Discovering Exercise With a Personal Touch
Beware. The Phantom Jim Rat is snooping around Southern California, looking at the best and worst in health clubs, from parking to juice bars to group exercise classes. And Jim isn’t just any rat. He’s been teaching for four years at various clubs in the area and is certified through the Aerobics and Fitness Assn. of America (AFAA).
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Nestled in an industrial-type area of Marina del Rey (if you can believe that) is one of the most wonderful gyms I have had a chance to visit. I now know how some collectors must feel after they travel from garage sale to garage sale and come upon a real treasure. This place is a treasure.
The Fitness Forum looks heavy and lumbering with its metal roof and cinder-block exterior, but inside it is bright and breezy and open with space to move and potted trees sharing space with fitness equipment and high, wood-beam ceilings.
There are more than 40 exercise classes to try, including step, Spinning, jujitsu, kung fu san soo-ron, salsa, stretch, cardio boxing and kick boxing. The cardio area features six StarTrac treadmills, six recumbent bikes and five steppers, five LifeCycles and four Precor Efx 544 elliptical trainers.
For your muscle-building enjoyment, Fitness Forum features equipment from Nautilus, Hammer Strength, Icairan and Flex and, of course, a variety of free weights.
Owner Ray Byers opened his dream site in December 1996, and he has lovingly crafted his 18,000-square-foot facility to meet all your needs. On a smaller scale, it is a Sports Club / Irvine. This place offers chiropractic services, six massage therapists, a hairstylist, a nutritionist, 30 trainers, towel service and a fabulous restaurant.
The Healthy Kitchen Cafe prepares organic, chemical-free foods. You can get vegetarian meals, meat products, protein shakes, veggie shakes and sandwiches. Get together with the nutritionist and plan a whole month’s worth of meals; the cafe will prepare them for you. The average price for meals is about $21 per day and you get five meals (morning, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner).
“We teach people visually what portions should look like,” Byers said. “You will see what 4 ounces of protein looks like, what 2 ounces of veggies are. Everything is developed with the sole purpose of educating people.”
He has been training people for more than 20 years. In the early 1990s, he trained people with HIV in his two-stall garage in Santa Monica until he could help them gain enough confidence to go to a gym and work out. At one time, he had seven garages filled with exercise equipment. It was then, he said, that he knew he had to open his own gym.
The Fitness Forum has about 2,100 members, and it caters not only to business professionals but also to people in the neighborhood. For example, he is planning to add morning and afternoon story times so children can be read to while moms work out.
The aerobics room is carpeted and well-ventilated but small. Very small. But that was intentional. Most classes are limited to 10 people; yoga class is limited to nine.
“The aerobic classes are small because I want people to have the instructor’s attention,” Byers said. “If you go to a gym and there are 20 or 30 other people in the class, there is no way the instructor can give you any personal time.”
That point was made crystal clear when I entered Rod Armstrong’s kick boxing class (Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m.)
“Hi, -----. My name’s Rod. How ya doing?”
“How did you know my name?” I asked.
“The guy at the front desk told me I had a new person taking class this evening, and I know everyone else in the class.”
Gym owners, take note. An attentive front desk can help first-time people feel oh-so-comfortable and maybe even bring in new members.
Anyway, Rod got the regulars--four women and four men--going with some routines while he pulled me off to the side to give me instructions on how to throw a punch and a kick. After a few moments, he introduced me to Sean and Rob, two of the regulars, who helped me on the punching bag.
After about 25 minutes, I had worked up a sweat, and it felt great to slug that heavy bag.
Well, if you decide to venture into the sticks of Marina del Rey to find this place, you will find it well worth the effort. Sometimes, the small places are the best.
“This is a house of many things,” Byers said. “And they all have to do with wellness.”
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If you have a gym or health club you think the Phantom Jim Rat should scope out, fax to (213) 237-4712 or e-mail: health@latimes.com.
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The Rat Trap
On a rating of one to four rats, four being best, here is how the Jim Rat rates Fitness Forum on some amenities:
* Parking: There is plenty along the side of the building, and it’s all free. ****
* Locker rooms: Spacious and immaculate. Bathroom and shower areas were clean. Tanning beds are available, as are a chiropractor, six massage therapists and a hairstylist. ****
* Juice bar: Much more than a juice bar, the Healthy Kitchen Cafe can prepare a day’s, week’s or a month’s worth of meals. The food is organic and prepared without chemicals. ****
Fitness Forum, 4144 Glencoe Ave., Marina del Rey (310) 578-2272. A day pass will set you back $10. Club hours are 4 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.