4 /5 T. Wood: Ive been coming to this gym regularly since November of 2021. Unfortunately, it does live up to its reputation in the way of upkeep and maintenance. Most of the equipment is old and rusted over with grips that are worn, and seats that are cracked and has poor padding. Aesthetic quality aside, most of the equipment is functional except for one of the leg machines and one of the free-body crunch machines. Recently, a couple of the benches were fitted with new seats and padding, but the movable adjustable incline bench remains untouched and unsafe (it can collapse on you during use).
That aside, the reason why Im giving this gym 4 stars instead of 2 or 3 stars is solely because of the atmosphere and spirit of this gym. The people that come here - particularly the regulars - are very serious about fitness, offering valuable advice to anyone seeking it, all the while motivating others to keep pushing themselves and improve. With this gym being much smaller than its franchise-based competitors, theres a lot more opportunity to get to know the other gym-goers and establish a sense of brotherhood and companionship with them. With this being my first actual gym experience, I was expecting to be met with nonchalance and detachment, but was instead met with a sense of community. Its certainly helped me stay motivated seeing friendly faces push themselves all the while carrying themselves in a friendly and inviting way.
Now these are just some notes that wont affect the rating. You can stop here if youd like.
Im also very impressed with the strength of quite a few of my fellow gym-goers. I find myself ogling the individuals who can lift more than me for reps, simply because its motivating to know that I can also do better and will do better. In fact, one of the employees that works at this gym - Christi(?) lifts with some of the guys sometimes, and she can outlift quite a few of us, which Ill always find extremely impressive and motivating.
Before I wrap up, let me add that Christi is a very brave woman. A couple of days prior to the posting of this review, there was a terrible car accident right outside of the gym. Car flipped over. Upon seeing the smoke and commotion, Christi ran out to check on everyone and make sure nobody needed help. From where we were, it looked like there could have been a fire and she reckoned that she would need to run out with her fire extinguisher to help out (luckily, there wasnt a fire). When she returned, we chatted for a while and I asked her why she ran out there like that, and she put it plainly that if it were one of her kids that had gotten in that kind of accident, shed want someone to help them out. Christi is a based queen, not gonna lie.
Anyways, if you can swallow some of the quality-based issues at this gym, I think youd find that theres a lot to gain coming here. Ill certainly miss it.
