Good gyms can be hard to find. It can be complicated to find a facility that is large, clean, well-run, and with good hours. And what if you have kids? Many gyms don’t have childcare facilities. Last year, when my then-fiance relocated to my hometown of Midland, Texas to live with me, I quit my old gym and the two of us joined Gold’s Gym together, opting for the 24-hour gym with convenient childcare that catered to a younger, hipper crowd. At first we were happy. Now, after six and a half months of marriage, our love for our gym has waned considerably. A review of the Gold’s Gym off of Loop 250 in Midland, Texas:
Pros:
The gym does have good childcare. The childcare facility on-site is spacious and the kids have plenty to do. Our son, who is five years old, enjoys it.
The exercise classes offered are well-taught and the instructors are professional and motivated. When you go to a Power (weights), Spin (exercise bike), or Yoga class you get a good workout and feel pretty good.
Good lighting and a non-creepy vibe. Good mix of ages and genders so you don’t feel pigeonholed by going to the ______________ gym (insert “old,” “jock,” “girlie,” “hipster,” etc., into the blank).
Cons:
BROKEN WORKOUT EQUIPMENT IN THE CARDIO AREA. My wife and I frequent the cardio area and sometimes attend the exercise classes. I used to try to hit the weights but that part of the gym was too crowded for my taste, filled with overmuscled hulks. While the weightroom seemed to have most or all equipment functioning, the cardio area suffers from many broken treadmills, bikes, and stairclimbers. Recently it appears that close to half of all treadmills are out of operation, generating lots of upset. My wife and I are upset that we cannot use a treadmill because all the working ones are quickly taken.
Too many less-popular machines still populate the cardio area. While treadmills are easily the most popular equipment, the cardio area is filled with obsolete bikes, stairclimbers, and other stuff that is rarely used and often seems to sit unplugged. Why doesn’t the gym get rid of this unpopular stuff and put in some new treadmills?
The TVs hooked up by most cardio machines don’t always have the same lineup of channels. Sometimes you find a working treadmill…only to discover that it only has a few channels! This is mighty annoying when my wife and I try to schedule our gym time so we can watch a popular show.
Analysis:
My wife and I are growing frustrated with treadmills not being fixed. We pay a hefty monthly fee to use the gym and feel that managers are using Midland’s crowded boomtown status as a reason to skimp on fixing stuff, rationalizing that nobody will quit the gym because ALL gyms in town will be similarly crowded.
If you can work out late you might be happy with Gold’s Gym, because the cardio area is pretty open after about 8:30 or 9:00 PM. If you need to hit the gym right after work, you might want to look elsewhere.
