[Might I suggest C&C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat" as theme music for today's blog?]
And a warning, this blog is rated PG-13. Read onward at your own risk.
I realize I was spoiled by life at the East Bank Club. No, it's not the Oprah or Obama spotting opportunities, but the 'little' things like having 400+ pieces of cardio equipment (many with built-in LCD screens to control your own programming), the myriad spa therapies available (don't get me started on how much I miss Agnieszka and Tatiana, my massage therapist and manicurist, respectively), locker room amenities, the Grille (oh, The Grille....), racquet sports, the indoor driving range and putting green, the 1/4 mile indoor track, the three pools, and the Lido Deck. But I knew I was spoiled (see www.eastbankclub.com for just how spoiled I was). I really did. Well, I thought I did. Allow me to report on some features of the EBC that I now realize I took for granted.
1. The Hours. EBC was open on weekdays from 5 AM - 11 PM. Some gyms in the US are open 24 hours per day, but these hours were fine for me. Oh, how fine they were.... Most gyms here don't open until 9 AM. Yeah, that's right -- about a half hour after I am usually sitting at my desk toiling away. I am a morning workout person so this is problematic. The latest most are open is 10 PM, though if I work out late at night, I have difficulty sleeping.
2. Proximity. EBC is about three blocks from my Chicago digs. A nice warm-up or cool-down walk, particularly if you swing by the Dunkin' Donuts on the way back. There's a gym about two blocks from my Sachsenhausen digs that is a 'Ladies Club,' which kinda freaks me out or makes me think that it will be some version of Curves or something. Like a lot of happy giggly women which is, to me, inconsistent with really working out. Yes, I know I have some stereotypes that are misplaced, but what can I say? The next closest gym (one that scandalously allows men) is about a 10 minute walk away. The Ladies Club opens at 7 AM two days a week. Woohoo!!! However, by the time I would work out, go home, get ready for work, and drive to work, it would be long past 9 AM.
3. Locker room products. I am a loyal product chick, but I was fine with the products EBC had in the showers and locker room areas -- shower gel, bar soap, shampoo, conditioner, a supply of razors, hair spray, spray-on deodorant (who realized that was still manufactured?), q-tips, mouthwash, make-up removal pads, etc.
4. Towels. EBC had towels everywhere. Towels by the pools. Towels throughout the workout areas. Towels by the shower. Towels other places in the locker rooms. There was no shortage or confusion about whether towels were available.
5. Temperature. EBC has a nice, cool-but-not-cold temperature with low humidity. A nice environment for working up a sweat. This was nicely complemented by the built-in fans on some of the treadmills. Ahhhh.....
Those are just a few examples. So, I have finally joined a gym here that was recommended by one of the partners here in at work. It is practically next door to the office and opens at 7 AM three (!!) days a week. If I worked out precisely at 7 AM, I could be in the office well before 9 AM since I wouldn't have to deal with the commute. The gym isn't all that large, but has some classes, seems very clean, doesn't smell like sweat, and has good cardio equipment and machines. All good. So I signed up and they gave me a bag of goodies -- a PowerBar water bottle (which I was told I could fill up at their little water machine for free), a little lanyard with the gym's name/logo (it's unclear what I am to hang from said lanyard), a small red towel, and two little grip things that I have no clue how/where to use.
So this morning was my first workout. I showed up, got my membership card and was given a key to a locker (apparently you can't rent lockers here and leave your stuff here, which is unfortunate). There was a pretty small group working out -- three older guys and a woman -- so no waiting on machines. A good start. They have four TVs that you can tune in to from your machine, which is also a nice option, though not as nice as having your own video screen. So I did a long elliptical workout to work my way in gently. Then headed back to the locker room.
Now, as a refresher, Europeans have less anxiety about showing their nude bodies than does the typical American (like me, for example). I don't mind a general locker room, but always found it somewhat odd at EBC when you'd have a few women just walking around nude and showing off things I'd really rather not see, but whatever. So you can imagine my surprise when the partner from work mentioned that the sauna (which one generally apparently uses in the nude) at the gym is coed. Uhhhh.... Somehow I don't think I'll be checking that out, even if I end up going into crazy workout mode and become ridiculously fit.
So, what's more awkward than being in a locker room with a bunch of nude women? Being in a small locker room with just one woman. Awkward.
And made even more awkward when one discovers that no towels are provided for showers. Uhhh.... So, that small red towel from the goody bag.... Awkward.
It is, of course, a communal shower. With absolutely no products, not even that shower gel for hair and body which is a staple of many European hotels, but which I find works well for neither. I had brought along my entire travel bag, so I had some shampoo and stuff. But there isn't a ledge or place to stow your stuff by each shower head. You hang your (tiny) towel on a hook by the door and hope you get one of the two shower stations that share a tiny ledge where you could put your stuff. As I stood in the tiny trickle of water (which shut off every minute or so, requiring you to punch the button again), I recalled that the only sink was a tiny one in the WC, so I was going to have to wash my face in the shower as well. Grrr.... If possible, that tiny red towel shrunk while I was in the shower.
What's more awkward than dripping wet with a tiny red towel? Dripping with with a tiny red towel and having a kind stranger try to strike up a conversation with you in German. The words helpless and defenseless come to mind. Another woman came in later who was equally friendly, so who knows, perhaps this is how I will end up making friends. I'll just be doing it with one of the full size towels I will now carry at all times in the trunk of my car!
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