First Impressions: Finding Fitness Together

There is absolutely nothing like having a Jewish mother. After losing almost 60 pounds, as this writer recently did through sheer will power and a bit of exercise, it was my Jewish mother who told me, "You look good, but you could really stand to tighten up your stomach." Of course it wasn't enough to have lost the weight, now I had to apparently to try my best to reach physical perfection.

And so, having had mixed luck with gyms, though I would recommend Ludlow Fitness to any LES resident, and being too naive (or spoiled depending on your definition) to merely work out or purchase one of those Swiss Balls (as a fellow writer at PS 20 recommended), I decided to do what any good Park Slope resident might do and google my options. A quick look with keywords like "Brooklyn" and "Fitness" soon netted me www.broolynpersonaltraining.com the local incarnation of the Fitness Together brand of personal trainers. I decided to submit a request for a meeting through their website, explaining my situation (Jewish mother and all) and got a call back the next day. Over the phone, I was asked when I would like to come in and when I requested coming in a week from then, was told that it should be sooner or it would never get done. What could I say? They were being pushy.

[The Fitness Together Ad]

Therefore, this morning I headed down for the free consult at their offices on 5th Ave and 5th st. Their location, next to the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company and Get Fresh: Table and Market, as well as the proximity to Ginger's puts Fitness Together in the center of at least what I consider "Park Slope." The entrance to the place is filled with cardio equipment, which, from what I understand, a person can access at any time, seven days a week, when they join up for membership. However, it isn't quite different from a gym, as one will be ogled by passers by no matter what.

My meeting with trainer "L" was pretty interesting. I was asked more questions about my weight loss and commended that I was showing up my ex-girlfriend who had dumped me partially because of my advanced size. When L heard about this as the impetus for my weight loss, she was openly surprised and said that the ex would hardly recognize me. At any rate, she went through the whole spiel about how the whole place was a family. Apparently, the fitness center is made up of about three training rooms, which provide individual attention and privacy. A pretty good deal. The whole place kind of looks like if you set up a training center in three different living rooms and was immaculately clean. However, for a 24 year old, there is something inherently awkward about the personal attention, not to mention the price which runs about $95 a session. However, the staff was incredibly nice and confident about fixing any physical malaise that one might have. If I can just get my mother to part with some cash to foot the rather expensive bill as opposed to her usual contributions to my own neuroses, I would definitely give Fitness Together a try.