One thing I haven't mentioned that much on the blog that is actually quite a regular part of our lives is Fitness First, gym to which Michael and I both belong. The reason I don't talk about it all that much is that it's not particularly interesting. I don't really like gyms in general, as some are set up kind of like cults the way they do their memberships. I suppose that's saying something that I actually like this gym, then, even though you still have to go through all the membership mumbo jumbo. I suppose I just decided to talk about it today since I've been there more this week than I have in the last few weeks, since it's school holidays.
Anyway, Michael and I are both "platinum members" which means we can go to any of the Fitness First gyms in the Sydney area. Michael usually just goes to the one in the CBD (central business district), and I either go to that one, or one of the other two closer to us, depending on the classes offered at the time I want to go). The different gyms cater to the different neighborhoods they're in. For example, the CBD one has lots of classes before work, during lunchtime, and right after work, and it's closed on weekends. The ones closer to us have more classes later in the morning and less in the middle of the day, are open on weekends, and to cater to a lot of work/stay at home types.
Almost all the classes at the CBD gym are a half hour, so they're easy to fit in to a busy schedule. It's very easy for Michael to hop over on his lunch break and do a class. People that have more time generally just take classes in a row. The classes are anything from boxing, to kettlebells, to targeting core strength, to resistance training, etc. The locations closer to us have more yoga and cardio classes. Since I generally hate working out just to workout, it's good the classes are short. The trainers do very quick explanations and demonstrations of whatever the exercises are, and then they time you doing them. It's great because any "dummy" can get a decent workout and get more toned. You don't have to necessarily keep count of your reps, or know the perfect form ahead of time because they tell you, and that kind of thing. Over time you get to know some of the trainers too, which is nice because they are just normal people. Normal people with big muscles and unfailing energy.
My favorite thing about the CBD gym is the aromatherapy room. I think I am the only person that actually spends any time in this room, since it's more of a room to go through to get to the sauna and steamroom areas, where most people prefer to go. It just always smells overpoweringly of eucalyptus oil, which is very relaxing if you have never been inundated with it before. So I just sit there, and it's wonderful.
So yeah, the gym. I don't know if there are any gyms set up like this in the DC area, since I didn't really care when I was there. The ones I did know about you usually had a membership to, but then they charged extra for classes, which is lame since that's almost all I would go for anyway. The climbing gym was great, but obviously different than a normal gym franchise, and I would go just irregularly enough that a membership wasn't worth it for me. If anyone from Fitness First is reading, you should expand out in the US so that you can be there when I eventually move back.
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