| rev:text
| - I've waited a month since joining here to write a review and even now I still feel that I'll never be able to give a truly proper review because every time I go I feel like I find a new piece of equipment or accessory.
First off, some people claim that this is not a "beginner gym." This is ridiculous as any gym - whether in your back yard, a MMA gym, garage gym, a crossfit gym, Gold's Gym, or Independence - is what you make it. You can do "simple" or "difficult" things at any gym so to say that is is only for the elite, trainers, or the supper ripped is beyond silly. The true fact of the matter is that there are so many different people at this gym doing so many different things with so many different goals that you can't say Independence is this or that. I've seen it all.
The only thing I can say is that I personally find the patrons of this gym seem to be very dedicated to obtaining their goals, whatever that may be.
In my life I've worked out at my high school gym, Mountainside, 24-hour, my garage, Planet Fitness, and Independence. My personal judgement of a gym is almost based on one thing - how many squat racks do you have? Independence has three full racks with platforms, two A-frame squat racks, and two smith squat machines. Furthermore they also have a whole litany of squat-variation/leg machines (multiple leg presses, standing leg press, vertical leg press, etc). I'm a bit of purist so for my purposes there are five squat racks. One thing that is cool/unique about this place is that three of the racks also have platforms with them so technically two people can work out (even squat) on the same rack. Most of the time it is one person in the squat rack and maybe someone on the platform doing deadlifts.
In a nutshell - if you like free weights, to do squats, compound movements, or full Olympic lifts then this is probably one of the few gyms you can do it at.
If you like machines, this place also has a whole slew of machines too. I'm not into machines, so I can't really comment on them aside from the fact that there are a lot of different ones from the Hammer Strength type to the cable type to the body weight type (e.g. dip/pull/chin assist machine).
Plenty of cardio equipment on hand from treadmills, to elliptical, to a Concept2 Rower, to stair climbers, to upright bikes, to recumbent bikes, to a stationary arm bike. Not as many as other clubs but I've never seen a certain type of equipment completely booked up (i.e. all the treadmills taken).
Odds-and-ends: medicine balls with handles, large leather medicine balls, and slam balls. Mace-bells. Tires. Heavy punching bag. Jump ropes. Resistance bands, Pulling bands. Stretching bands. Metal plyoboxes. Soft plyoboxes (stackable). Exercise/balance ball. Half balance ball. TRX trainer (x2). Wide variety of kettlebells. Foam rollers. Weighted bars. And even a whole-body vibration exercise machine.
Of course I cannot forget the turf area. This is prowler land. There are three prowlers and (I think) three sleds. There is also a whole group of tires to flip.
Overall, this is a great gym. Everyone is dedicated and friendly. I honestly can't state everything this gym has as I'm still finding new things.
STUFF YOU MIGHT NOT FIND AT OTHER GYMS:
- Lifting/Deadlift platforms with bumper plates
- Turf area
- Prowlers and sleds
- Tires
- TRX
- Concept2 Rower
- Stationary arm bike
- Posing room
- Multiple types of medicine/slam balls
- Undulation/battle rope (two girths)
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:
- Stretching mats could be replaced with ones that are easily wiped down (will probably be black where your body touches them)
- Men's locker room is kind of goofy. Order goes locker room, bathroom, and showers in back. So you either have to get naked and walk through bathroom or just do all changing in shower
- More room for gym bags (they aren't allowed on gym floor so you keep them up in a cubby hole in front of the cardio area)
- Slightly wider turf area. Turf area is by far the most crowded area with people doing plyo boxes, prowlers, sprints, farmer walks, lunges, sliders, and warmups (there is a separate area for stretching).
- Bands/chains for sleds (I bought my own since eventually I'll probably go back to a home gym. There might be some somewhere, but I haven't found them).
- Specific grip strength training machines (I'm getting picky here with my wish-list).
- Slightly lower monthly membership fee.
REASONS YOU SHOULD NOT GO TO THIS GYM:
- You need multiple locations
- You are offended at people wearing clothing that shows off their body
- You are offended at people occasionally dropping weights on a rubber platform
- You are offended at people occasionally grunting/making noise
- You are offended at people looking at themselves in the mirror
- You demand that you area able to get on cardio equipment and have 15 spaces between you and the next person
- You demand that the place have AC blasting at 55F (they seem to use BigAssFans to keep the place cool
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)