[fitness4life]

I posted this here because the general chatter may not be as visited as peeps who weight train, even tho it's a general Q.

I applied for my supervisor's position where I work at the Y. (Yes, I'll be embarrassed here if in the future I have to admit I didn't get hired.)

Interviews are going to be scheduled for next week. There are a LOT of applicants. Their newly hired (at sister branch) program director is an olympic athlete with a degree in marketing. Eek! I'm just a gym teacher.

So with the potential competition being so tough, please give me some input that I can put into ideas to improve the Y, to the interview.

Below, please insert "my gym" for "Y" if "Y" does not apply, but you still want to share your opinion.

If you have access to a Y, why are or why are you not a member?
Do you use your Y for classes? Why or why not?
Do you value the community involvement of your Y?
Do you contribute to the Y's community funding for programs for the needy?
Do you have faith in the Y staff? The Y personal trainers? The safety and condish of the equipment?
Is there a stigma with the Y in your community? Is it not the "cool" place to train? Why or why not?

OK, I think you can see where I'm going with this.

Any input is a plus. Thanks.

[LandonsBaby]

We aren't members because it's expensive. I found the Y to be focused on children and cardio machines. They don't squat benches or anything like that. The trainers at the Y where we were members were useless. They just sat around reading magazines. I would not have trusted them to know anything about weight training.

[bluemonday]

If you have access to a Y, why are or why are you not a member?

I am too shy to go to a gym anymore. When I was a member of the Y I just took martial arts classes & swam. The gym was too dinky & always packed so I avoided it. I would avoid any Y that had a lot of kids there when I wanted to be there anyway. Children annoy me, so if I did join a gym I'd want something adults only.

My father used to belong before he died. He used to take spin classes even while he was taking chemo.

Do you use your Y for classes? Why or why not?

I did for a while, but the instructor was a jerk & obviously didn't like teaching women. Also most of the men seemed very dismissive of women. It was 20 years ago so I hope attitudes have changed a bit.

Do you value the community involvement of your Y?

I have no idea what that even means. I guess I don't know much about what they do other than offering cheap gym memberships.

Do you contribute to the Y's community funding for programs for the needy?

I know my father used to donate, but I don't know if it was for any special purpose.

Do you have faith in the Y staff? The Y personal trainers? The safety and condish of the equipment?

I had a bad experience but my father didn't though I don't know that I would ever go back.

Is there a stigma with the Y in your community? Is it not the "cool" place to train? Why or why not?

Depends on what area the Y serves. The one in the nicer areas I'd be more likely to go to than the ones in the bad areas. I have heard from others who have been that the more money in the neighborhood the better the Y is kept up. The one my dad went to was the nicest one in the city where as I went to a middle of the road one which had issues with maintenance & rude patrons who let their kids run wild, as I remember.

Sorry I'm so negative about it but I had bad experiences with the Y I belonged to. My dad loved it, so his experience were very different.

[fitness4life]

WOW! Thank you SO much! I appreciate your honesty~!

Anyone else have opinions?

[fitness4life]

My response (the outcome) will be in general chatter if ur at all interested.

[liliesinmycereal]

I was a member.

If you have access to a Y, why are or why are you not a member? I loved the y but moved out of the area.

Do you use your Y for classes? Why or why not? nope. didn't have the time for it.
Do you value the community involvement of your Y? I just wanted a nice friendly atmosphere to exercise.
Do you contribute to the Y's community funding for programs for the needy? I don't know if I have.
Do you have faith in the Y staff? The Y personal trainers? The safety and condish of the equipment? I looooved the workout equipment I used but the trainers were a bit intense but still nice and looking for the best. I used 4 different Y's due to the traveling I was doing but the majority of the machines were the same. The trainers were definitely different at each one but the community style was also different at each one.
Is there a stigma with the Y in your community? Is it not the "cool" place to train? Why or why not? I don't know but I didn't care to find out I love the Y and wished there was one closer to me. The gym I'm at now is convenient but they are more pressed about selling personal training than having it available for people who just want to ask questions about the machines. Fitlinxx is not available at my current gym either which makes me completely foreign again to some machines... sigh.