Alright, I just can't get into the "gym rat" thing. At all. I have tried. SO hard. I don't know…read morewhy, but I just don't like it. Ok, whatever I KNOW why, but I mean something besides the fact that I'd rather stuff myself with carbs and champagne than do squats and cardio.
Then I figured it out: I don't like all the "gym people" milling about. For as long as I've been working out in gyms, I just don't like the strange social chaos that bursts forth from workout facilities. It annoys me.
So, HiFi, where everyone works out with a trainer. I basically see this as a way to corral the gym chaos, as each person is being monitored, guided and disciplined. There is no "chit chat" at the water fountain when your trainer is demanding you do more crunches. There is no screaming and grunting in the mirror from ape-like men when a trainer is watching. I mean, there's a bit of all of that, but the level is so much lower here...and, I like it. Otherwise, I'd stop going...like at my other gym :)
Anyways...besides that long diatribe (blame the endorphins), here's the skinny (pun intended)....
Parking. Free. Not validated free, just free. So, unlike many other fitness jungles that offer "free" parking, but require you to take a ticket, carry ticket in with you, get ticket validated, have problems in the garage, etc...this is just free. Pull up, park on the 3rd floor if you can, and you are just steps away from hifi. Nice!
Space: Open without feeling bare. Enough machines to get your heart pumping, and plenty of equipment to keep all those trainers busy, busy, busy with all their peeps in motion. Huge, bright windows with a fairly cool view of the river, a choo choo train, and Goose Island. (the actual Goose Island, not the brewery). It's clean, too. Very clean.
Location: Right in the thick of things, just west of North/Sheffield. There's a Whole Foods close by, so like when you are done feeling all strong you can go grab healthy (albeit overpriced) lunch. Close to the expressway (west on North Ave), and easily accessible by the 64 bus, or walkable from the Clybourn red line stop (or Sedgwick brown line, but that's a bit of a hike), then again...it's a gym, and maybe we all need a few more steps to log into the pedometer, eh? ;)
The trainers: Well, of course I've been hanging out with one of Yelp's finest personal trainers at hifi: Rob Lekan (Rob L on Yelp). He's a gem, obviously...but all the other trainers I've witnessed have also been friendly, considerate and genuinely dedicated to whipping their clients into shape, in the nicest way possible! ;)
Other perks: massage room, clean locker rooms/showers, water cooler.