In the New Year are You Getting Fit? Are You Joining a Gym? Read On
Written: Dec 31 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A lot of great equipment and classes. Good hours, nice staff, clean facility.
Cons: No real ab area; paying for a pool you may not use; no changing room.
The Bottom Line: This is a wonderful gym. The facility is clean and the equipment is bountiful. There is a pool and a lot of classes.
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| jo.com's Full Review: L.A. Fitness |
There are 120 L.A. Fitness locations in 11 states. They are expected to increase that number to 350. Facilities may vary. I am reviewing the Deerfield Beach location only. This location is at 1000 East Hillsboro Boulevard, Deerfield Beach, Florida. They can be reached at 954-418-3330.
My first experience with L.A. Fitness was in April. I used the gym but first was taken on a tour. Although it wasn’t a hard sell I was taken over to one of the many desks for this purpose. I checked to make sure the financial information that I got in April is still current. I have been in Florida for over a week and have once again used L.A. Fitness quite a bit. Although my mom's condo has a fitness room - well fitness rooms aren't gyms!
L.A. Fitness is located in a very large office building. It is on one side of the Publix shopping strip so there is almost unlimited parking. They have a suite of 4500 square feet. This is one very large gym which may be daunting if it is your first visit to a gym. I found the staff very nice every time I was at this location.
The hours are 5:00 a.m. – 11 00 p.m. Monday – Thursday; Friday 5:00a.m. to 10:00p.m. and 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Having a gym stay open this late is terrific in my opinion. I rarely come across any with these hours except those open 24 hours.
About L.A. Fitness:
1. The weight training equipment: It is fantastic. I can’t remember seeing so much equipment. There are duplicates and triplicates of machines that work the same body part. For example, they have Cybex, Nautilus, LifeFitness and Hammer Strength equipment. There may have been three machines, one from each line to work my quadriceps (front of thighs). There is plenty of room to move around which is always nice.
There are plenty of free weights of all kinds including dumbbells and bars. There are enough benches for everyone. I never had to wait for a dumbbell I wanted or a machine I wanted.
The abdominal area has six Precor stretch trainers as well as a couple of abdominal machines. There is a movable mat so the ab area isn’t a fixed spot. I like fixed spots but I could live with this one.
2. The cardiovascular equipment: There are 84 cardio machines including elliptical trainers, treadmills, bikes, and stair climbers. The equipment is by Life Fitness, Cybex and Star Trac Pro. The person who took me on a tour the first time was very proud of the Star Trac Pro. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that Powerhouse has them as well.
The second floor is the cardio deck however there are about a dozen machines on the first floor as well.
3. Other amenities:
~There is a very nice childcare facility. There is a charge to use this as is true everywhere I have been. You’ll find CPR trained caregivers and computers!
~There is a beautiful Olympic size swimming pool and a whirlpool in a huge room. The pools were never crowded. I didn’t go at prime times – especially between 5:00p.m. to 8p.m. The pool is large enough to house everyone I think.
~There is a juice bar which is much more than that. Along with the usual smoothies and power drinks, sandwiches and salads are offered. There are bar stools and a television. This gym is really one I could spend the entire day at if it were in New England where I would rather not be sitting on the beach in the winter!
4. Other rooms:
~There is a sparkling spinning room for classes. (Spinning is stationary bike riding done in a group with a trainer leading.) It is large and state of the art. There are 30 Keiser spinners. This is one class that I had to sign up for 30 minutes in advance because it fills up.
~The group exercise room is huge. It is the largest aerobic room I’ve seen. Punching bags hang on one side of the room.
~The woman’s locker room was spotless as is the entire gym. There are showers including one handicapped accessible shower. One thing I didn’t like is the lack of an area in which to change. At Powerhouse the showers have two areas. One in which to shower and one to get dressed. L.A. Fitness just has the shower area. I was also surprised that there was nothing fancy about the lounge. There is no shampoo in the showers (There is soap.) or cotton balls on the sink. I think they keep the costs down by eliminating these types of items including tanning machines. There is a sauna in the woman’s lounge, a group of chairs like those in the gym and a television.
5. The classes:
There is no charge for any classes. I really liked the fact, though I didn’t take advantage of them, that there are 11:00a.m. and 4:30p.m. classes. At Powerhouse, classes stop at 11:00 and there are very few that start that early. I enjoyed all the classes I took. I found the instructors to be friendly and knowledge. Some I took include Pilates, Spinning, Kickboxing, Yoga and an Aqua class.
7. The price:
The price is still $34.99 a month which really isn’t bad since there is a pool and no charge for classes. I was told that the price might go up after January 1.
Registration is a one time fee of $149 for the first person and $79 if there are two in the family. I had the feeling that this could be negotiated and you might be able to get two for $149. The price is month by month but I was told that the price could be locked in. Since I knew I wasn’t joining I didn’t press him about this and I do have a feeling that this might change as well so you will have to check prices in any event. Memberships can be frozen for $10.00 a month. There is a 30-day notice policy if you want to leave the gym or freeze your membership. I had thought about buying one month but it would have worked out to two. It was less expensive ($15.00 a day) for me to pay day to day.
My final thoughts:
This location is beautiful and spotless. I would definitely recommend L.A. Fitness. For the same price as I pay now I got a pool, lots of equipment and terrific classes.
Related reviews:
How to Choose a Health Club • World Gym • Curves for Women • PowerHouse Gym • New York Sports Club
All my fitness equipment reviews can be found here. Thanks for reading. jo
Recommended:
Yes
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