I've been critical of workout classes – and notably Hyrox – in the past. I've called Hyrox cringe, a scam, an excuse to post on Instagram – among other crass and derogatory terms. And I think I'm right about that… but I might be starting to change my mind.
When I moved to New York I toured a handful of gyms – Equinox, New York Sports Club, LifeTime – I crossed the spectrum of gym prestige. I ultimately landed on Crunch Fitness, which, with my corporate discount, cost me roughly $93 per month for one location. I thought this was fine – after all, weights are weights regardless of where you go. I had always wanted to go to an expensive gym, but the Murray Hill Equinox doesn't exactly drop jaws, and there aren't many other luxury options in the area.
But this month, I thought, "life's too short not to live it to its fullest extent. Let's check out a luxury gym."
So, I walked to Chelsea Piers on 23rd and Park.
In just a few days, I've walked back my previous criticisms of Hyrox, workout classes, and exorbitant gym fees. These solutions offer long-term benefits to longevity thanks to the quality of materials, diversity of exercise, the clientele, and the financial obligation.
Quality of workout equipment will make your workout significantly better, mostly psychologically or by placebo effect. While the weight is exactly the same in theory, throwing on prettier weights to a cleaner barbell will motivate you and get you more excited to lift them than dirty, chipped weights. The facilities as well – when I walk into Chelsea Piers, I feel like a college athlete, like I'm preparing for Game 7 of the World Series. The facilities, it seems, are made for me; what am I going to do, not perform to the best of my abilities? There's a sense of elitism that I get from using the 55-pound weights at Chelsea Piers compared to the 45-pound weights at Crunch Fitness – you're telling me I'm not motivated to lift that 55 plate weight? For all I know, it only exists at Chelsea Piers – I need to take advantage of this opportunity. While we all want to say, "no, I have intrinsic motivation, I would lift the 55-pound plates anyway," – not so fast. We all know sex sells, and those 55-pound plates can be mighty sexy.
The diversity of lifts will increase your strength and overall health, both from the variety of exercise you can do on a particular focus day, and the type of workouts you do in general. In the case of the luxury gyms – these facilities are often massive, with 10+ squat and bench stations, free weights that line a mile, and enough machines to open a workout machine store. The obvious benefit to this multitude is that you'll be able to do more kinds of exercises while also likely not having to ever wait to use anything. But more importantly, in my opinion – you'll never get bored. Everyone has hit the workout rut – after doing the same things daily for a few months, exercising just stops being exciting. Especially if you're plateauing in a certain area, it's easy to throw in the towel. Not at Chelsea Piers. Tired of an arm workout? Here are 12 more you can do. Or – tired of lifting in general? Here are yoga classes, Pilates classes, boxing, running, cross training – you name it – to keep you nimble and athletic. You're probably thinking – now Aidan, other gyms have workout classes too. And you're right! But they fill up faster, are limited in optionality, and you don't feel as rich and as hot as if you were doing one at Chelsea Piers.
Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals is always a positive, and in the gym is no exception. My main point here is that people at expensive gyms are always, as a whole, more attractive than people at normal gyms. You may think this is shallow and objectifying, and maybe it is. But I also know I am much more incentivized to get the bar up on my last set of bench press because I refuse to have pretty girls and handsome guys see me flail with the bar halfway above my chest. That's embarrassing, and the fact that it is enforces good behavior. In a less superficial way, you're more likely to comingle and make friends (or merely just acquaintances) with people who take their fitness and health as seriously as you do – as opposed to a casual gym where attendees may just be trying to keep their current figure. This will pay dividends both long-term and short-term. In the near future, you could meet gym buddies to push you, like-minded friends to spend weekends with, or just people you recognize from going frequently who will notice if you skip a week or two.
Lastly, the financial obligation to continue going is real – and paying $300 a month is a great way to guarantee you meet, or at least strive for, your fitness goals. When I was paying $93 a month, if I were to go every day, each session was about $3. Losing out on $3 seems like no big deal – the incentive to skip was enormous. Now? I'll never skip a day again. For $300 a month, I am crawling through earth, wind, and fire to get to the gym – it would take the United States National Guard to keep me from getting to those doors. Everyone wants to think "I'm disciplined, I'll make it to my $93/month gym regardless, I can be my own motivation." And if that's you, then congratulations – you are a stronger man than I. But for us mere mortals, the financial incentive gets me off the couch in a way my own discipline can't.
I used to hate on workout classes, Hyrox, etc. – and while I still think I'm right about that, I can't say I don't understand it. If girls need to post Instagram stories of Hyrox to exercise, then so be it. And if I have to pay $300 a month to get to 225 bench and 225 squat by the summer – then I am going to do it.