Equinox Review: Santa Monica & Westwood

I’ve finally gotten off my lazy bum and joined a gym! Two of my girlfriends are at Equinox and they’ve been bugging me to join all year. I ended my Bodies in Motion gym membership over a year ago in an angry retaliation after they refused to let me freeze my account when I was recovering from my car accident. Since then I’ve been shopping for a gym in the $60-$90 range… something clean, not too crowded and offers good classes.

I found nothing. Then my friend referred me to Equinox and I got the following deal:

• $125 to start up (includes March & April)
• $125 refunded if I work out 25 times before Memorial Day
• $153/month starting in May for all California (except Century City)
• 6 personal training sessions
• 1 massage
• 90-day contract

Edit: For more information, contact Hope Horner at Santa Monica Equinox: Hope.Horner@equinoxfitness.com or 310.593.8888. My deal was part of the vernal equinox party in mid-March but let her know that Sheena sent you and she’ll set you up with something similar!

$153 was a LOT more than I wanted to spend monthly at the gym but after a rough calculation, I spend about $50 a week on yoga, pilates and bar method classes and $153 gets me a gym membership with all of those classes and so much more. I was able to whittle the contract down to 3 months instead of 12 and even got a free month for referring my boyfriend. (He got the exact same deal + free sessions as me)

Another cool thing about Equinox is the MyEQ online tracker that tracks all of your workouts. Every time you enter a gym and swipe your card, they automatically enter it in the computer. All you have to do is go in to specify what type of workout you did. It’s a great way to keep me on track and keep me interested. There is also a mobile version of this site that I can access on the iPhone — my workouts, private training sessions, favorite classes, schedules, etc. Finally, a Gym 2.0. :)

I can’t believe I’ve gone about 4 times in one week already — I’m telling you, the more you pay for a gym the more likely you are to go. My sister paid $24 a month for 24 hour fitness and went once in the year. Here’s what I’ve done so far:

Weight Room: I checked out the weight room in the Santa Monica location for my first visit to do my back-shoulder-triceps routine. This is something I picked up from my ex-personal trainer and I was surprised I remembered the routine despite it being almost 2 years since I’ve worked out with him! Santa Monica is laid out a bit weird compared to the other locations, it’s very vertical so everything is split up into 4 floors. The weight machines are 40% on the first floor and 60% on the 3rd floor so it is a bit of a pain to walk up and down in the middle of your routine. I feel a little claustrophobic in this one and am not a fan of all of the stairs and railings. However, if you want to do a jog on the treadmill or elliptical machine with an awesome view, this is the place to do it. Some of the machines on the higher floors look out to the beach.

Real Deal Boxing: I checked out the boxing class in the Westwood gym on Thursday night. It was not as intense as the Bodies in Motion version where you are at a punching bag for the entire hour, but it was a great all-around workout. We started out with jumpropes and footwork, gradually stepped up to jabs and punches in the air with our wraps, did some partner work to work on movement and built up to full punches and kicks on the body bag. The push ups and plank holds are brutal after all of that shoulder/core work — this class totally kicked my butt!

Yoga: Did a Vinyasa Flow yoga class in Westwood on Sunday afternoon — it was crowded. There was barely any mat room but I squeezed in. It was definitely challenging and I loved that the yoga instructor had his own style and some personality — helped get through some of the poses where my legs were shaking. Nothing beats the feeling you get after a yoga session.

Cardio Kickboxing: I’m going to kill my friend for this one. She convinced me to take a class last night even though my calves were still sore from boxing. “The class is intense but the instructor is hot so it balances out.” I have never heard faster music in my life. It was so fast-paced I felt entirely clumsy kicking around and trying to keep up. I’m going to gracefully bow out of this one and never take it again. I do have to say — judging on how fit the girls who regularly take this class are, I have no doubt it’s a great, effective workout. Just not for me. :)

Today is my day of rest and tomorrow I’m going to try out the Manhattan Beach location after work. I am excited that I am finally getting back on track with the fitness thing — my motivation is the small collection of summer dresses I have hidden in the back of my closet that I haven’t fit into for 2 summers. :)