London Trends

Well, the Gymbox was not all I had hoped it would be. It turns out the "human weights" were a promotional gimmick the bank location did around January. Apparently, there was a mixed review from the current members. The gym put it on to promote membership, which when all said and done, they did. However, they also lost members who were offended by the hiring of "little people." I find it strange that one would stop their membership to a gym because they contracted with "little people." It makes me wonder if people know that Disney employs "little people." Who do you think plays Donald and Daisy Duck? People never cease to amaze me! Or maybe, I have more of an open mind because I thought the "human weights" sounded so cool I wanted to lift them. Would lifting a person little or not offend you? If yes, please tell me why because I clearly don't get it...

Eventhough, the gym didn't have the "human weights" it did have some redeeming qualities. They have the only MMA fighting octagon cage in London and a full size boxing ring, which is all in a seperate room so if you don't want to work out next to sweaty fighting men and women you don't have to. Their weight room is actually built inside an old bank vault. This has a coolness factor to it but if you like natural light this is not the place for you. The other awesome service they offer is the group classes, which were so similar to Crunch Fitness that I had to ask if the owners had any connection to Crunch. It turns out that one of the owners lived in New York City and was a member of Crunch Fitness and brought the concept to London and called it, Gymbox...anything goes. Sound familiar? It should because Crunch's slogan is...no judgements. Competition in the market place keeps businessses on their toes and from what I saw Gymbox may be doing a better job.

In addition to visiting the Gymbox, I wanted to get a general feel for fitness in and around London. When exercising happens, it seems it is mostly done in a gym verses outside, which makes sense considering London gets something like 2 weeks of hot nice weather. However, when I passed by the gyms they weren't packed with people. The place that was packed was the pub where many people were doing 16oz curl exercises. It seems this is how London gets its exercise :-)

Next, on to Paris where I will be meeting with Kelly Dailey-Vinoche who opened The Dailey Method studio.