On the Prowl for a Better Late-Night Gym

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 aerobics classes. And Phantom Jim isn’t just any rat--he’s (yeah, we’ll tell you that much) been teaching aerobics for four years at various clubs in the area and is certified through the Aerobics and Fitness Assn. of America (AFAA).

Here, his first report on the late, late, late show.*

If you’re a typical gym rat (one who works out three or more times a week), you know that the traffic battle on the freeway is nothing compared to the traffic battle in your health club.

There’s at least a 30-minute wait over at the Precor Efx 544 elliptical cross trainer--probably the hottest piece of cardio equipment around. And there’s no give at the treadmills either. The free weights are all accounted for and the muscle heads won’t let you sneak in a set or two at the squat rack, either.

So, what if you could go to the gym and really work out. I mean spend 45 minutes, hell, 90 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer, and on top of that, get in a great session with weights. Probably sounds too good to be true. Here’s the catch: You have to go in the middle of the night. How does 2 a.m. sound?

24 Hour Fitness lives up to its name four days a week (Monday-Thursday) and 137 of its 150 gyms in the seven states it serves are open 24 hours. In Southern California, 63 of its 66 clubs stay open nonstop.

You won’t find any aerobic classes at that time of day, but you will find lots of space and who knows whom you’ll meet. In Beverly Hills, you can hang with doctors and nurses just getting off work from nearby hospitals; in Huntington Beach, some way-early-morning surfers; in Los Alamitos, aerospace workers on the graveyard shift; or in Long Beach, off-duty law enforcement types or grocery store cashiers.

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It’s 2:25 a.m. Wednesday at the 24 Hour Fitness on Bellflower Boulevard in Long Beach.

Ben Brown, 31, and his wife, Sylvia, 28, are doing upper-body workouts on the Cybex and Life Fitness machines. Nearby, a man is lifting free weights and another is passing time on a treadmill in the upstairs portion of the gym. That’s it--no one else there.

Ben does inventory work at Pep Boys; Sylvia is a cashier at Food 4 Less. They have been married five years.

Ben is out of work by 10 p.m., goes home briefly, then leaves his younger sister with the kids so he can pick up Sylvia after she gets off at 1. They are at the gym by 1:30, when they start their workouts with 30 minutes on the elliptical cross trainers. Ben’s goal is to lose his belly; Sylvia just wants to tone up and get back to the weight she was before her two pregnancies.

“I don’t want to come during the daytime, when there are a lot of people here,” Sylvia said between sets on a machine that works her hamstrings. “It’s nice and quiet here. I don’t have to compete with anyone else.”

Ben has been working out off and on for about four years. Sylvia started about three months ago.

“There are a lot of things I can do now,” she said. “There used to be a time I couldn’t tie my shoes. I had to sit up and take deep breaths, but the weight has been coming off slowly. We’ve started out slow and we’ve been adding sets every time.”

“No waiting in lines is a real plus to coming here,” Ben added. “It works with Sylvia’s work schedule, it’s better for us that way because I like working out with her, plus when you go home, you get a good night’s sleep.”

Kathy Stevens, fitness consultant and Reebok master trainer, concurs:

“People who work a late-night shift have their body clocks working in opposite,” she said. “But the benefits are still the same. Exercise lets them come home and get a better night’s sleep. The best thing you can do is exercise. You tire yourself out, you get a more restful sleep, and like other people who work ‘regular’ hours, you reduce stress, and gain the same cardiovascular benefits and caloric burning.”

Stevens’ only other recommendation for late-night workouts is a concern for safety. Be aware of your surroundings, go with a buddy when possible, and ask the gym to provide an escort to your car.

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At 1:50 a.m. in the 24 Hour Fitness in Los Alamitos, there are a handful of cars in the lot. Three people are lifting weights; two more are in the Jacuzzi.

Two of the guys lifting weights have become workout partners after meeting at the gym late at night.

Dana Pack, 30, works at Northrop-Grumman in Pico Rivera. Brent LePage, 31, is a metal fitter at Arrowhead Products in Los Alamitos. They’ve been lifting together for about a year and a half.

“Everyone you see here is pretty much a regular,” Pack said. “You have got to be dedicated to be working out at this hour. For night-shift people, this is great. If you come in the day, it’s packed. But at night you can get your workout done and go home and go to bed.”

“I used to be active in high school,” LePage said, “but when I started working full time, I felt myself getting out of shape so I said, ‘Hey, I gotta get back in shape,’ so I started coming. It’s worked. I’ve done pretty good, I’ve made a lot of progress. I feel a lot better about myself.”

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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.

CREDIT FOR ILLUSTRATION