Gym Progress Week 10 (and those stupid sales pitches)

Two things: Sales Pitches, and a one day free trial account at a competitor gym, Physical.

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Sales Pitches:
Added in another schedule this week for my gym schedule. Finally. After a lot of "misunderstandings" and inquiries.

I currently hold a Platinum California Fitness membership, which gives me access to "all California Fitness center branches in Hong Kong, all hours". But there was a launch for the new Jackie Chan California Fitness Gym in Tsim Sha Tsui(TST) a few months ago... since the original condition states that I had full access to all facilities in Hong Kong, I thought I could, and was supposed to attend a class there. Until, well, a week before I attended the TST class, a California Fitness sales person stopped me (in another of the branches) and tried to convince me to upgrade my current Platinum membership to a Diamond one, and I quote " ... it will also give you access to the gym Jackie Chan Gym in Tsim Sha Tsui if you upgrade...", leaving me the impression that my current membership level prohibits me from being able to access any facilities in Tsim Sha Tsui. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding (or not).

Anyways, I finally started to ask around after chatting with some fellow Xgroup (class) attenders, and realized that what that ******* salesperson was previously blabbering about may not be true. Darn stupid sales pitches, probably. After a few inquiries with the actual California staff, turns out, I CAN.

But still in much doubt, I headed off to the Tsim Sha Tsui branch with the possibility of being turned away... and was not. Crazy sales people, the lot. Especially the ones in California Fitness here in Hong Kong. They're notorious for backing you in a corner, and getting you to sign a contract, so a lot of people are actually turned off by the thought of inquiring ANYTHING from them.

A trial at one of California Fitness' competitor, Physical:
Have a friend that's constantly been going to this gym. They have several branches all over the city too, but mostly they have more competitive prices. Which is to say, sometimes they overacquire clients, and their gyms are so very packed on peak times (not to say California Fitness doesn't get packed, but this one is _REALLY_ packed the last time I had a chance to drop by at one of their branches)

I went to the Causeway Bay branch at Lee Theater, near Times Square, last Friday with my friend, Ping. This branch is specifically ladies only, although other branches cater to both genders. The ladies only-branch explains the setup: Big lounges, bars, less machines, more aerobics space, almost no free weights area. I had a go with their machines, which is just adequate for first time body toner, but could be severely lacking for a gym buff. The machines themselves are also old at this branch.

The aerobics class is a change from the usual classes I attend at California. Their intermediate classes are none short of hard-it packs quite a punch even for someone like me who's attended intermediate step aerobics classes in California Fitness for several months already. The instructor was basically going into a higher, faster beat (extremely fast, actually) and the blocks expect more trots than high impact jumps - not something I'm really used to. So I was left standing in confusion while the others keep their consistent form :) Hahaha, so in a sense, I looked like I was a bad apple :) I could barely follow, but managed as much as I can. I could see why my friend attended these classes (with the same instructor) with religious fervor :)

It was also nice seeing that there was some sort of organization when attending the classes... You're supposed to pick up a number before the class to get a slot, and you're not allowed to get numbers for friends. So you're sure that if you're the first one in line, you're going to be the first one to get into the class. No way your going to run out of steps or risers. (Unlike California... where you line up 40 minutes before the actual class, and 5 minutes before the class starts, you find the line growing longer , and longer and longer.... IN FRONT OF YOU. Pisses the hell out of me.)

But I also found out there are perks having a California Fitness membership. Was surprised pair of gym towels in Physical are not free ( HK$10 per pair, actually) and there are no extra amenities (ear buds, cotton swabs, tissue papers) in the vanity area... just the hair blower.

All in all, it was an interesting experience and comparison between 2 gyms... I'm planning to get a free one day trial at Fitness First one of these days too... but maybe some time later :)
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So, well, I'll leave this gym roundup short and sweet, just a simple breakdown of what I did this week and the respective instructors:
Tues (BP,ISM) : Elizabeth, Maggie
Thurs (Free Weights, ISM) : Me!, Frankie
Fri (AERO, weights): Physical
Sun (ISM,BP): Mike T, Elizabeth