The workout craze The workout craze (April 09, 2004)

MV falls in love with muscle toning

By Candice Shih

With 24 Hour Fitness, the Y and others, there's never been a shortage of fitness clubs in Mountain View. But now entrepreneurs are recognizing the need for specialized clubs, leading to the opening of several women-only studios and others with unique visions.

The fad began with Curves, a circuit training studio that opened a branch on West Evelyn Avenue in May 2003. In its program, women spend 30 seconds on one of 12 hydraulic resistance machines, each designed to work a different muscle group.

Between each machine, participants get a 30-second aerobic jolt of their choice, running in place or simply waving their arms to increase their heart rate. This continuous circuit can be entered at any time and at any place. Curves members are encouraged to go around the circuit three times, which adds up to a 30-minute workout.

Since Curves' popular introduction in Mountain View, two other women's circuit training clubs, a personal training program and a gym focused on the "core" muscles, have opened. The city has no fewer than 10 fitness studios now.

"We just wanted a different workout. We were walking the (Stanford) dish," said GaeAnn Spence, a member at Pace Yourself, a new circuit training club. "It turned out a lot of friends come here, too."

Whether it's friendship, personal attention or something else you're looking for, chances are, a fitness club in Mountain View has it.

Ladies only

Since Mountain View's Curves branch opened, local interest in women's circuit training has only grown. The appeal in circuit training is in the easy-to-learn, 30-minute workout and the all-female environment.

"I like that it's all women and how it's supportive here. There's no worries," said Curves customer Kim Dodge, who added that she was turned off by the "meatheads" at a larger, coed gym.

Pace Yourself and Ladies Workout Express, alternatives to the circuit training juggernaut of Curves, opened in Mountain View last fall. All three cost about $50 per month to be a member.

With a similar workout to Curves (twice around an 18-station circuit at 40 seconds per station), Pace Yourself is circuit training with a personal touch.

Longtime friends Debbie Brown and Regina Rutledge opened Pace together and infused their own interests and personalities into the club. They take music requests, have jewelry and ceramics on sale and hand out Viactiv candy to the women.

Unlike Curves and Ladies Workout Express, Pace is open in the middle of the day and allows its customers to change the tension settings on the machines so they can vary the difficulty of their workouts.

When she opened Ladies Workout Express, Peggy Sturman knew she had to do something different for her club to stand out. Acknowledging the lack of variety at Curves, she changes the machines' tension settings once a week herself and also the type of workout -- one day you might do each station twice for 30 seconds, another day you might go around only once at 60 seconds per station.

Sturman is also trying to set herself apart by offering sunless tanning and massage. After giving up her tech job last year, she decided, "I'd really like to open a place where people can do something good for themselves."

Privacy please

If doing exercise in a public place doesn't appeal to you, there are other options from a private studio to a usually empty weight room to a small club focused on the "core."

At Fitness Together, owner Robert Brownlee is one of two trainers there who will work with you one-in-one in a private studio for 45 minutes.

"There's no distractions," he said. "We're with you the whole time."

Brownlee, a former Mountain View cop, starts his clients' sessions off with five minutes of cardio -- there's an elliptical trainer, a treadmill and a stationary bike available -- and then stretches.

Then comes the hard part, the weights. Brownlee coaches his customers through several exercises on a weight machine and then gives exercises to do with free weights.

Unlike at any other gym, customers get personal attention the entire time they're there and don't need to worry as much about hurting themselves. But the one-on-one treatment doesn't come without a price -- each 45-minute session costs $45.

Working out at Flex-It gym is nearly as private as at Fitness Together. Operated by Steve Schulz, a former strength coach at Stanford University, Flex-It sports several weight stations, cardio machines and a gym in a 7,000-square-foot space.

Although Schulz said his clientele is diverse, weight lifters can particularly feel at home at Flex-It. Three platforms are available to use for Olympic-style weight lifting, and Flex-It has hosted weight-lifting competitions.

"It's just a matter of making a commitment," said Schulz. "You don't have to be Charles Atlas to come here."

With its group exercise classes, Fit From the Core isn't going for total privacy. But you can still appreciate the benefits of belonging to a small studio.

The main focus of the club's mission, said owner Lorraine Garnett, is on the "core," a set of muscles within the torso which is put to work during everyday tasks. Garnett said she's trying to draw in people who don't have a long history of exercise.

Members usually take the yoga, pilates and spinning classes that are offered and pay per session. A small "reflection room" is also available for cardio and weight training.

Newcomers are encouraged to attend the beginning Core Connections class where a teacher leads the group through a set of tai chi-like exercises.

All together now

If a comprehensive club with lots of options is what you're looking for, there are several choices within Mountain View.

First, there's the ubiquitous 24 Hour Fitness. Convenient for its hours, breadth of machines and classes, and water facilities, the club is also criticized for its pushy sales pitch and "meat market" atmosphere. While it makes many an exerciser happy, there are fortunately other options in town.

Another popular choice is the nonprofit YMCA. When it was renovated in 2002, the Y increased its range of exercise options, including a computerized training system that records workouts for free, and a new basketball gym.

What's clear about the Y is that it's more than a gym. For example, adults can join a weight loss group or a cancer recovery program, and kids can take their own movement education classes or hang out in the Teen Center.

While it's slightly more expensive than most gyms ($71 for one person), the Y offers financial aid scholarships and as members point out, the money isn't going to waste if you don't go.

In other years, Gold's Gym would have been the place to go, but now some people say the bodybuilding image it took on after "Pumping Iron" was filmed at a Southern California branch is hurting its business.

Craig Chirolo, a customer service representative, said the Mountain View Gold's is trying to appeal to more people with group exercise classes and a 30-minute circuit training program for women.

But its old reputation still clings -- there are 5.5-pound supplement bottles for sale and well-toned customers are not hard to find.

Said 61-year-old Doug Heimforth, a Gold's member, "They have the best equipment here. ... The people who come here seem more dedicated to muscle."

A good middle ground for those who want to exercise is The Club of Mountain View. Although, like Gold's, it doesn't have a pool, The Club has all the requisite machines and classes and also three racquetball courts.

The Club replaced a 12-court racquetball club and a bar where players would order their drinks through a shared window. Asked why he goes to The Club, current customer Jim Everingham said, "It's a gym. It's not a singles scene. ... (But) we do really miss the bar next door."

The Club has a non-competitive atmosphere but a wide variety in equipment, including several cardio machines with computers for watching television, surfing the Internet and playing CDs.

Said member Joanne Banko, "I don't really consider myself the gym type, so this was a compromise."

E-mail Candice Shih at editor@mv-voice.com

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