TV Gym Questions
 

When you join a rec center gym are you able to go to any and all? Do all the regional rec centers have gyms? thanks....

Yes! You can join a fitness center in a regional recreation center and go to any of them. All of the regional rec centers have gyms. You can join by the day, week, month, quarter, half year or annual. The regional rec center fitness centers, however, have nothing to do with the wellness center in Spanish Springs Town Square.

You can join a regional recreation center gym which will give you the ability to go to any of the regional rec gyms to exercise. There is also the Wellness Center in Spanish Springs which is larger than any of the regional rec center gyms and has personal trainers you can hire and many classes like spinning classes and yoga and zumba etc. It costs a little more to go to the Wellness Center and is further from the new constructions. I would definitely check both options out before signing up for one.

I didn't realize all the rec centers have gyms. If that's the case, then the rec center on Canal Street (I think it is called Bacall) is closer to our house than the gym at Colony Cottage. But...now that Seabreeze is open, it is the closest to us.

Not ALL rec centers have gyms. You need to check with the individual centers.

There are now four regional rec centers with fitness equipment: Colony Cottage, Seabreeze, Laurel Manor and Mulberry Grove.

Yep... I forgot about some of the older rec centers like La Hacienda and Paradise. Seabreeze just opened and they have all new and the latest equipment. But check them all out and compare prices and services to the wellness center in Spanish Springs!

I thought the Rec Center's were free to use for residents. What is the approx. cost for gym membership (couple) and do you need to be a member to use the pools? Thanks.

Hi N'awlins,
Welcome to TOTV! Pool and activities at the rec centers are free except for the gym memberships. Here is a link that give you the gym membership rates:

http://www.districtgov.org/departmen...sscenters.aspx

I'm a big Wizard of Oz fan. Love your ruby slippers!

Thanks Pturner for the link with the Rec center dues. We saw the Wellness Center last visit but I don't see dues listed online. Any idea what that costs? Since we want to participate in a fitness program, being nearby a center will be important to us. On our next visit I'd love to narrow down which "village" we want to live in.

Wellness Center Info
 

N'awlins, here's a link to the Wellness Center Website. Oddly, it doesn't list rates, but it does have some membership info and info about services.

http://www.thevillageswellnesscenter.com/home.html

N'awlins, you'll fit right in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is a new, full service, gym on Rt 441 south, next to the Fruitland Park Cafe. Membership is free if you are in the Silver Sneakers Program, offered by many of the medicare advantage health insurance plans.

dominick...Good info to pass on. Just this week we went to a fitness facility that has the Silver Sneakers program but found out we need to be on Medicare to qualify. Guess I have to wear my Ruby Slippers for another decade or so and pay my dues! :pepper2:

What is the name of the gym in Fruitland Park and how far from 466A is it located?

Thanks.

Can't mention the name of the gym. Did it once before and admin said it was advertising and pulled the post. It's on 441 south, about a half mile south of 466A, right next door to the Fruitland Park Cafe. They have a big sign outside.

Wow - those look like big numbers to me. We belong to a very modern, nicely staffed and well-equipped athletic club here in Central NY, and pay nowhere near what the Wellness Center costs. We have a "pay by the month" contract covering us both at $30 per month, guaranteed never to go up (and even better, my employer refunds the majority of it). Looks like a year at the Wellness Center will cost us about $1300. For the difference, the purchase of home equipment may be the way to go for us. Thanks KathieI for the price info!

The Fitness Centers at the Mulberry Grove, Laurel Manor, Colony Cottage and Seabreeze Regional Recreation Centers are less costly than the Villages Wellness Center. If you join one of them, you can use any of them. I had a three month individual membership and it was about $30per month.
The Fitness Centers are not as well equipped as the Wellness Center, offer no group classes or personal training and have no lockers or showers.
The new place on Rt 441 in Fruitland Park (mentioned in this thread) is $30 per month and is full service.

Thanks. I'll check out the gym in Fruitland Park.

SeaBreeze is so close to us, it's difficult to leave that gym. I was a bit surprised, however, to see that TV gyms don't have lockers and showers. The new equipment in SeaBreeze is really nice though.

Thanks KathieI for picking up the dues list. It is pricey but will be money well spent if we go use it! Just got to be sure it fits in with our golf, swimming, pickleball, dancing, eating and drinking schedule! :thumbup:

Dr.'s orders
 

March 2009 my doctor told me to exercise. (I am at heart a couch potato!) St Pat's Day 2009 I joined the fitness center and have been going daily for one year now. (That is daily except when I'm traveling or on a cruise) But even on a cruise I go to the ship's fitness center. Happy Anniversary to ME! :pepper2:

There is also a new fitness center on North 441/27, in the same strip mall as Little Joey's Italian Restuarant. I don't know the rates, but the place sure looks clean and inviting.

Wow! Congratulations to both of you. That takes a lot of discipline and will power.
:clap2::clap2:

The best thing to do is before you join any gym, is to try it out first with daily membership fees.
We had first thought like many of you that the Wellness center was not worth the extra cost. So we started going to the Colony Cottage Fitness Center. Although they have lots of equipment, and they are well maintained and the staff is great. They are small and to us cramped with the amount of stuff they have which leaves very little, ok ZERO room for things that if you are serious about fitness you must do, like stretch and floor exercises, or areas to use the hand free weights. They have mats, but when you put them down, you get dirty looks and a number of people are rude to me and the wife when we are on the floor for the whole 12 minutes it takes us to do what we need to do. We tried the other Rec Center gyms South of 466 and even the new Seabreeze, which we were told would be MUCH bigger then the others, and they all have the same problem.
So we checked out the Wellness Center again, and to us it is a much better deal. Yes, it is more, but for a couple the General go anytime membership is only $150 more a year then a Rec Center gym, AND you get use of a locker room, Sauna, and a good number of exercise classes are included. If you do just an afternoon membership, it is even cheaper. PLUS they have more room, and areas to do things without crowds. So for us, it is our place of choice. Is it farther for us and cost the bit more? Yes, but to have a good gym we like and enjoy going to, it is worth it!

Army Guy

Great imsight
 

Thanks Army Guy for the comparison...I am a Certified Personal Trainer here in VA and we will be (hopefully when our house sells!) moving to TV FT this year. I looked all over for aerobiocs classes in the Rec ctrs Guide etc along with body sculpting classes ...After reading these posts , it is clear to me there may be a need for these where folks can go by golf cart and not pay a fortune to join a gym or be squeezed in at the small fitness ctrs. Everyone needs to incorporate strength training into their weekly routines. Strength training does not always have to be done with machines, and cardio does not always mean aerobics stepping up on a bench!! . I currently lecture and teach all forms of fitness classes incl weight training and cardio, etc with specialites in Senior Fitness... Question...Would folks be interested in weekly classes like this? I could hold them in community rec ctrs if everyone would purchase their own hand weights and mat...Let me know your thoughts as I may tackle this when I get down there to keep my own self in shape!!! Thanks...

wlou, I could not agree with you more. Me & the wife are certified "gym rats" so a good fitness center is a top priority for us. That is why we really tried out both places before we made the perm. choice.
We for one would love to see something like you talk about offered. At the gym we presently use, since we do not live on post, my wife uses a Personal Trainer and loves it. She definitely keeps my wife challenged!

Army Guy

Great info on the Wellness Center, Army Guy.

Can someone comment on the exercise classes held in rec. centers. Is there a fee for these classes?

We won't live there FT for another 2 years, but I would definitely be interested when we come.

When I visited in July 09, I saw some type of exercise class being held at Colony. If there are none anymore I am sure you would have lots of interest, including me when I become a villager! (Sometime this year, I hope!)

They do have various execise classes at the Rec Centers. They are listed in the Rec Center Weekly Schedule. I don't believe, but could be wrong there is a fee for them.

Army Guy

I recently joined a nice health club just outside the Villages called Core Fitness. It is at the intersection of Rainey Trail and 301, about 5 minutes from Arnold Palmer clubhouse. They have a senior special which runs $25.58 per month. They're open Monday thru Saturday. They have nicely maintained weight machines, free weights and aerobic machines. You can also sign up for personal training, and they've started some Zumba Classes. Its a lot cheaper than the fitness centers in The Villages, and what I like is that there isn't the wait to get on machines like I ran into at the Colony fitness center. And your membership runs month to month, so when the weather is nice and I work out outdoors, I can put my membership on hold.

I have a problem with the costs. Is it because we are old? Is it greed? What do you get for the money? Nothing that has excited me. Up North, I consistently paid $99 per year for well equipped well maintained and supervised gyms. They had everything one could want in a facility. I have not seen such offers down here. They also seemed to make a profit.

Oh well,

Yoda

I thought my gym membership fee of $20 per month for life was pretty good and that is in a brand new gym in New Jersey. Our NJ gym (Retro Fitness) has a movie theater in addition to the regular area with plenty of cardio equipment and weight machines. The movie theater has several elyptical machines, treadmills and recumbent bikes. For $20 per month, we also have showers and lockers. The lack of lockers is really the only thing I find disappointing in the gyms in TV.

I wish were less expensive too. However, since the regional rec. center gyms are open only to Villagers and for the most part serve only the closests neighborhoods within TV, they each probably have far fewer members than typical gyms, and thus need to charge more.

Likewise, the rationale for not having showers and lockers could be that they are so close to your home within TV.

I agree about the showers...it is a hop, skip and a jump for most folks to go home to shower. Lack of lockers is a bit of a hassle. Folks wind up placing their belongings, including jackets and such, on the floor or in the window sills. That is just not what I would expect of TV gym, especially for the fee that we are required to pay for gym membership.