Shoulder....Venting

[Pax]

Yup, what Catrin said. They have pizza night and bagel morning once a month here (funny to watch someone do a tiny minimal workout, then sit and eat three slices of Papa Johns), the "lunk alarm" sounds if anyone gets too enthusiastic in the weight area, they have some silly non-scientific "hydro bed" you can use if you buy a premium membership (it looks like a massage lounger with a TV attached). Mostly just lots of hooks and gimmicks to make non-gym people happy, more power to them, I just ignore it all and do my workout.

[Catrin]

Yup, what Catrin said. They have pizza night and bagel morning once a month here (funny to watch someone do a tiny minimal workout, then sit and eat three slices of Papa Johns), the "lunk alarm" sounds if anyone gets too enthusiastic in the weight area, they have some silly non-scientific "hydro bed" you can use if you buy a premium membership (it looks like a massage lounger with a TV attached). Mostly just lots of hooks and gimmicks to make non-gym people happy, more power to them, I just ignore it all and do my workout.

Yeah, HERE they have pizza/bagels 1-2 evenings a week as well as soda. The price is good, $10/month, but it's really obvious what they REALLY want are people to sign up and leave it at that. I could be more snarky than that but I won't

[Pax]

Yeah, HERE they have pizza/bagels 1-2 evenings a week as well as soda. The price is good, $10/month, but it's really obvious what they REALLY want are people to sign up and leave it at that. I could be more snarky than that but I won't

They said as much when I was in after New Years, the manager said "ca-CHING" when a new person took off on a tour, I asked if they were doing we;; and she said "oh YEAH, and most won't come back by February". Seems like the monetary model for most gyms, but this one adds in all sorts of extra goofiness to get people in.

[Crankin]

We don't have a lot of gyms like that... more the opposite. Extremely expensive, either full service, like the one I go to, or boutique places that focus on one, maybe two disciplines. The club I belong to used to be the most expensive one around, but not now. We are only fitness members, so no pool or tennis. I can use the pool for water aerobics, and that's it. When we first joined, we had the whole family, year round pool , tennis, fitness membership, as DH was a tennis player before he was a cyclist. My town also has an extensive lis of classes, including yoga, spin, HIIT, and a gym with most of the focus on swimming. It's not so cheap, as belonging to the gym does not include the classes, which are at other sites. It only gives you a discount. The newest thing in town is Orange Theory. It's basically HIIT wearing heart rate monitors, which are displayed on giant screens by #. Only the instructor knows everyone's number. My former neighbor is teaching there. They scream out instructions to you, based on your HR. Oy. A monthly membership to places like Soul Cycle in Boston is like 400.00. The only other gym I belonged to was Golds, for 3 years. It was cheap, like 600.00 a year if you paid up front, but it was dirty and not a lot of classes. I only went for the 2 classes in the early AM. Other than that, I always had free use of gyms because I was teaching there, so I've seen a lot.

[Catrin]

We have such a mix of gyms in Indianapolis. Planet Fitness is the cheapest, and goofiest, but we run the entire gamut. If I COULD do more than walk the track and use the Cybex Arc Trainer (an elliptical-type variant - the only one that doesn't hurt knee nor hip AND I can avoid using my arms) I would either rejoin NIFS or the local Y - probably NIFS for a couple of good reasons. It's depressing to go there, however, given I can't do 99% of what they offer - but the Tai Chi, hiking, and pavement walking should fill most of my needs, and hopefully some intelligent isometric work will help my arms a bit.

One of my former competition kettlebell training partners (who became a literal world champion in the 2015 Kettlebell Worlds in Dublin) teaches at one of the local Orange Theory locations. She isn't impressed with the entire philosophy there but she makes such good money there for a few hours a week that she has stuck around.

I have also managed to sell my entire kettlebell herd for 50% of what I initially paid for it. The deal happens Saturday. I suppose I could have charged more but that didn't feel right. Kettlebells don't go stale or can be broken - short of some major disaster

[Pax]

Glad you found a home for your kettle bells, Catrin! Probably good to get them out of sight before you're tempted to give them a go again.

[Sky King]

Change is SOOO hard. I gave up my favorite gym and joined the YMCA - trying to be fiscally responsible. My observation of those using kettle bells at the Y is yikes! these folks have no idea how to swing a kettle bell. I am still trying out all the different group fitness classes to see what works best for my tricky knee. Yesterday I took a spin class, I haven't been on my bike since Thanksgiving, ugh. The instructor was at least more of bike rider than a spin instructor. She had us working on steady cadence while using "4" gears. The cadence was 100rpm which is quicker than I normally ride so I didn't get to carried away with pushing a big gear. The saddle on the spin bike was a PIA

[Catrin]

Glad you found a home for your kettle bells, Catrin! Probably good to get them out of sight before you're tempted to give them a go again.

Exactly, and I've been noting back and sacrum pain with them, so yeah, remove the temptation! THEN I've funded my next couple of Tai Chi classes