“Between juggling an internship, working, and going to school full time, I need all the extra time I can get, even if it means getting my butt on a treadmill at midnight.”

Being a small fish in a big city means getting what you want, whenever you want. I can get fried doughnuts on North Avenue at 2 a.m. or my guilty pleasure (cheese fries) from Oakland Gyros at 3 a.m. When it comes to eating out on the East Side, I can stuff my face at any hour of the day, but I couldn’t find a fitness facility to work off the junk food in my trunk at the same convenience.

Until this past March, the East Side was foreign to any 24/7 fitness centers. Then Anytime Fitness was born in Minneapolis/ St. Paul; another location popped up in Kenilworth Square.

For many college students, money factors in while choosing a gym. Klotsche is free for UWM students so most co-eds congregate there; but for a little extra cash, $35/month to be exact, anyone can exercise at Anytime Fitness at any hour of the day and receive 100 percent reciprocity at any Anytime around the country.

John Mathie, owner, says that the time factor separates them from every other gym on the East Side.

“We also have 15” LCD screens on every piece of cardio equipment with 75 cable stations,” said Mathie.

How many other fitness centers can say that?

Jena Lapacek, senior at UW-Parkside, is a member of Snap fitness in Kenosha, another 24/7 national fitness chain.

“I’m more prone to work out in a 24/7 gym because I like to exercise when normal gyms aren’t open, like at 6 a.m. before I nanny, or 10 p.m. when I get off from my retail job,” she says.

Like Snap, Anytime also has unlimited tanning in the facility for an extra $10/month on standard flat beds, much cheaper than traditional tanning booths.

Unlike normal fitness centers, Anytime and Snap only have staff working at normal hours (10-8 p.m.) and then members use key fobs to enter the facility. Despite most gym-goers working out between those hours, members take a risk when staff personnel aren’t in the facility. For example, if you hurt yourself while weightlifting or someone is harassing you, you might be in trouble. Also, these facilities don’t have pools or sport amenities, like tennis or basketball courts.

When choosing a gym, one has to weigh the pros and cons. Members flock to Anytime Fitness to exercise on cardio or weight machines, with or without personal training. Klotsche is a recreational facility aiming to serve on various fitness activities, volleyball, basketball, swimming, personal training, or sweating in the sauna… Everything Klotsche offers seems great, unless you stop by after 4 p.m., and then no one is doing much of anything.

Mathie says, “because Anytime is open 24/7, traffic throughout the facility is cut down, creating a better environment for our members.”

So is exercising for the new generation worth getting excited about? For students, these conveniences are definitely welcome.

“Between juggling an internship, working and going to school full time, I need all the extra time I can get, even if it means getting my butt on a treadmill at midnight,” says Lapacek.

> Comments