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| - I got a shot for about less than 4 weeks at Fitness Works in Chandler back in November 2012. I was really interested in trying it out as they have a lot of classes which follow "Les Milles" program that I wanted to try.
I was able to score a 20 classes pass which included full access to the gym equipment and 20 classes of my chosen.
I mainly came there for the 4:40am and 5:15am classes, sometimes for both as I am an early bird.
The first time I came to register my pass, I got a tour and a speech about the today's deals and how I could transfer my coupon in order to waive my fees if I was willing to pay 6 to 12 months upfront and I politely declined any offer while thinking com'on man, I just arrived, I just want to try the classes and go home.
Nonetheless, I started the following day with Body Pump, a 1 hour barbell class. I was impressed with the fact that the aerobic room has 2 big screen on each side, the stage centered where not the one, but three instructors were performing.... One facing front, two facing sides in order to show the proper form. Marci has a great class, very fun and dynamic. I tried also Emilee's class, who performs solo, which makes it less entertaining somehow.
I tried FIT with Brian. A 35-40 min class. Pretty intense as you do 3 rounds of different activities with kettle bells, steps and whatnot.
I did a few classes of Body Combat with Cindy. Although it felt good, I found the moves to be hard to follow and sometimes proper form wasn't respected. I guess, coming from Karate to Kick Boxing should go through a learning curve. I'm saying that because I am currently doing it the other way around so I feel her pain. On the other hand, she does a great job during the CX WorX class.
Then comes the GRIT series with Jennifer. I didn't like the first class but appreciated the following ones. Not knowing what to expect makes the workout more difficult as you don't want to be worn out before anybody else but also you came to get a good sweat and you have then to push through. Also Jennifer was really nice in helping out and noncontinuous support.
Last, I did RPM with Carmen. The class was small due to Thanksgiving week however I didn't feel like working out hard or like I used to because of how the bikes are set up. Gears are not located nearby your thumbs but much below where your bottle would go on a regular bike which doesn't help very much while trying to stand on the paddles and switch gear at the same time.
Results matter though. After 16 classes (yeah I gave up 4 but couldn't take it anymore) I felt great physically but not mentally for the following reasons:
Work out were hard some times but not all the times
I felt challenged sometimes but not every time
Work out started to feel boring after the second week, especially Body Pump, due to a lack of diversified music and moves
What I liked:
*They open at 4am
*Handful of people in the gym in the morning which makes it easy to warm up
*Plenty of machines to warm up
*Big screens on the wall in the aerobic room to keep track with the instructor
*Plenty of barbells, mats, weights, steps.... for everyone in the class
*More than one instructor at time is nice and entertaining for the most part
What I didn't like:
*If enrolled, you have to pay an extra fee for some classes (FIT, GRIT, CX...)
*Special classes are too short (35-40 min) to my liking
*No towel service
*Bikes seem old and inefficient in the RPM class
*Some TVs on the treadmill didn't work properly
*The pool is about 12 meters long
*Classes don't have a warm up, you start right away
*Not enough club locations in the Valley to consider a membership to me
All in all I believe this could be a good club to go if you didn't have to pay extra for the classes or if you limit yourself to the treadmill, machines and floor exercise. For comparison, LA Fitness offers similar prices for the subscription and it includes all the classes. I guess you have to pay a lot in order to have instructors certified through the Les Milles program.
Bottom line:
I was able to try new things, which I liked, however I had no motivations whatsoever to subscribe and come back knowing in advance what I was going to do at this very moment as the same music goes by. It's just not my thing.
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