It was kind of funny working out with all these women in that all the settings and weights were set for somebody who is much smaller than myself. The assistance spring on the board probably was probably set for somebody who weighs 100 pounds less than me. So all the board work was pretty darn difficult, felt like I had no help whatsoever.  Also, the kettle bells only went up to 26 pounds which is pretty light for me (I'm used to 56# KB swings). So that part of the circuit was where I took some rest.

The treadmill, however, was where I was able to really push myself.  Thanks to the sprinting classes I'm taking I actually have pretty good sprinting technique right now I was able to go really fast and that wore me out pretty quick.  However, the jelly-bean shape of the surface really made it difficult to work on striking the ground by punching it with my forefoot.  The same of the treadmill lends itself to a heel strike, which I find unnatural and hard on my heals.  This class made me realize how much I need to work on conditioning.

Surfability

So I lucked out on this in that they are offering free classes on their opening week. Their intro rate is $15 for the first class, which is higher then say surf fitness that offers $20 for two weeks of unlimited classes.  I just take this as an example of always looking for opening gyms who will usually offer some type of opening special.

So if you want to work on some of your conditioning do some light resistance work beyond 500 is a pretty good class. Personally, I don't enjoy the these RAMP IT UP BEAST MODE type of classes where the music is blaring from the speakers. That doesn't really amp me up that just hurts my ears and makes me cringe.  Obviously this is just a personal preference thing but I thought I should note that for anybody who is interested.  So if you like working out with others to the heavy beats of some pop song redone this is the place for you.

Days in: 76
Amount paid: $0

Suckers

So it turns out that residents at my apartment are being offered a two week free trial at the LA fitness Signature series that I went to a while back.  I went back and showed theme the pass and they decided to give it to me!!!!  So it looks like I'll be back here for the next two weeks.  I guess I'll really get a feel for the place.