ace’s blog

The YMCA in East Memphis that I belonged to was not a great place.  Sure, they had some weights, some basic weight lifting equipment (not much at all),  and a few pieces of cardio equipment.  If you factor in the shape of the facility, the look of the locker room and shower area, it wasn’t exactly crap but wasn’t much higher on the scale.  The Memphis Y cost about $40 a month for a single person membership and that was about on par with other gyms in the area.  When Meri told me to check out the Y down here, I was a bit skeptical and basically didn’t want to even waste my time.

I got to the downtown Y a few days ago and was immediately shocked!  This place is gorgeous!  There are 2 separate cardio areas; 3 weight rooms, two of which have free-weights, the third has the hammer strength type of equipment; there are 4 racquet ball courts; 1 large basketball court; and two very large pools, one indoor, the other outside; a spinning room; and finally several large rooms for stretching or aerobics classes.  After my tour was over, we talked price.  This is also where I was shocked.  The cost of a single membership was $58…just for me!  The cost for a family membership was $90!  Plus there is a $100 “application” fee for a single membership and $150 for a family.  I thought, “Damn! This is ridiculous!”

So I joined the downtown YMCA today at lunch and had some clothes in my truck just in case I got out of work early and felt like going.  This particular YMCA has spinning classes every morning and evening at 6.  I really liked spinning in college so I thought “what the hell, let’s do it!”  I was proud of myself.  For not doing a really labor intensive cardio workout in over 5 years, I did very well.  I made it through the entire 45 minute class and even did a little ab workout at the end.  It was great fun!  We’ll just see how I feel in the morning!