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| - Here's the deal; I've not been able to take a class here because I'm a male. Okay, I get that, but the way I was handled is what showed me how unprofessional this place is.
I love doing Zumba, as well as other group fitness classes. In the past, I dropped nearly 100lbs because of these kinds of classes.
When I first found Peradise Fitness, I was working an early-morning job, which meant I had to exercise even earlier if I wanted to get an hour class in. I'd tried a few different gyms that had early hours, but they all had something that pushed me away - one had scary bad teachers, another didn't have early enough classes, and the best one was too far for me to really get there and back in time. Thus, I decided to settle on a studio that was nearby me.
After searching for a few different places, Peradise Fitness seemed to have decent prices, early class times, and good reviews. I decided to drop by and check it out. I got there about 20 minutes before the class ended to find a blocked off door with curtains drawn so outsiders couldn't see what was going on. I understood the desire for privacy, though it was a shame that I couldn't preview the teaching a bit so I knew the quality of the instructor. I went to the coffee store nearby to kill the time. When they finally ended, I waited a few minutes and walked in, hoping to catch the owners (or whoever else might be in charge of memberships). I found a couple of women who were willing to talk to me, everyone else just kind of ignored me (or stared at me), which I was used to in a mostly female class like Zumba. Once people find that I'm really there to exercise, that tends to fade away. One of the ladies that actually talked to me turned out to be the co-owner (Beth, the wife of the husband and wife team that owns it).
I told her that I was interested in joining Peradise Fitness, that I had checked out their site and liked their classes and times. She told me that they'd had two men in the past that apparently ruined it for any other Y chromosome-carriers. One apparently was very self-centered and rude, but left on his own. The other, she said, was very creepy and made the women uncomfortable. I'm not sure the whole story on that one, but I was told by the owners (the husband later confirmed this part, more on that later) that they asked him to not come back. Apparently, because of these two men (the only two men to ever join their studio, so they said), they were contemplating whether to make it a female-exclusive gym.
I assured her that I understood, but that I hoped that they were willing to give men as a whole one more chance as this studio was basically my last hope. I was told by Beth that she'd consult her husband and they'd get back to me.
I waited about a week and heard nothing. I received an e-mail from Groupon for their gym that was ending soon, so I called Peradise Fitness. This time, Beth's husband answered the phone. I explained to him that I'd love to join Peradise Fitness, gave him some of my back-story, and asked if they'd made a decision yet on whether or not those with higher levels of testosterone were banned from his studio yet. He told me that they were still discussing it and that, either way, they'd call me or e-mail me to let me know. I asked him to please let me know soon as I'd like to take advantage of the Groupon deal, which he said he'd honor if he decided to not completely reject our gender from his studio.
Over six months later, I've still heard nothing. I've since joined another gym as they, in spite of having both my e-mail and phone number, never did give me their answer. I'm going to just read between the lines and figure that they just don't want men in their place anymore (besides one of the owners, I mean).
Basically, if you're a woman and want good fitness classes, this place is probably pretty decent. It looked like it had a good room and the curtains offer privacy (as well as a dark room for disco-lights and such). However, I was not treated professionally, and when this level of nonprofessional behavior is shown to one person, it's probably shown to others as well. Even just saying something like "thanks for your interest, but we have a policy against men joining our studio" would be fine. I'm sure they're a good place to exercise, but now that I've seen how they treat someone outside of their normal clientele, I wouldn't advise going there myself.
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