Returning to the Community Gym

After nearly 4 years of using Anytime Fitness, I ended my membership just last week. As much as I love using Anytime, and the convenience of usually having a branch somewhere near me whenever I'm off on extended business trips to other parts of the country, the cost per month was getting a bit too much for me. With planning for a simple wedding coming with its own costs, my fiancé and I are cutting back on things. Fortunately, there is a community center gym that is within reasonable distance from where I live - either one train stop away, or a 10 minute bicycle ride. 

I went there today for the obligatory orientation session. Of course, all in Japanese, but most of it was pretty self explanatory - basically, don't do anything stupid on the machines, keep your usage on the running machine down to 30 minutes, unless there is nobody else waiting on you. However, a minor thing that is annoying is that you can't bring water with you inside the room to drink - which is important if you're between sets. Instead, they tell you to go outside the room to drink (and place your bottle on the dedicated table just outside the training room), and if you're in the middle of using a machine/bench/etc, leave something there to indicate that is still being used. In Japan, this is fine because nobody is going to be stealing your stuff -  but compared to other gyms, this is a bit of a hassle. However, I noticed that the training room floor is mostly carpeted, so I can see why they have that rule in place - though perhaps they should not have used carpet at all. Minor gripe aside, the community gym is cheap - 170 yen for 2 hours max. 

Now, I have posted about community gyms in the past, and when comparing this one to others, it's definitely top tier of my favorite community gyms, but I wouldn't say it is the best one. While there are a lot of machines available, and a lot of space dedicated for stretching etc, the machines have certainly seen a lot of use over the years. I would say this gym would number 2, just behind the community gym I used in Ryugasaki. The only catch is that this gym closes at 10pm. For most people this wouldn't be a problem, but I have actually been going to the gym later in the evening these days (partly to get the most out of my remaining time at Anytime Fitness), so it is a tad inconvenient if I get home a little later than usual. 

I will give this gym a try this month to see how it goes. There is another franchise gym that is much closer to where I live, and is about the half the cost of Anytime Fitness. I had a quick look through their website, and there is a lot more on offer compared to the Anytime gym that is also in my area. However, I suspect that there will be a lot more people there because it's cheaper.