Gym Dandy

At the beginning of the year, BPORT (the Benevolent and Protective Order of Retired Teachers), in its infinite wisdom, rearranged the way our insurance and Medicare coverages are handled. The jury is still out on whether this is actually a good thing for us retired folk, or just a shell game. However, one of the incentives they tossed out was a free membership at a local participating fitness facility or exercise center. Find a participating entity near you, join up and get fit!

This might actually be of benefit to us. Barb already exercises regularly by walking several times a week, and I have been known to step on the treadmill occasionally. Hey, don't judge me, okay? Barb's favorite place to walk is Highland Mall; it's indoors, it's nice and flat, no dogs bark at you or try to bite you, and in Austin - where the humidity often exceeds the considerable temperature - you run less risk of collapsing if you walk indoors. However, Austin Community College has purchased the entirety of Highland Mall with plans to turn it into a massive collegiate complex. It's exercise availability is coming to an end.

When I walk, I use our weary old treadmill, which we bought used in 1999 and which now has 777 hours and 510 miles on it. I'm not sure what that compares to in automobile years and miles, but I think it may need a tune-up. Lately it has developed the habit of stopping abruptly mid-step, so for safety's sake one must keep a firm grip on the rails, which negates somewhat the benefit of really getting those arms and legs pumping.

So we found that the participating facility near us is part of a world-wide mega-chain of gyms and fitness centers, which we shall call for purposes of liability avoidance, Silver's Gym. We visited, got the grand tour, found out that yes, they participated in that plan and the entire 24-hour-a-day facility, including machines, weights, classes, pool, sauna and hot tub was ours to use at no cost whatsoever. Trainers, guidance and smoothies were not included. After successfully evading the strong-arm sales-pitch for trainers, Barb signed up on the spot; I didn't have my paperwork with me, so I told them I would be back.

In the meantime, I did some on-line research on Silver's Gym and learned that they have a terrible reputation! To be fair, so does every other gym in town, but since Silver's has eleven locations in Austin, they get the lion's share of hateful reviews. It didn't take long to figure out that the primary problem area is membership contracts and the payment thereof. "I signed up for blah, blah and I got billed for blah, blah, blah and they were hateful about it and wouldn't give me my money back!" There were also several rants about "strange things growing in the shower stalls and don't even think about coming after work because of the crowds!"

Okay the contract is a non-issue for us, and we weren't planning on using the showers anyway, so all we have to do is avoid the rush hour, something retired folks are good at. I'm in!

I'll let you know how our our "introduction and orientation"session went in a later blog. Just as soon as I'm able to sit up again.