Most of us are still trying to make good on our fitness resolutions. I know I’ve made mine: I want to be strong and healthy enough to do a week-long bike tour this year. Many of our resolutions will include joining (or re-joining a gym). As is typical of Asheville, there are so many options. It’s hard to determine what benefits and features all the gyms have to offer, to do all the comparing and contrasting research, and to visit all the facilities. That’s where I come in. This is the first in a series of articles on Asheville gyms. On behalf of The Asheville Post, I’ve toured, explored, and worked out at many of the gyms in our fair city in order to give you a real feel for each facility, their equipment, amenities, and culture. I hope that my experiences will bring you one step closer to realizing those fitness resolutions.
Anytime Fitness
West Asheville’s Anytime Fitness is a 24-hour gym designed for busy people who need a no fuss/no muss place to workout. For the get in/get out members, Anytime Fitness offers a range of cardio equipment (elliptical, treadmill, rowing machine, spin bikes, etc.) as well as strength training machines (Precor, Hammer Strength, etc.). For gym-goers looking for motivation and community, Anytime Fitness provides group fitness classes (indoor cycling, Zumba, kickboxing, yoga, bootcamp, etc.). Not only that, but this gym gets a lot of street cred for being the official workout spot of the Blue Ridge Rollergirls. In order to be a winning team, these gals learn how to take a beating and must focus on increasing their strength, endurance, and speed. Having a fitness facility that provides avenues for this development is crucial for their success.
Anytime Fitness is under new ownership, and Merrill Fowler is in the process of re-imagining his piece of the franchise pie that Entrepreneur ranked No. 6 in its Annual Franchise Ranking 500. He is working to bring a more comprehensive nutrition program to his already robust fitness facility for a more holistic approach to health. He and his family are dealing with the effects of celiac disease, so they want to bring awareness and education about the benefits of a gluten-free lifestyle to their fitness community. Not only that, but it is the only gym that offers DNA testing (for a fee, of course) to give members individualized information about their body’s composition and unique nutritional needs.
Rates: $29-$49 depending on length of contract
Hours: 24-hour access
Group Exercise: Yes
Child Care: No
Personal Training/Nutritional Support: Yes
Pool: No
Biltmore Premier Fitness
Biltmore Premier Fitness boasts three floors of workout space. The upper floor features an impressive array of strength training equipment, including Precor and Hammer Strength machines. The ground floor houses much of the cardio equipment (many with individualized TV monitors), the locker rooms, and the sauna. It is also home to the unique Technogym Kinesis Wall, which uses cables and pulleys for push and pull exercises to build balance, flexibility, and strength. The Kinesis Wall can be used for sports-specific training, rehabilitation, or even circuit training because it targets multiple muscle groups simultaneously. The lower floor is where many of the classes take place. This floor has the most open space and houses the punching bags for the incredibly popular kickboxing classes, the La Monde spin bikes for the indoor cycling classes, and the heavy, unusual strength training equipment (such as kegs filled with sand) for the more serious weight lifters.
Biltmore Premier Fitness is the gym I visited with the most history. This facility (under various names and management) has been locally owned and operated in Asheville for more than 26 years. In fact, I spoke with Jerry Adell who has been a staff member for nearly all that time. He says he loves working at BiltFit because he so enjoys his relationship with the wonderful members. Besides being perhaps the oldest gym in town, another of its claims to fame is that the local baseball team, the Asheville Tourists, has chosen BiltFit as their official workout facility. BiltFit also prides itself in its growing staff of personal trainers.
Rates: $34 + $49 joining fee
Hours: Monday-Friday 5 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
Group Exercise: Yes
Child Care: Yes
Personal Training/Nutritional Support: Yes
Pool: No
The Body Shop Fitness Center
The Body Shop Fitness Center has been around for 16 years and is Western North Carolina’s largest local gym franchise, offering 24-hour access at four locations in Asheville and the surrounding areas (Hendersonville, Fletcher, and Flat Rock). It supplies a range of membership options that are designed to cater to individual needs and budgets. The various locations offer group fitness classes, such as Zumba, spinning, yoga, and Fitness Fusion. To supplement members’ workout experience, The Body Shop also has a tanning salon.
When I visited The Body Shop, I was taken with the large, open space that houses much of the cardio and weight training equipment. In order to reduce or eliminate wait times, this gym provides quite the collection of Life Fitness Cardio machines, including treadmills, elliptical machines, stationary bikes, etc., and most of them have personalized television monitors. In addition, the range of free weights, heavy weights, and Hammer Strength machines is impressive. I saw three machines that each worked the calf muscle in different ways.
The Body Shop Fitness Center also offers a “Cardio Theatre,” which is a separate room containing various cardio equipment. The Cardio Theatre is furnished with its own sound system and big-screen TV. This is an ideal spot for those who prefer to workout in a more private space, and it’s also a fun way for a group of friends to workout together to their own music choices, using their own visual aids.
The Body Shop is not only convenient and well-equipped, but it also offers free seven day passes to interested prospective members.
Rates: $14.99 and up
Hours: 24-hour access
Group Exercise: Yes
Child Care: Yes
Nutritional Support: Yes, some locations offer a smoothie bar and nutritional supplements.
Personal Training: No
Pool: No
CrossFit Asheville
CrossFit Asheville (CFA), owned by Corey and Shanna Duvall (both chiropractors), is the kind of place where Rocky might train. It’s a bit gritty, there are a couple of resident dogs, and the limited range of equipment offered encourages members to focus more on body weight and free weight/kettlebell exercises, which also promotes more functional, integrated, “real life” movements and strength development rather than isolation exercises on machines that target a specific muscle or muscle group. According to Corey, the three tenets of CrossFit are constant variety, functional movements, and high intensity (working safely at or near the body’s limits in order to push the boundaries of those limits). Though CFA gives the first impression of hardcoreness, the community there is incredible. Several members introduced themselves to me while I was touring the facility, interested in whether or not I was joining. I witnessed great camaraderie among the members as they exercised together, helping each other with form and cheering each other to greater achievements.
I participated in the introductory Conditioning Foundations Class led by CrossFit coach Rick Miller. The class began with a warm-up as well as an explanation and demonstration of the few exercises we would be performing and repeating (goblet squats, bear crawls, suitcase deadlifts, etc). We were given a set period of time (eight minutes) in which to perform as many sets as we could of the routine with control and good form at a sustained speed. Afterward, we rested and then performed a second series of exercises for a designated time span. When I or others struggled with the last rep or two near the end of a set, Rick would cheer us each on by name.
I consider myself a pretty fit person. I workout two or more hours at least six days per week. I teach spin classes, swim, lift weights, and ride my bike. The day after this intro class, nearly every muscle in my body was sore, which doesn’t happen nearly often enough. It was wonderful. This reminded me that routine is great, but constant variety helps shake the body up and give it new challenges. CrossFit Asheville also approaches each individual differently, helping them achieve the goals specific to their needs and fitness level, which is why the Stay Active Clinic is also incorporated into the CFA gym. The Stay Active Clinic features individualized programs to aid members with injury recovery, health concerns, and/or mobility enhancement.
CrossFit Asheville is moving to a larger facility on 38 Haywood Road in West Asheville this spring.
Rates: CrossFit Asheville Fast Track offers one $75 or three $150 one-hour sessions to prepare new members for group fitness. Then $135-$190 depending on the number of visits.The Stay Active Clinic Individual Design is $150 for 60- to 90-minute initial performance assessment and individualized workout creation. Then $200 for two visits per week
Hours: Monday: 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Tuesday: 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Wednesday: 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Thursday: 7:30-8:30 a.m. & 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Friday: 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Saturday: 7-8:30 a.m. & 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Group Exercise: Yes (Group class times differ from open gym hours. See schedule for details.)
Child Care: No
Nutritional Support: Yes
Pool: No
Amanda Rodriguez is an activist in Asheville. She holds an MFA in Fiction Writing from Queens University and writes about food and drinking games on her website Booze and Baking.