The "New" Gym

Yesterday at lunch, I walked over to the SoHo Crunch (not really SoHo, above Houston, but it's much more chic to be SoHo than NoHo) with co-worker/friend G, who was already a member of Crunch. Evan, cool membership guy, threw out some good deals. So, I bit the bullet and joined. G got a free month for talking the walk and "referring" me. It was a win-win situation for everyone. It really wasn't a hard sell, I'd made up my mind. It was mostly out of convenience. The gym is a few blocks from my job. Looking forward to doubling up on my workouts again.

I didn't get a chance to workout after signing up. The personal trainer guy wanted to sell me on some sessions and took up most of my time. So, I'd gone back after work. I settled in for a run. Crunch has the treadmills I like, where I could set the time, run until it told me I was done. The iPod Shuffle® and I were humming along, until the music cut out. My sweat got into the Shuffle. I got it to work again... but then my legs cramped. Groan. That was the end of my workout. An inauspicious beginning, to say the least.

The locker room and amenities are nothing great. First off, the lockers were on the fifth floor. It's embarrassing to take the elevator up, don't you think? but hell… that's a lot of stairs. There were six shower stalls for all men and they're open. I'm a little shy. I found myself missing NYHRC. Crunch will take some getting used to.

Today, I'd gone in early to meet up with a trainer for a session. They botched it and didn't have me scheduled. Rescheduled for tomorrow.

This was an opportunity for me to check out the weight floor.

The free weights area is on the 3rd floor and has plenty of equipment. Not the fanciest or up-to-date but good enough for me. I got down to business doing a round of exercises, mostly concentrating on chest. The area is a tad dark and could use some extra lighting. They have rows of lights unlit, but they may be a bit much. Perceptually, the weight I normally lift felt heavier.

Locker room and shower were tolerable. It's pretty empty at the gym, which I like. But as a friend pointed out, it did use to be a David Barton Gym, so there are a fair amount of shenanigans and goings on. Sigh. Can't ever escape it.