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New recreation center at Boise State will compare to fitness clubs
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If you are looking for a good place to workout and get back in shape, there are a number of places you could join, for a price, but your best bet may just be right here at Boise State. “I will work out at the new center, but now I workout somewhere else,” junior Summer Price said. If you’re not satisfied with the equipment at the current recreation center at BSU, here are some of the bigger gyms in the area and what they have to offer.
Gold’s Gym offers a lot of promise for the future with the building of their new gym in Meridian, but right now is something different. Gold’s has three locations with 1 in Meridian and two in Boise, none of which are anywhere near Boise State. Their rate right now is $24 a month with a $49 processing fee. You have to pay first and last month’s payment up front. Weight training is what Gold’s Gym has traditionally specialized in with tons of free weights and machine weights to workout on. Lately though, they have begun to branch out to all aspects of fitness. They currently offer classes for the cycling machine, a body pump class, which is a weight training class, and yoga. You can also find cardio-machines such as bicycle and treadmills.
The new Gold’s Gym will offer more than it has ever offered before. They will have basketball and racquetball courts, as well as a track. Idaho Athletic Club has two locations, one in Boise and one in Meridian. The Boise location is off State Street. Rates at Idaho Athletic Club range anywhere from $19-$30 a month, depending on how long you sign up for. Student rates are from $19-$25 a month. Balance is what you can expect to find at Idaho Athletic Club. The weight room is fairly big with plenty of free weights and machines. They offer racquetball courts and a pool as well as a basketball court. There are aerobic classes offered at all different times, along with a variety of other fitness classes.
24-Hour Fitness is located all over Boise, with a club within walking distance of BSU on Park Center. With a $69 processing fee they have rates right now for $24 a month. 24-Hour Fitness also has the luxury of being open 24 hours a day. 24-Hour has a huge weight room with plenty of free weights and machine weights. They have numerous racquetball courts and they also have a pool. Similar to Idaho Athletic Club, 24 Hour offers classes for everyone from beginner to advanced, in all areas of fitness.
All of the above gyms offer personal trainers but you will have to pay extra to schedule them. The Boise State recreation center offers much of the same equipment as the gyms mentioned. You can find basketball courts, a swimming pool, cardio machines, and a weight room. The difference right now is the quality of the equipment. The best part of the recreation center is that you don’t have to pay anything to use it, just show your BSU identification. Boise State’s weight room is about half the size of any of the weight rooms from Gold’s, Idaho Athletic, or 24-Hour Fitness but it does have plenty of weights to get the job done. The cardio machines at the recreation center are old and out-dated, but again they do the job.
You can find more basketball courts at the rec-center, with lots of pick-up games throughout the week. Also the pool at BSU is much bigger than any pool at the gyms above. “I only workout somewhere else because of the equipment. When the new rec-center opens I will be working out there for sure,” Dani Burlingame, a junior said. If you can put up with the equipment in the rec-center until February, when the new center will be finished, you will be able to use brand new equipment with a much bigger selection.
Darrin Shindle