Club Hopping

okay, not that kind of Club Hopping…. I’ve been hopping to different Crunch clubs this week in search of Zumba classes. Unfortunately my arm is still injured, the doctor believes I tore my rotator cuff, and this therefore gives me a limited number of workout options. I’m not much of a runner, and can sometimes motivate myself to get on the treadmill, but I am such a group exercise gal and really prefer that.

And thus, I have done a whole lotta zumba this week because it is a way I know I can get my sweat on and keep my poor right arm safe. Watching me dance must be really hilarious with only my left arm doing full choreography. My dance teacher at college has really enjoyed finding entertainment in my pain.

first up was visting Crunch on 83rd Street, The Upper West Side.

I visited this location during the post-work craziness. This club was very crowded and small. As is true with most Crunch’s, I had to hardcore search for a locker, praying that there was an empty one. As far as equipment goes I couldn’t find an empty treadmill to warm up on. womp womp.

The group fitness studio felt a bit like a dungeon and was hot as well once we started moving. Our 45 minute zumba class legit fogged up the mirror. I have yet to experience something THAT hot at Crunch Union Square. The layout is more functional than Union Square though, you can see the front from any spot during zumba and there was definitely more space.

The members that I talked to for a bit before Zumba were super sweet and had a sense of community, similar to how it feels at Union Square when you start recognizing the same people at the same classes. While this location is a bit cramped, and god that room was HOT, it was so so so worth it for a quality, sweaty zumba class with my favorite NYC teacher.

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and tonight was visiting the new Crunch on 34th Street, in Kips Bay.

I visited the old Kips Bay Crunch location a few times and was AMAZED by how gigantic their group fitness room was. like as big as my high school gymnasium was. Anytime I was there it was also practically empty at a location that to begin with was super spacious.

Recently this Crunch has merged and moved into what used to be a “Club H”. The feel and atmosphere is very similar to various Equinoxes I have visited. It seems that there are still a lot of kinks to be figured out with this new location. There seems to be too much demand and not enough supply.

The locker room, while lovely and pretty looking, had very few empty lockers. The group fitness room was on the small side compared to all other crunches I have visited. I was shocked that I needed a wrist band to get into a Zumba class, but thank god because that room was still packed.

Before class I was easily able to get on a treadmill for a quick warm up. the actual gym didnt’ feel very crowded, but there was a lot of craziness and mayhem surrounding the group fitness classes and Spinning. People seemed very anxious about getting into the classes, and therefore very rude. There was this odd sense of entitlement at this club. While it is beautiful and doesn’t look at all like a typical Crunch, there are a few things that clearly need to be fixed to make it a happy gym going experience for all.

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All in all a gym is a gym. Despite some frustrations at both gyms and being less convenient than my typical Crunch locations, I am happy that my stupid, uncooperative arm and I are still sweating as much as we can.