Gym Review - 24 Hour Fitness Mission Valley Mall

Date of Workout: January 23, 2007
Location: 24 Hour Fitness Mission Valley Mall

This 24 Hour Fitness is a Sport class and is located in the Mission Valley Mall close to Macy's with hours of operation from 5:00 am to 11:00 pm. Parking is underneath the mall and well lit. If you arrive very early like I have in the past, you will find the parking lot quiet. Security guards ride around on bikes or in golf carts and are spotted frequently.

Entering the gym for my workout, I noticed there were four employees behind the counter, but no one greeted me as I passed through the EZ-IN check in system. When you pass through the check in system you walk past a small retail area featuring supplements and energy bars and drinks. You also walk past the sales staff pit area with twenty pay for use lockers.

This is a relatively new gym, open for less than two years. It's a great space and well planned; except they didn't include a spin room; just an aerobic classroom. This gym is so large you could be on the farthest corner on a treadmill and not be able to tell who is on the opposite side of the room. The cardio area is large with a many pieces of cardio equipment including:

• 25 Precor Elyptical EFX576i Trainers: this features moving handles so arms pump while you work
• 10 Precor Elyptical EFX546i Trainers: handle bars are stationary
• 22 Precor Treadmills
• 6 Startac Recumbent Stationary Bikes
• 6 Startac Upright Stationary Bikes
• 4 Stairmaster Freeclimbers
• 4 Stairmaster Stepmills
• 1 Sprint Torso Ergonomic
• 1 Rower

All equipment is new and the cardio area features 12 flat screen TVs mounted from the ceiling in the cardio area. You can listen to the broadcast on each TV by turning your personal radio to the frequency posted below the TV.

The ab area features four (4) The Ab Bench and eight other pieces of equipment for an ab workout. The area also includes several different sized exercise balls available for crunches. Off to the side, by the Aerobics room is a quiet spot to stretch or do ab exercises.

One of the unique features to this 24 Hour Fitness, is the 24 Minute Fitness circuit training area. This area features 11 pieces of equipment that you rotate quickly through resting a minute after each circuit through. This is a fantastic option if you only have 30 minutes to work out.

Equipment wise this gym is packed, yet very spacious, due to the amount of square feet. There are about 22 pieces of Cybex/Life Fitness machines. They also have a ton of free weights, benches and machines to utilize as well. I prefer this gym for an arm workout because the bench area in front of the free weights is so spacious. I never feel as if one of the mega men will be dropping a 95 lb. weight on my foot!

The ladies locker room is large and features 80 very large lockers for use with your own lock and 10 pay lockers at $0.50 each. The shower area is clean and features doors to all the showers. However, with two sink areas and 1 wrap around counter and ONLY six outlets, it does get cramped in the morning when a bunch of women are getting ready.

The other great thing about this gym is they do feature a Kids Club, which is great for parents on the weekends and in the mornings. I think it sets a great example for the child when the parent goes to the gym, demonstrating lifelong fitness as a priority.

Overall, I'd give this gym a 7.2.

Parking: 9

Staff: 4

Equipment Selection: 8

Locker Room: 7 (could have rated this higher if there had been more outlets)

Cleanliness: 8