I did the 30 day trial and while I definitely think it was worth the 30 dollars, I wasn't that impressed with the gym as an all inclusive place to get your workouts in.
For one thing, it's not all inclusive. Need a mat, a towel to shower after, shoes for spin class? Each one will cost you an extra 1-3 dollars. While on the trial that didn't bother me that much, but if I was paying full price I'd be annoyed. I quickly learned to bring my own mat. This extra charge did keep me from enjoying spin classes as much as I would like because I didn't want to spend 3 dollars on shoes all the time. Although maybe I wouldn't have wanted to spin that much more anyway, because most of the time it was the exact same ride, same songs and everything. I think everyone in the gym is sharing one ipod. I like the instructor I took most of my spin classes with. He was a nice guy and good at encouraging people to work harder, but I prefer when they are doing the class along with you. I also was a little disappointed that we never used the weights during those classes.
As far as the other classes go, if you aren't a big fan of heated classes you will be severely limited on what they offer. At the time I would say at least 1/3 of the classes were heated and if there were no other options available to me at the time I wanted to workout, I would take one of them. During the bootcamps students were constantly running out of the class to cool down because it was way too hot. And to top it all of us the one water fountain they have does not have chilled water. Once you chug all of your water you are stuck with lukewarm water from the fountain unless you wanted to chip in more money to the gym for some fancy water. On one occasion I took a pilates class right after the power had gone out and that was probably the most enjoyable of the classes as they were unable to fully heat the room. It made me sad that they only offered hot pilates, because I really like one of their instructors, Mari. At the time of my trial they were offering a regular barre class because they hadn't prepared the heated room for barre yet. It was a small studio but I appreciated that it was a normal temperature. I don't know if they will keep that offering once the heated barre class is ready.
On top of the heated classes being way too hot (it's the summer in Miami, if I want a hot class I'll just work out outside!) one time I tried the 'Down N Dirty' bootcamp. It was miserable. It was so crowded that they ran out of kettlebells. And it really lived up to its name when the instructor tapped my ass as she was walking by. I want to believe it was accidental but it didn't feel that way. I'm not a big fan of being touched when working out when I'm soaking in sweat but if it's to help me with my form I can tolerate it. This was not that and it left me feeling pretty violated. Similarly I really don't like when they have some model 'working out' in the back of the class and streaming the whole class. I'm sure I signed something saying that they could take my picture while working out and if my image ends up on social media I don't care. I'm even happy to pose with the group after class when my hair is all sweaty if the instructor asks. But it is incredibly distracting to have someone in the class doing the workout only to stop every few minutes to readjust her camera or smile to her viewers. Meanwhile I'm constantly readjusting my stance because I don't want my butt to be in the shot the whole time.
Because I'm not a fan of the heated classes I ended up mainly taking the TRX and kettlebell classes. Abbie really grew on me and I enjoyed her TRX classes the most. I was less a fan of the kettlebell classes as they were not as exciting and the kettlebells leave your hands smelling like metal.
Other things to note about the gym. Parking is a bit annoying. They offer you 90 minutes of comped parking in the garage next door, but unless you are working out after work hours it will take you at least 15 minutes to get to the top of the garage where they have uncovered guest spots and you might even have to valet. Needless to say you won't have time to shower after your super sweaty heated bootcamp class, but you'd have to rent a towel anyway. They also don't have any places to sit in the locker room which makes it pretty inconvenient to change. Oh and for the most part you can't sign up for classes ahead of time except for a few online that have a reserve button, which makes it super confusing. One of the things I was excited about was taking their antigravity yoga classes but they only offer it twice a week and the classes fill up super fast, so even if you show up 20 minutes ahead of time, chances are it's booked.
I saw ARod sitting outside twice. That was kinda cool, not sure how often he is around. Never got to see JLo. read more