Blink Fitness

As someone who has lived in this neighborhood on and off for a bit, it’s a breath of fresh air to finally get a decent gym in the area. It’s criminally underserved and props to Blink for opening a locale here, a relatively working class neighborhood.
The prices can’t be beat and it’s walking distance from where I live, a huge boon, which makes this gym ridiculously convenient. I sometimes go twice a day because of that.
I’m a gym rat. I’ve been going to gyms for a long time and Blink is definitely a fitness center model, so tons of cardio machines with a more modest free weights area. They also have a spacious open area for stretching and doing bodyweight exercises.
The staff is very friendly and they keep place very clean. Since it’s so close to my apartment, I don’t shower or use the locker rooms much, but going there a few times for bathroom breaks and I can attest that it’s immaculate.
The location is two stories, with the entrance being on ground level, with a welcome desk, a small table and with stools for those who may want to eat a quick meal or surf the web (they have free wifi too!) before or after their session. The first floor also has a small selection of weight machines and some treadmills and elliptical trainers.
The second floor is one story up and comprises most of the gym’s square footage with a dedicated free weight section, two huge cardio machine sections, more weight machines scattered about and the stretching area I mentioned above, along with both male and female locker rooms.
My only gripe is the lack of dedicated bench press setups. They have two squat racks, which as an old school lifter, is great.
However, the lack of dedicated bench press setups means gym goers use the squat rack for benching. So if you want to squat heavy safely, you may need to wait since benching is particularly popular.
Don’t forget to squat, fellas! It’s the best mass builder there is!
I’m more of a fan of the old school bodybuilding style gyms with tons of free weights and Olympic bars available. But those are a dying breed, sadly. At this Blink location, there are only two Olympic bars, each attached to the squat racks, so you have to wait for deadlifting as well.
Olympic bars are the heavy bars used for benching, squatting and deadlifting. You can also use them barbell rows and other exercises, so it’s unfortunate they only have two as of this writing. They also have pre-​weighted curling bars, but those don’t go heavy enough.
But for the price, location, friendly staff, and cleanliness, this gym can’t be beat.
The only thing keeping it from five stars is the small free weight section, but again, I’m old school and I love squatting, deadlifting, and pressing.
My suggestion to the staff is to ask corporate for more Olympic bars and traps bars, and maybe another squat rack. That would help with the increased traffic at night, when the free weight area becomes extremely packed.
If you’re a cardio bunny, this place will have you covered. They have tons of cardio machines, which is common with the budget gym model a la Planet Fitness, which Blink directly competes with.
No lunk alarm here luckily!