Crunch Gym

Crunch Gym
Crunch Gym, River North, Chicago

When I lived in East Ukrainian Village/Wicker Park I used to go to the Cheetah Gym on North Avenue. When Dallas and I moved to Roscoe Village there wasn’t a gym in the neighborhood except for Curves, which I wasn’t interested in. Nobody must have been interested in that gym because it closed while we lived in the neighborhood. There was the Lakeview YMCA, but I have to have something close or I won’t go. In Logan Square there isn’t a gym, but there are rumors that Cheetah is going to open this summer. I would like to join Cheetah, then, but decided that I couldn’t put off not exercising any more. In the winter I am just a lazy couch potato. In the summer I will ride my bike every single day, but it’s not a complete work out.

On Friday I joined Crunch Gym at a location that is near my office. They were having a promotion where I got $150 off my enrollment fee (it was $49) and got my monthly membership reduced to $49/month. That’s $10 off the normal membership fee. I also get 2 free personal trainer sessions. I’m especially interested in these PT sessions because even when I did go to the gym all I did was walk and try to run on the treadmill. I say try to run because I actually hate running. I thought a PT would be able to teach me some new things and get me psyched to be at the gym. Start me off on the right foot. If I decide I like it Crunch is also having a special on some super cheap PT sessions. My membership at Crunch is month to month so I can stay a member as long or as little as I like. And if I decide to move to a different gym, I’m not tied into a yearly membership.

Last night I met Eric, my new personal trainer. We talked for a bit about goals and stuff. Then we got going. I did a lot of step exercises, squats, lunges, ab exercises, push ups, jumping jacks, and squat thrusts. Not anything I’d normally do, but definitely was interesting and challenging. I was sore last night. I’m not going to lie. Walking down the red line steps, transferring up and down steps at Jackson to the Blue Line and walking down the California Blue Line stairs were a challenge. Plus the gym is in a basement. It’s a lot of stairs to do after a tough work out! Today, I expected not to be able to move, but I’m ok. A bit sore, but manageable. Still looking forward to my next PT session on Friday, which is good. Eric says he is all over the place doing functional exercises like the ones we did last night, stuff on the trampoline, with weights, and in the boxing ring. Looking forward to the variety and working out different muscles. Instead of legs on my bike or legs on the treadmill every single time.

10 thoughts on “Crunch Gym

  1. I’ve been thinking about joining a gym downtown, but for some reason I didn’t even think of this one. I’m definitely going to check it out.

  2. Cool. Erin had told me that the Crunch in LP is a scene, but the one downtown seems not to be so much. Granted I’ve only been there twice, but everyone was nice to me (employees and members). Maybe it is more like people who just need to work out before/after work and are not there to be seen.

    The specials I got were supposed to be through the end of February, but they are still on the Crunch site. Also, my PT said the PT special is good through Wednesday. Maybe all the specials are extended til then?

    Also, funny that all the ads on this post are for the West Loop Gym.

  3. That’s great that you found a gym!

    Amanda and I have a membership at Cardinal Fitness. We pay $32 per month for both of us and there was no enrollment fee or contract. I go at least twice per week, there is one near our house and my work.

  4. wow. $32 is cheap for two people. I think when I was at Cheetah a few years ago I paid $60 or $65/month, so I thought $49 was cheap at Crunch. I’m not sure how much Dallas pays at West Loop Athletic Club. He has a membership there but all he uses it for is to play basketball on Thursday nights with his friends.

  5. Thanks for the info. I stopped in after work today and signed up for the month-to-month plan too. I used to have a membership at Women’s Workout World, which I think was about $24 a month, but considering I only went a few times and I was locked into a 2-year contract, it wasn’t a good deal for me. I think I’ll like Crunch a lot more, and if it doesn’t work out, I’m not locked in.

    I told them you referred me so you should be getting a free month sometime soon. Hopefully I’ll see you around!

  6. also i was doing these ab exercises and he was like “BREATHE BREATHE! YOUR FACE IS TURNING RED! BREATHE” omg.

    yesterday i was walking a bit like Frankenstein my legs were killing. but, i guess it means its working. we’ll see how friday goes.

  7. Good info. I have been thinking about joining a gym, begrudingly, since I really need to get in shape pre-wedding season (physically exhausting as I know we’ve discussed before). I would really like to get a personal trainer to help me target the areas I want to be stronger in (arms, back and abs…so funny how I need to work on things for weddings!). It’s hard for me to know where to go though since I feel like I move so much. Can you go to any of the Crunches or just the one? I know they used to charge to go to more than one location; wonder if it’s still that way.

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