24 Hour Fitness

I decided to get a seven day pass to 24 Hour Fitness and chose the Arnold, MO facility since it has a pool.

I didn’t know it but the 24 Hour Fitness closest to me is a 24 Hour Fitness Active and the one in Arnold is a sport type. I would love to see a Super Sport or Ultra Sport 24 Hour club. The sport one is happening and I can only imagine what kind of toys the ultra sport one possesses.

The immediate downside of choosing the Arnold location is that it is about 20 miles away -- quite a bit of travel time when your fitness regimen is already like secondary employment.

Plentiful -- that’s how I would describe 24 Hour Fitness Sport. It’s like a huge freakin’ playground with a full length basketball court, weight machines for as far as the eye can see, a saltwater pool, whirlpool, sauna and steam room. It’s well worth the $31.99 charge per month. For a few dollars more, you can have access to all clubs across the country.

There’s plenty of cardio equipment and plenty of lockers. The locker room, by the way, has two flat screen televisions along with ample showers and the locker area is so spacious that you never feel crowded.

I got beside myself last night and hit the rowing machine, StairMaster, basketball court and pool.

The warning on the rowing machine had me cracking up:

Abuse of the chain can cause injury. Really?

I’m not much of a class person but I did participate in a water aerobics class. The instructor didn’t rock my world like the one and only Combat Judy that was at Bally’s but it was sufficient. I really dug the bicycle maneuver. You take a noodle and ride it the length of the pool. I also liked the boxing moves: jabs, uppercuts, etc.

Why do people claim that their pools are heated? 24 Hour's pool was chilly just like the others.

On any given day, it was so nice to hit the pool then the whirlpool followed by a warm shower with oatmeal lavender soap provided by 24 Hour. I kept thinking that a dormitory would make 24 Hour Fitness the complete experience because all I really wanted to do was hit the bed instead of drive home especially after the warmness of the whirlpool.

I do have to say that the employees are persistent, um, stalker-like. I told them, at the beginning, that I belonged to another club (minus the contract) and that I was looking at other facilities. I received call after call about appointments I had made (not). Two other friends also signed up and they received the same stalker treatment.

You have a great club, 24 Hr Fitness, but there’s a fine line between salesmanship and harassment.

Fitness Club Anniversary

I signed on the dotted line exactly one year ago for my first ever gym membership.

I tried out several gyms, including St. Louis Workout and Bally, before I decided on a chain that's open 24 hours and costs $21.95 a month plus the initial processing fee and an inexplicable year-end maintenance fee.

From May 3, 2008 to May 3, 2009, I lost 19 pounds; although, the weight loss was not strictly due to my activity at the fitness club. I continued to tweak my diet and I also participated in other activities outside of the gym, including rock climbing (Upper Limits), three swimming classes (YMCA), a rock climbing class (Center of Clayton), a stair climbing competition and a Women on Weights class (YMCA).

I still swim (at least two days) at a facility other than my fitness club which does not have a pool. While I was working on the swimming, I also got to check out The Heights and Riverchase which have very nice facilities but cost more for non-residents.

I plan to check out some other fitness centers, including 24 Hr Fitness which has a swimming pool, to see if I might be more at home elsewhere. Otherwise, I'm contract-free and paying on a month-to-month basis.

Stepping Up

The Biggest Loser had the nerve to have a cliffhanger episode but Tuesday's show was worth the wait.

Tara won the pop challenge which had the contestants squatting with a six pound weight on their legs. In the end, Tara was about to give up but her eyes never betrayed her. She had that Jordanesque stare. You know the game (Bulls vs. Blazers, 1992 Finals, Game 1) when Michael Jordan was in the zone. He was hitting so many baskets that even he shrugged his shoulders.

The main BL challenge was at 24 Hour Fitness. It was a relay in which team members had to swim the length of the pool and collect twenty four 6 lb weights, carry the weights up the steps, crawl under an obstacle course, run back and forth down a basketball court and do 24 squats at one end of the court. The stronger Black Team barely won.

The prize? Twenty four hours of luxury. And luxury was almost The Black Team's tragic downfall. They smoked, drank tequila and ate calorically heavy food, including chicken tenders, mashed potatoes and fries. Their trainer, Jillian, was furious when she finally got out of them what they had done. During the Black Team's evening of luxury, they consumed 15,563 calories vs. 1,612 consumed by the Blue Team who remained at the ranch.

During the weigh in, Tara i.e. Wonder Woman lost no weight and broke down. She couldn't believe that she had folded to temptation so easily. The Black Team barely won the weigh-in.

Then, it was time to decide who was going to be voted off the tribe. The three original Blue Team members were going to stick together and send Mandi home but Aubrey saw how devastated her sister was and volunteered to go. Laura, from the Black Team, had an extra vote. The plan was for Aubrey, Mandi and Laura to vote for Cathy which would make for a tie since Ron, Cathy and Kristen planned to vote for Mandi but Mandi had something else in mind. She voted for Ron; so, there was no three-way tie. Mandi threw herself under the bus to give her sister more time on the ranch.

It's time for me step up and be the big sister, Mandi said. It was a very touching moment and it made me remember something that Venus Williams said after defeating her sister Serena in the 2008 Wimbledon Championship. A broadcaster noted that Venus' tone was subdued and she said that, yes, it was great to win but she also took her responsibility as a big sister seriously.

During her time on The Biggest Loser Ranch, Mandi shed 66 pounds. In her exit interview, she said I want everybody to know -- you have it inside of you.

Here's a video of the new Mandi.