The (near)-perfect commercial gym

I picked up a 3-month membership at Anytime Fitness (ATF), Pawleys Island, South Carolina after doing some research.  My 31 years in the fitness field helped me find the (near)-perfect gym, not only for seniors - just just about anyone. Why?

1.) It's close. Only a 4-minute drive with busy traffic makes it much tougher to talk my self out of going.

2.) It's complete. My goals are to regain strength and muscle lost when I was told to stop all exercise prior to an aortic heart valve replacement. This gym has everything I need for those goals.

3.) No duct tape. What the Hell does that mean? Duct tape on the machine and bench pads is a sign of a gym heading downhill. This gym has none.

4.) No pool. Pools take up space - are a pain-in-the-ass to maintain - smell of chlorine - and except for lap swimming, are not effective producers of a fit physique.

5.) No group fitness space. This gym got rid of it. Good move. I won't apologize to the aerobics devotees.

6.) Courteous members. This is not a gym where "Sorry" is uttered endlessly by members after they interfere with your workout. Courtesy is never having to say you're sorry.

7.) Many fit members. ATF has members of all ages and shapes, but the bulk are in good-to-excellent shape. I doubt they all joined at that level of fitness.

8.) Active personal trainers. A lot of personal training goes on at ATF, and the trainers don't interfere with the workouts of the regular members. I non-fondly recall (at another gym) trainers having their clients bounce a medicine ball off the pull-up station where I was working out.

9.) Clean. Speaks for itself. They clean a lot at this gym, but no staff member vacuums at your feet as you work out. Yes, that happened at another gym.

10.) Few machine hogs. I have witnessed a few members take over a machine or bench at ATF and languish there - accomplishing little, but the incidents are few. 

11.) No frills. Lounges, TVs, smoothie stations, hot tubs, etc. are simply distractions to getting fit. Avoid them - as Anyime Fitness does.

12.) No latest fitness crazes. Gyms are out to make money, first-and-foremost. But greed spawns these types of "new" "The-Future-of-Fitness-is-Here-Today" classes. Just say, "NO". ATF did!

There you have it! Take it or leave it.