About two years ago I’d reached a point in my life where I decided I’ve neglected my body long enough. I’ve never had a weight problem, but I wasn’t getting any younger. My eating habits were terrible. For a tall thin guy, I had a disproportionate beer gut. I didn’t want my lead in to the 30′s to set a bad precedent for the next decade of my life. It was time to get fit, or at least fitter. So it was time to join a gym.
It was a decision I wasn’t going to rush into. I had some criteria as to what was important to me. I’m a creature of routine and habit. I had to find a place that was close to home and that wasn’t too far out of my way of my normal work commute. Some place that I couldn’t easily make excuses for to not go to. Second, the place had to have a good vibe. Now that can mean a great deal of things to a great many people, but to me it came down to a few things. One, I didn’t want to be involved in a place where people were always trying to sell me something. I didn’t want the walk from the door to the locker room be a constant battle of someone trying to sell me something. Two, the people that work there have to be friendly and approachable. That’s not too much to ask in any kind of service industry, but you would be surprised. I looked at a few places, and I came out discouraged as they weren’t what I was looking for.
I got my list of places to check out via Google Maps. I went in, typed gym with the map focused on where I lived, and went in order of places that were on my route home from work, or at least close to it. The last place on the list was The Downtown Fitness Club. I saw that they had a web page, I checked out and I shot them an e-mail asking when it would be a good time to come in and check things out. I figured maybe if I made an appointment, someone would be more apt to answer any of the questions I had and show me around. Someone responded to me pretty quickly and I had something set up for one of the first weekends in January of 2008.
It was a Sunday afternoon, and I was able to get street parking and I walked over. I was told to ask for John, so I asked the young lady at the desk if I could speak with John, and she got him. John came in and shook my hand. He walked me through the club, explained to me what they had to offer. He wasn’t pushy or condescending. He was excited about what he did and was sincere in his approach to being there. He also turned out to be the owner. I thought that was pretty cool. A few of the places I’d stopped in at probably had owners out of state or part of some conglomerate, but this guy was here on a Sunday afternoon to show me around. You have to respect that. The gym had a good feel to it, and I felt comfortable there. Parking was one of my concerns, but if you can’t park on the street, you can park in the garage at East and Scio and the gym would validate your parking for up to 2 or 3 hours, I can’t remember which, but either way to me it was definitely more than enough time. My favorite analogy to use in describing this place is comparing to Vince Vaughn’s gym in Dodge Ball, in comparison to Ben Stiller’s mega corporate gym. I’m not sure if John would totally appreciate that analogy, as the DFC is far nicer than that, but the feel to is the same. It’s familiar, it’s friendly.
So, that was over two years ago. I’m still a member, and I still go there 3-4 times a week. As far as a gym routine goes, I’m more of a meat and potatoes kind of guy. I go for the weight room and cardio. I’m using a small percentage of what they have to offer. They have racket ball rooms. They have a pool. They have a full class schedule with everything from Yoga, Pilates, Spinning, etc. The full schedule is on their website. There’s a lot of value there. I probably should take more advantage of it, but I’m doing well in my own routine.
John and The Downtown Fitness Club exemplify a lot of why I think Rochester is OK. It’s a local business that supports a lot of what happens downtown. They work with other businesses in the area to help each other out with cross referrals. Your DFC membership can even net you discounts at other supporting local businesses. It’s that kind of networking that brings our community together and helps make Rochester stronger.
If you’re thinking about making a change to your life, give this place a look. The Downtown Fitness Club is located at 50 Chestnut Street, across from the old Cadillac Hotel. The entrance to the club is around the corner on Lawn St, to the right of the Montage Grill.
You can find out more details and their hours on their website: http://www.downtownfitnessclub.com/
