Snap Fitness … bursting at the seams

In case you’re not one of approximately 300 people who have signed up at the new Snap Fitness, you’ll have company when you do. My wife and I just signed up — they offer a nice joint package for a couple for $49.95 a month, so that’s $25 per person. A single is $34.95, and $59.95 covers a family of three (with $10 more for each additional person).

It’s a nice facility. Staffed from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., it provides card-lock access to members at any other hour of the day. So, do you want to work off that extra pitcher of beer you know you shouldn’t have ordered at 1:30 a.m.? Head on over to Snap Fitness. On two feet (not driving, puh-leeze). On second thought, just go home. But you get the idea.

On my first day in, I saw several other refugees from Big Gym. I’ve been a customer there for several years, but the indifference of management (or maybe we should say “mismanagement”) finally got to me. They have a nice facility for weight training and cardio, but they offer little beyond that. As a certified personal trainer with the American Council on Exercise, I just cringed every time I’d see some newbie plunk down their money, come through the door and wander into an alien territory. Before long, people would be mirroring all the bad habits that others had learned before them.

A gym, at the very least, should show new customers how to use every piece of equipment. It’s basic safety, and it will help the customer achieve their objectives. Snap Fitness at least offered and I declined. Plus, the price is right. And one last thing — they don’t play that insanely torturous scrap metal music that had everyone at Big Gym wearing ear buds. Hell-o, is anyone paying attention?

Snap Fitness’s popularity may be its … upfall? The current space in the back of the Hood River Plaza mall is a bit tight. They may be looking at new digs before long. A sure sign of success. Stay tuned. Call 541-386-1267.

Joint