Guide to Fitness Clubs and Gyms in Yuba City, California

You live in Yuba City and it feels like summer already. Among the yard work and water parks and kids being home from school, you've probably also considered getting back in shape before the pool season truly hits-yet perhaps you think it's too late to start. Perhaps you don't know where to begin. You've tried working out at home and find your initiative waning, but you don't want to visit a gym for fear of pushy sales people and the idea of other people...well, watching. Perhaps the idea of calling and visiting every gym in town is daunting and you just do not have the time or the energy to do so. Here is a guide to Yuba City, CA health clubs to help you choose the best gym for your needs.

Contours Fitness

Located in the Refuge Business Plaza at 1585 Butte House Road, Contours Fitness offers every woman a place to workout in an intimate environment suited especially for her-no boys allowed. While similar to Curves, this gym says the difference lies in the type of machine designed for both positive and negative resistance in a weight machine versus Curve's hydraulics-indeed their motto is "Real Machines = Real Results!"

Whether or not it works better is up to the individual, and perhaps it is closer to your residence being on the northwest side of town (Curves is located on the southeast). As opposed to Curves' 30 minute workout, Contours boasts of a 29 minute workout but both offer three guided initial workout sessions to ensure each woman knows how to work each machine.

To learn more, please visit their website at http://locations.contoursexpress.com/yubacityca/ For any questions regarding rates or promotions, please call at 530-755-1585 or email at ContoursYubaCity@sbcglobal.net. They are open six days a week and their friendly staff looks forward to hearing from you!

Curves

Located at in South Yuba City at1000 Lincoln Avenue, Ste. C, Curves is a center geared especially for women. Each facility sports a exercise routine consisting of a number of resistance machines designed to raise your heart rate and build muscle. Each woman is to visit each machine for thirty seconds each, making the circuit twice in a 30 minute workout. The thirty second intervals make it easy to avoid burnout and the music helps keep the pace. It is said a girl can burn anywhere from 300 to 500 (possibly more) calories per workout: it depends on her.

This specific facility boasts CurvesSmart Technology, designed to track individual progress by way of repetition per machine, range, and calorie count, comparing it to previous workouts to ensure each person is working out to their greatest potential. The machine also pushes each person to work harder based on prior performance as well.

Each new client is offered three guided "training" workouts before she is left to her own devices, though help is always available as the staff is just as motivated to help you reach your goals as you are.

If you're still unsure, ask about the Curves Fitness Study wherein you pay $30 to work out three days a week for a month. They will take your measurements, weights, BMI, etc in the beginning and the end of the study. Besides working out, you are only asked to input the information online. Other promotions may be available, but otherwise enrollment fees are around $200 with a $39 monthly fee.

The facility is open six days a week. You can contact the girls at 530-821-5898 and/or visit the Curves website at http://www.curves.com.

Fitness System

Located in the Kmart Shopping center at 850 Kelton Way, Fitness System is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Among the amenities and classes include an indoor pool, hot tub, steam room, sauna, Jacuzzi, racquet ball court, basketball court, a cycling room, a large weight room and treadmill room, complete with television to keep your mind on something other than how much your legs burn at that moment. There are also toning classes, boxing classes, step, yoga/Pilates, and water fitness. A room of products from t-shirts to hats, backpacks and nutrition bars and drinks are available for sale. There is also a tanning room for an additional fee and "Video Alley" where the older kids can play video games while you workout.

Childcare is available and is included in the membership fee, but is only open for children over six months of age and a limit of two children per adult for a maximum of two hours. This service is available Monday through Friday from 8am-12pm; 4pm-9pm and on Saturday from 8am-12pm. For adults, the enrollment fee ranges from $100 for a month-to-month agreement to $0 for a two year contract. A processing fee is also required for $49. The month-to-month rate is $49 for month-to-month, $45 for a one year, and $39 for a two year agreement. For two people the prices range from $90 to $70, but it never hurts to ask for the latest promotion or for any discount rates.

Anyone is welcome to come in anytime to look around. Websites are listed online, but as of this article the website is out of commission. Instead, go ahead and call them at 530-674-8700. They'll be glad to help.

Future Fitness Health and Wellness Center

Located off Clark Avenue at 729 Wilwick Way, Future Fitness is the city's most budget friendly club. For a one year commitment for a single person, the enrollment fee is only $50 with a $35/month fee or $120 enrollment and $40/month for three months paid in full (other memberships are available for couples and family). As always, contact the facility and ask about any current promotions as there will undoubtedly be one. There is childcare available for up to two hours per visit included within your membership and the facility boasts spinning and aerobics classes and a large workout area. There are no windows for the self-conscious exerciser and the staff is friendly and decidedly easy going-no pushy sales here.

Aside from a large workout area consisting of both weight machines and cardio equipment, the facility includes a tanning room (for an additional fee), locker room, women's sauna, and free towel service. The aerobics room is home to dance classes, Pilates, step and tone courses, and most recently belly dancing. The room is also available for the individual to use for solo aerobics, jump rope, etc. The Dungeon room is home for the gym's hour and a half long jujitsu classes. The cycling/spinning room is host to some killer spinning classes for those who are interested. Each class lasts at least an hour.

Child care through the Kids Club is available and is included in the membership fee. The gym asks that the children be under twelve and have at least received their first round of shots. The time limit is two hours-more than enough time.

Daily classes are available as early as 6:15 seven days a week. For promotions or other questions, please call owner Dennis Dahle at 530-790-7337.

Northside Fitness Club

Located at 680 North Walton Avenue, this recently renovated sleek facility boasts many amenities and fitness opportunities. Among the classes offered are spinning, sculpting, kickboxing, yoga and Pilates, beginning and advanced step, "basic training" and sports conditioning. The gym hosts a number of cardio and free weights to help each client achieve his or her goal-and more, the facility boasts massage therapy and tanning service for an additional fee as well as an available personal training program catered to the individual. There is also a deli and nutrition bar available, and if you have children there are activities open to them while you work out-but at an additional fee.

Visit the gym's website at http://www.northsidefitnessclubs.com for their most recent promotions but be sure to ask for specifics when you call-often there is a prepayment requirement. Monthly rates can range anywhere from $26 to $49 a month and enrollment fees vary as well depending on the payment plan you arrange with the membership director.

The gym is open seven days a week and some holidays. If you have any questions, please call them at 530-751-1818 or email General Manager Matt Gebert at matt.northside@sbcglobal.net or owner April Helm at april@northsidefitnessclubs.com

Yuba City Racquet and Health Club

Located at 825 Jones Road and its sister site, Rancho Cortez, on the corner of Richland and Little John, the prestigious Yuba City Racquet Club isn't your normal gym. This beautiful club boasts five pools (two 80 degree indoor) complete with lifeguards on the weekends and daily once school is out. Additionally, there are tennis courts, spas, saunas, steam rooms as well as cardio, state-of-the art equipment and integrated personal therapy between both sites. There is also a full drink and snack bar and a video game room for the older kids, an amenity the club hopes the kids will use to pressure their parents into attending. Even the new floor upstairs is rather, as Pilates/Group Exercise Director Cyndi Shatswell described, "squishy." Quite nice.

For the ladies, the beautiful locker room hosts a bathroom with everything you'll ever need after a workout: blow dryers, Q-Tips, shampoo, etc. The lockers do not come with the membership, however, so if you need them you must rent.

Three certified massage therapists are on staff as well as a personal trainer making the rounds to ensure everyone is well taken care of. If you're new to the gym scene, you're given two complimentary sessions with the one of the trainers. The club also touts the areas only full Pilates facility.

There are two membership options available: the Full Club membership wherein a client has access to all the club has to offer (tennis, racquet ball, basketball, etc), and the Health Club membership, which, according to their website includes "full use of the indoor and outdoor pools, spa, sauna and steam room, aerobics, indoor cycling, aqua classes, free weights, fitness center and daily locker and towel service for members who are of appropriate age." The nursery and Kidz Club is only included with the Full Club membership, however. Other membership statuses include single parent, couple, and family. The gym encourages prospective customers to call for the most up-to-date pricing, however be prepared: this club is pricey, but if you can afford the fees, it is well worth the money. As the saying goes, you do get what you pay for. If you aren't sure, you can always ask about a guest pass to see if it's right for you.

The impressive Yuba City Racquet Club is open seven days a week and hosts a wide array of classes as early as 5:15 am and as late as 7:30 pm. For the most up-to-date information, give the club a call at 530-673-6900 or visit its extremely comprehensive and helpful website at http://www.ycrc.com.

As you can see, each Yuba City gym or fitness club has something unique to offer. In the end, perhaps the best way to tell is to visit the gyms that seem to most closely fit your needs and see for yourself.