Fitness clubs and keeping fit in Moscow - Part 2

Well, I've been "fat fighting" for just over a week now at my new second home, "Planet Fitness" Moscow. This has proved hard since, I have had a bad cold all week, my 3rd in as little as three months. I rise at 5 am, blindly throw on my running clothes drink a revolting herbal tea and make my weary walk, in the dark, to the club. Its only about a 10 minute walk luckily for me, but I don't see anyone on my way there, apart from a snow clearer or two and the occasional drunk or tramp. I get on the tread mill at about 5.45 am. There is no one there, only me and the occasional man cleaning the exercise machines. I watched him the other morning, as I pounded the tread mill, he was going from machine to machine with a bucket of dirty, almost black water, half heatedly wiping the pedals of each machine, what a job! He was not even wearing rubber gloves and the water had no soap in it. You can set the running screen to shows track or a nice mountain run. I run to that for 40 minuets round a mountain, somewhere in the virtual world of the running machines computer memories. Note to self, get some music to make it less boring. The same man arrives each morning, just as I am finishing. He wears glasses, tight Lycra shorts and a yellow Lycra vest stretched over his large stomach.

Having done my running, I descend down to the floor below to do sit ups and other such painful things. There is always the same woman each morning, aged in her mid 40s but with a good body, she looks like Glenn Close. I then change into my swimming shorts and do my 5 lengths, yes thats what I said! 5 lengths, (don't laugh)  its all I can manage at this time and its exhausting. There are only one or two people there in the pool. By 7 am, large round people start to slowly arrive. By that time, the pool looks like Russian roads in Moscow, busy and ugly.

Imagine a whale being dropped from a helicopter into a swimming pool while you were in it. Well that's what I experience, most mornings. Very large Russian men, belly flop directly from the steam room (without taking a shower) into the swimming pool wearing their little Lycra swim wear and swimming goggles. What is about fat people, that they always have to wear Lycra stretched over their blubber? They make themselves look even fatter. A man jumped in yesterday and a small tsunami wave washed over my head. They swim up and down splashing and flapping about all over the place without consideration for other swimmers. I finish my visit to the gym club, with a steam and Jacuzzi. I get home in time for my child care responsibilities, feeling very clean, shorter from all the steaming and very thin and feeling a lot younger after mixing with large Russians in the swimming pool, its excellent therapy from Moscow life. Who knows dear reader, I may even lose some weight? I must go to bed early I must repeat this ritual again tomorrow.

My review, Planet Fitness:

1. Exercise machines? good, all work, plenty of running machines
2. Swimming pool? warm, good, clean but gets crowded
3. Jacuzzi? good and clean
4. Weight and weight machines? excellent
5. Sauna? old and needs updating
6. Steam room? old and needs updating
7. Male changing rooms? OK, clean but needs updating
8. Staff? helpful but hard to find, not many speak good English
9. Value for money? Not bad for Moscow
10. Children friendly? only certain times and days for using the pool and they have a child care play area
11. Type of people? mixed but mostly Russian, some a bit rude, leaving wet towels on the floor and not showing consideration for others when swimming
12. Overall opinion, good club for what it is, but needs a face lift and updating. I would say it was new in the mid 90's now a bit tired. Worth joining, the other end of the scale will be more expensive.