Family Fitness Made Simple Anytime

Ours is an eclectic family. With a schedule, hmmm, what schedule? We never seem to know when we'll be doing what. Our peculiar uncertainty from day to day about what should be happening seems to be our driving force. I describe our schedule as unpredictable to anyone who asks.

Fitness was a big problem for us. Timing was never right. The gym would be full or closed just when it would become the perfect time for us to get our exercise.

Bought equipment seemed to be our only choice, but alas, that would become expensive and boring. We needed and welcomed it, of course, as it seemed to be also our only recourse to getting fit. It sits in our exercise room, beckoning on days when we can't make it to the gym. It's our secondary choice now instead of a choice forced upon us as our main and only reasonable option.

Anytime Fitness saved us from our gloom and frustration. "What?"you ask. "A bit melodramatic, isn't it?" Well, no, actually it isn't. It's true. It's fact. My son discovered this wonderful new gym (Anytime Fitness) through connections with friends. It's located at a slight diagonal across the street from where his wife works on Richmond Road in Texarkana, TX, address 3415 to be exact.

What took us so longto discover Anytime Fitness? I suppose it's that we take for granted the paths we cross on a regular basis. The things we see regularly becomes background until something draws attention to them again. Then we sigh, "Oh, yeah, I've seen that place."

The membership for my husband, homeschooled daughter, and myself is only (at this time) $70 a month total! Now that's what I call affordable. This price gives us access to....drumroll.........dah dah dah...exercise when it's convenient for US.

My husband's job takes him away from home frequently. Finding a gym that would accommodate his crazy work hours and days off was almost impossible. Anytime Fitness gave us an out. Finally someone came up with an answer to a big problem.

Our family craves fitness. We believe exercise is vitally important, and it was one of the higher demands on the list when we made out a schedule for our homeschooler. There must be fitness. But, our frustrated attempts to keep the exercise interesting made it a hassle, to say the least.

Joining Anytime Fitness gives us motivation. We get out of the house, we get to drive to another town (Texarkana is closely located to our home), we get access to expensive equipment we could never afford for ourselves, we get a change of scenery, AND we get family bonding.

The gym provides a special "key" that is coded for our entry. We log in with this key to open the door to the gym. This records our visits, which proves we use our account regularly, and shows to which gym we are accessing and how often. This also allows a bit of safety for its members since it cuts out loitering by non-members and curious onlookers.

The gym provides us with a comfortable temperature controlled environment. There is access to personal trainers. (At this time, a personal trainer can be hired with gym enrollment at $99 a month for 3 months.) The equipment is top-of-the-line and well-kept. The gym is kept clean and fresh for the comfort of the users. There are filtered water containers maintained and offered for free. The bathrooms provide a shower and are clean and pleasant to the eye. Even when the gym is full during peak hours, there is plenty of equipment to go around. There is equipment there, such as the treadmill, which allows the user to plug in their personal earphones to watch and listen privately to the television without disturbing others. This helps pass the time while one is exercising and provides a detour for the mind.

There is also a guest area for people to sit and relax if a guest needs to wait on a member. There is a guest sign-in book.(A free 7 day pass can be obtained for guests to try the gym themselves.) There are cubbyholes for personal effects. There is a corner space which offers floor exercises.(Need a health plan? Get a discount. Need a wellness program, ask in the office.) Finally, there is a nook which provides coffee and certain protein drinks for the members. Oh, and let's not forget those handy, dandy little containers of hand wipes, conveniently located and available for the germ conscious.

Last, but not least, there is the convenience of the Anytime Fitness location. My family benefits from the location since it's on Richmond Road, which offers so many other businesses (including restaurants and fast food). There are top-of-the-line businesses such as The Sanctuary, hardware stores, dollar stores, optometry, a postal store, a mall, gas stations, and much more all on the same road. It doesn't get any better than that for someone who is trying to keep their shopping and errands in the same area!

The gym's office hours are Monday through Friday from 9 am to 7 pm, and from 10am to 12 noon on Saturdays.

We are, for one, a family grateful for fitness progress.