My gym VS the new LA fitness

[bodyhard]

I go to Dolphin Fitness in the Bronx, they just opened a LA Fitness roughly 10 blocks from Dolphin. They are trying to take the members.

DF is less than $200 for the year, LAF you have to put down $100. first and last month ($45 each) and then pay $45 a month.

LAF is huge has EVERYTHING, all the free weights you want, pool, steam room, sauna, boxing, spin class, crossfit, cardio room, kettle bells, you name it they have it.
DF is extremely small, mostly free weights.

People who train at LAF (at least from the two times I was there, once with my DIL and once training with my son) seem to stay away from the free weights, use the circuit and spin stuff and well are pretty much average looking.

People who train at DF, squat, use chalk to deadlift and you will find some really big bodybuilding type guys there.

I am staying at DF, the only problem is, it is getting TOO crowded, all the benches, the squat racks are up against each other and you can't walk without bumping into something . I will take some pics tomorrow to show how crowded it is getting, because they are trying to get too much equipment to compete with LAF.

[OutOfStep]

I go to Dolphin Fitness in the Bronx, they just opened a LA Fitness roughly 10 blocks from Dolphin. They are trying to take the members.

DF is less than $200 for the year, LAF you have to put down $100. first and last month ($45 each) and then pay $45 a month.

LAF is huge has EVERYTHING, all the free weights you want, pool, steam room, sauna, boxing, spin class, crossfit, cardio room, kettle bells, you name it they have it.
DF is extremely small, mostly free weights.

People who train at LAF (at least from the two times I was there, once with my DIL and once training with my son) seem to stay away from the free weights, use the circuit and spin stuff and well are pretty much average looking.

People who train at DF, squat, use chalk to deadlift and you will find some really big bodybuilding type guys there.

I am staying at DF, the only problem is, it is getting TOO crowded, all the benches, the squat racks are up against each other and you can't walk without bumping into something . I will take some pics tomorrow to show how crowded it is getting, because they are trying to get too much equipment to compete with LAF.

I can relate to being cramped. My gym recently moved all the free weights and equipment into a small room to make space on the main floor for this $40,000 jungle gym for the crossfit crowd to play on. I rarely see anybody ever use the damn thing and now you have to be a contortionist just to load plates onto the bars because everything is jammed in so close together. This is what happens when your gym gets a new manager who doesn't look like he even lifts. Even World Gym is getting soft.

[99boogie]

I switched from powerhouse to La Fitness. The gym itself is fine. The only thing I have a issue with is all the BS lifters who walk around like abunch of tough guys and have never done a squat or dl in their life. If you can get in there in the off hours its great.

[quicksand jesus]

Still amazed the your DF is under $200. DF by me went up to almost $400. Didn't renew and joined Crunch for $10 month with no contract.

[ChazWood]

The only thing I have a issue with is all the BS lifters who walk around like abunch of tough guys and have never done a squat or dl in their life.

I got 99 problems but worrying about BS lifters who walk around like abunch of tough guys and have never done a squat or dl in their life ain't one.

[shaneinga]

New to the forum, however, I work out at an LA Fitness so I thought I could chime in here. Every LA fitness around me is a huge building full of as you said about everything you need. The only thing mine does not have is a proper power cage. Which really does suck, however they have everything else. As far as price goes, I have found if you pay more up front you can get locked into a 20 dollar a month for lifetime type membership. Meaning they can never raise your rates over $20 a month for the lifetime of your membership. Which is nice. I think I paid an extra $150 up front to get that. Another thing about the amount of space, the place can hold around 250 people in it at a time, and a lot of them around here during peak hours have damn near that many people in them. LA Fitness will fill up during peak hours, and switching to them just for space might not be what you had hoped for. I go at lunch time, much less people working during their lunch breaks. One nice thing I will give LA Fitness, I have never seen one shutdown. My last 2 gyms closed doors with no warning what so ever and walked with my yearly fees on the way out. It is nice to not have to worry about that with LA Fitness.

[bodyhard]

Still amazed the your DF is under $200. DF by me went up to almost $400. Didn't renew and joined Crunch for $10 month with no contract.

Thats insane man, DF here in the Bronx is under 200 a year. My son just renewed for 100 for the year.

[quicksand jesus]

I gotta move to the Bronx.

[bodyhard]

I gotta move to the Bronx.

LOL not worth it

[bodyhard]

Have an idea..

Come to the Bronx, get your membership and then use it in SI.

[Phattso]

If the benches and other equipment were that close together, I would be moving to another gym. Accidents and injuries waiting to happen.

[bodyhard]

If the benches and other equipment were that close together, I would be moving to another gym. Accidents and injuries waiting to happen.

Definitely close, wait for the pics you will see what I mean. The whole gym is a cluster f'ck.

[quicksand jesus]

lol not worth it :d :d

lol

[Karl_Hungus]

I am pretty simple -- most of the things like sauna, pool, steam room, spin class, etc.....I would never use any of that, but I STILL rarely find a gym that has what I want, and I only need the basics: Heavy DB's, a decent power rack, movable benches, and a squat rack. My current gym's power rack sucks, and the f'cking benches are bolted to the floor.

If LA fitness has everything you want, then I would move if it were me. I don't like gyms that are crowded (either with equipment or people).

[Karl_Hungus]

Why would they do that? Is it to force people to squat in a "squat" racks and keep the power racks open for pressing?

I have no idea, but it is bizarre. I remember when I joined, I did not know about the benches....which sucks for me because I have always benched in a power rack. I remember my first day there, I try to pick up one of the benches and had a huge "WTF" moment. There are a lot of other weird things about the gym that made me want to quit right away: the rings on the Olympic bars are spaced oddly, no low setting on the power rack, only one pullup bar in the entire gym, benches were too low, bolted to the floor, benches had this weird rubber flap around them that would catch every time I tried to bench, DB's had a strange slippery coating on them that would slip when I would try to do weighted pullups (I do them by holding DB's with my feet)...etc. etc. I didn't notice any of these things when I first toured the gym. So now, I recommend working out in a gym for a week as a guest before actually joining.

[Brdprey]

I gotta move to the Bronx.

this, the gym (family fitness center near me) is 385 for the family a year and im the only one using it.
want to move to bronx as well for cheap rate.

[Cleveland33]

basement gym for the win

[x-trainer ben]

It is nice to have options and space, the boxing alone sounds interesting, most have full court basketball.

[bodyhard]

Forgot to mentioned all the bars in LAF are the thin ones and that sucked ass when we were benching and doing OHP, wasn't too bad on deadlifts, BOR or Squats. But they don't have the thicker bars at all and at DF all but one of the bars is thin.

[TLTrooper]

LA Fitness paid in full memberships will always be the cheapest option. Its simple pricing structure. Pay more up front, pay less overall. Pay less up front, pay more overall. I like LA Fitness because of the locations and so if one is crowded at a certain time, I make sure to go to another one the next time. Most people hover around the free weight area and I do most of my lifts with just a barbell, bench and power-rack. I would just go to LAF if I were you, OP. Unless its one that is surrounded by a popular shopping mall or plaza then you shouldn't have to worry about it being overcrowded other than after-work traffic.

[bodyhard]

So far from what I have seen and told, the place never gets packed, it is too big to do so.

[TouaregV8]

There's an LAF opening near me in a few weeks. Do they have Hammer Strength plate loaded (not selectorized with the pins) machines? Was thinking about joining just for some variety.

[bodyhard]

There's an LAF opening near me in a few weeks. Do they have Hammer Strength plate loaded (not selectorized with the pins) machines? Was thinking about joining just for some variety.

Yup they do, at least in the LAF I was at.

Another thing that sucked the plates are Octagon so it sucks to do deadlifts with

[silverlightning]

what i dislike about the LAF near me is only one has a steam room and it doesn't work, no bumper plates and the bars suck. they always roll on me when dead lifting without my versa grips and i have to keep readjusting my grip. of course chalk probably would help, but the knurls on the bar are not very course.