No Room at the Gym

The holiday decorations have been put away and it’s time to reap what we’ve sown. All those Thanksgiving and Christmas calories added up and now it’s time to look at options for slimming down and GETTING HEALTHY. Once and for all. Right?

For many of us it’s time to get off the couch and back to the gym. While the options in Cochise County have expanded in recent years, we still have limited choices, unlike residents in the Tucson and Phoenix areas, where they seem to have a gym on every corner.

CHOOSING A GYM

For Sierra Vista, we’ve got the classics like Cochise Health and Racquet Club, one of Sierra Vista’s oldest continuously operated gyms. First opening its doors in February of 1982, the original building stood alone. The only facility with indoor racquetball, a pool, sauna, steam rooms and hot tubs, they’ve worked to continuously update their equipment and they even have classes. Plus, they participate in the Silver Sneakers program which helps keep costs down for active seniors.

EXPANDING OPTIONS

Over the years several other locally operated gyms have opened in the area. Buena Health and Fitness, Summit Fitness, to name a few. And now with Planet Fitness getting in the game, there are certainly options in Sierra Vista. If these larger options aren’t for you, there are a few smaller upstarts who might fit your personality a little more, plus a few yoga and Pilates studios who are beginning to make their mark.

BUT NOT FOR EVERYONE

Living further away from Sierra Vista the options get slimmer. A friend who lives in Benson mentioned recently that right before the holidays she was frequently the only person in her gym, and she could sail through a workout. The last few weeks, however, everyone put away the holiday ham and stepped on the scale. So now my friend has noticed a huge spike in attendees at the gym, increasing wait times to use equipment. She found the sudden “resolutioner uptick” to be frustrating.

We can’t all afford to hire a personal trainer, so getting in line for the treadmill at the gym is sometimes our only option. Unless you can hold out until February, when most of us have given up!