Presenting!... Crunch

I have been a member of Crunch pretty much since I moved here and have to admit that I love and hate the place. I mean, the space is incredible because it is a renovated theater where they play movies on a big screen, the mood lighting makes it seem cooler, and there really is a great energy about the place. Not only are there a lot of beautiful people running around but there are some really interesting and friendly people on staff. When I first moved to San Francisco in January I made friends with a lot of the people that work there and its still great to go in there where they shout my name wrong as a running joke.... I used to wonder if it was really a joke until they started saying it right occasionally...

However, despite how much I have developed relationships with these people and how much better that makes my gym experience, I have some issues. While the space is unique and interesting the equipment is just old. A lot of the machines are just not up to the standards that the $80.00 a month membership requires. The equipment if just not up to par and they need to spend some time updating it or lower the price of membership. They also need to focus on the locker room/bathrooms. I think I have seen only about 5 people use the showers as a space where they can get ready for wherever they need to go. In general most people are like me where they plan to go back to their apartment to shower and get dressed even though they will be walking straight back to Polk when done.

That being said when they have a class going on the place really does come alive. I find that even if I am not taking a class I still push harder because of the energy that seems to radiate throughout the place. Its incredible to see and I think it even beats my theory that when there are action movies on people work out harder (@ least I do!). So despite my frustrations with the equipment I still think it is a great place to go and every time I get a huge welcome from all the people that work there it holds me accountable so that I show up again!