Blink Fitness Review and Giveaway

I’m a fan of quick workouts. The idea that a workout has to be time-consuming to be worthwhile can stop you from exercising when you realize you only have 20 or 30 minutes to spare – right? And now that I’m trying to get into the swing of being a mama of two and fitting in workouts when I can, doing something quick, challenging and efficient is more important than ever.

That meant I was definitely a little bummed when Blink Fitness reached out to me to see if I’d like to try one of their clubs out with a complimentary membership so I could review the experience. I would have jumped at the chance, but there’s just not one of the 35 clubs in NYC and NJ that’s quite close enough to be a logistical possibility for me. Believe me, I wanted it to work. All of them were at least a couple of subway stops away and that travel time just won’t work for me.

You see, I’d heard great things about Blink Fitness clubs. A friend of mine joined years ago (and actually requested I write a post on how to streamline a gym bag after joining) – she loved its new equipment, super friendly staff and the fact that it’s inexpensive (trust me, a gym with a monthly fee starting at $15 is AMAZING in New York. Like almost beyond belief amazing). And my very favorite guest writer, my husband Fran was also a Blink convert. Yes, the gym he was sweating at during his quest to lose 10 pounds was Blink Fitness in Chelsea. So Fran graciously agreed to share his experience of Blink with you guys – and one of you will be able to check it out for yourself, because Blink Fitness is giving away to one of my readers a year-long membership to any of their clubs! How awesome is that? I’m SO excited to offer such a great prize for one of my fabulous readers! 🙂 (I’m sorry, non-NYC & NJ readers, this rules you guys out, but spread the word to your friends who live or work in this area!)

Without further ado, please welcome back Fran, with his review of Blink Fitness (which is, of course, his own honest opinion and is expressed in typical Fran fashion):

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I moved to New York City almost 17 years ago as a twenty something. I was 5’10” and 170 pounds and I was in great shape. My height has not changed. My weight and fitness have seen some ups and downs. There are many challenges to staying fit in NYC. One of the biggest for me was finding the right gym. And by ‘right’ I mean finding a gym that was affordable, with decent equipment and without fear of contracting a disease. In that 17 years, I have flirted with “the perfect gym” but was never able to attain it. My discovery of Blink Fitness would change all that.

I had been away from the gym for a while when I joined Blink last summer. When I was looking to get back, I priced gyms at $90, $120, $160 a month and beyond. I was getting angry. Really angry. I do that. One more reason I needed a gym. And I really do NEED a gym. I can’t go to the park and lift rocks and tree stumps and get creative. My wife could create a workout with two cans of soup, a rubber band and a park bench. Me? I need benches and weights with numbers on them. Just when I was about to give up, perhaps on fitness altogether, my wife mentioned that a friend of ours belonged to Blink Fitness and it was only like $20/month. Now, this is NYC. I have gotten to a point where I don’t flinch if a martini costs $20. But for a month at a gym? It couldn’t be real. But I checked it out online and not only was it $20/month, it looked really nice. I was joining.

Joining was easy. Most every gym I have belonged to in the past took forever to join. Between the paperwork, the tour and the usually aggressive pitch, you’re normally looking at 45 minutes. I joined Blink in about 20 minutes, had the freedom to look around for myself and felt ZERO pressure. The sales staff were remarkably friendly and laid back.

I joined the Blink in Chelsea, on 23rd Street and 8th Avenue. The staff there is amazing. I get a genuinely nice greeting every time I walk in there. The manager, at least I think he is the manager, may be the nicest man in New York, perhaps the world. I almost want to make him angry just to see if it is possible. I’m embarrassed that I don’t know his name. Once I find out, I need to try to get him a raise.

Now, Blink doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles of most gyms. You won’t find any yoga classes, Pilates, spin classes or boot camps. I didn’t care about any of that. One thing that DID concern me was towels. I love having towels at the gym. And I would abuse that privilege at every gym I ever belonged to. Because of the exorbitant membership fees, I felt I was entitled to 4 towels (yes, 4, sometimes 5) every time I went to the gym. I don’t feel guilty about that entitlement and having that many clean towels at my disposal was glorious so, yeah, I was a little nervous about the NO TOWELS scenario at Blink. This wasn’t that bad. I bought a couple of nice, small workout towels from the desk so it would be easy enough to keep a rotation of clean towels throughout the week. My biggest concern was my shower towel. I didn’t want to have to wash a bunch of big, thirsty bath towels. Now, they did offer larger towels for sale at Blink but I bought a small chamois towel online (also on the recommendation of my wife. She gives and gives). You wring them out and they are essentially dry. Science!!

Having broken the chains of slavery to complimentary gym towels, I could get down to it. Though I had taken the tour just a day earlier, a few things stood out to me immediately.

SIZE – The place was huge. I work out at lunch time so, it is not “peak hour” for working out, but there was enough room for me to come back during peak hours without a sense of dread or excessive apprehension.

CLEANLINESS – The place was very clean. Not only was everything clean but there was a very visible presence of custodial staff. I’m not a surgeon* but if I were, I would feel comfortable breaking out the rubber gloves and scalpels at Blink.

*OR AM I???**

**No, I’m not.

EQUIPMENT – There was no shortage of weights, benches, barbells, dumbbells, bikes, treadmills, etc. They have it all. And it is all top brand equipment that is well maintained. In almost a year of membership I don’t think I have seen an “Out of Order” sign once. True story.

MUSIC – I love music and I am a believer in music as a source of energy for workouts. In my experience with gyms, you will be force-fed bad dance music and it will be loud and perhaps even come with static. And I have tinnitus (ringing in the ears) so cranking headphones to drown out the gym’s playlist is not really an option. The music was played at a comfortable volume with zero distortion and a nice mix of a variety of tunes. One day I heard a Madonna tune followed by a track from an old Queens of the Stone Age record. I still can’t believe that happened.

COLOR – Yes, I wrote that. How many men care about what color the walls of their gym are? Less than 5% is a generous estimate. And I am part of that demographic. However, I would be lying if I said I didn’t notice. It does help. Again, science at work here.

VIBE –  The vibe is important. Your level of comfort contributes to your workout. If you feel uncomfortable, it will likely affect the quality of your workout. The friendly greeting gets things going nicely. There are very few, if any, meatheads and there are little snippets of positivity in sign form all over the gym. Positivity helps. Take it from a pessimist.

So again, I work out at lunch and then return to the office. A shower is a necessity. I share an office with two women who would not tolerate an un-showered Fran. And I get that. There are four shower stalls at the Blink I go to. In addition to my fears about the towel supply, I was scared about the number of shower stalls. Whether in the company of man, woman or child, I don’t like standing around in a towel around anyone so the idea of waiting in a line for a shower was not on my list of fun things to do. And I was on the clock, I needed to work out, shower and get back to the office in about an hour. Truth is, four seems to be more than enough. The longest I have waited was about a minute and I was the only one waiting. My fears were for naught.

So, perfection is a tall order in anything. I think Blink makes it a close call.

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How can you not want to join after that kind of review? Here’s your chance to enter to win a year-long membership to Blink Fitness – just enter via the Rafflecopter giveaway below! Good luck!! 🙂

Contest runs 6/24 – 7/3/15. Void where prohibited. Open to US residents only. Must be 18 years or older. Winner will be announced on the blog on 7/8. Blink Fitness will contact the winner directly with details for claiming their prize.
a Rafflecopter giveaway