A Great View--and No Muscle Heads

I went to Gold’s Gym in Redondo Beach, and I bet I know what you’re thinking.

Muscle heads.

You know, men (and sometimes women) with bulging muscles and those big weight belts strapped around their waists. And how obnoxious those people can be when they bellow every time they lift a barbell or some dumbbells. And they never wipe off the seat or bench they’re using, leaving it nice and sweaty for you.

Well, you’re wrong. You may see muscle heads at Gold’s Gym in Venice, dubbed the mecca of bodybuilding, but you won’t see them in Redondo.

The Redondo facility, 5,000 members strong, is nice and calm, a family-type gym. And if you want to talk about location, location, location, then this place can’t be beat. The harbor is right across the street, so whether you’re participating in a group exercise class in the aerobics room or working out on the cardiovascular equipment, you get a nice water view.

The gym opened in 1987, and new owners took over in July 1994. The place never closes: It’s open 24 hours a day.

As you might imagine, this 20,000-square-foot gym is dominated by weight equipment. Icarian, Hammer Strength and Body Masters machines dot the landscape. Weight plates and dumbbells are made by American Olympian, Iron Grip, Jade and Ivanko.

Gold’s has a modest cardiovascular area. There are 13 StairMaster stepping machines, 17 StarTrac bicycles--six of them recumbent. Four companies supply the treadmills: two StarTrac 3900, five StarTrac StarWalkers (one was broken), three Trotters (one was broken), one Precor and four Quintons. There were two rowers, three Versa Climbers and five Precor elliptical cross-trainers.

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The group exercise program offers more than 60 classes each week including indoor cycling, cardio kick, Krav Maga self-defense and yoga.

I took the Monday-morning advance power-step challenge. The class is aptly labeled. But I think it would have been just as challenging had the music been pitched a bit slower.

Don’t get me wrong, not every class has to have music that you might waltz to. But neither should you have to work out to music that sounds like a chipmunk is singing.

Andrea Henderson is a wonderful instructor and her choreography is fabulous. She was bedeviled by a broken microphone, but her cuing was very good. She recognized that I was new to the class, so she explained what a Popcorn was and what steps were involved in doing the Titanic.

I asked her after class if she knew how fast her music was, and she responded, “Pretty fast.” Apparently, that’s OK with her boss.

Gracie Syn is the aerobics director, and she said that for that class, the choreography and cuing match the speed of the music: around 142 beats a minute. “It’s not the standard Reebok 124 [beats per minute],” she said, “but the clientele has graduated into a certain intensity. They like to get their brains jiggled and body moving. We keep it safe but challenging.”

But according to Step Reebok guidelines published in July 1997, fast music can compromise control and stability. And Joy Prouty, a Reebok Master Trainer and member of the Step Reebok Development Team, said that although a cadence of 118 to 128 beats per minute is suited to a range of fitness levels, the traditional 118 to 122 beats per minute tempo provides an appropriate level of intensity, even for the very fit step exerciser.

Another class to be cautious about is a step cardio-pump class taught by Syn that incorporates weights while working on the step.

Although I have some doubts about the appropriateness of combining these two exercises, Syn insisted that “it’s bio-mechanically sound to use weights while doing step.”

Fitness expert Karen Voight is also a bit skeptical about the class format.

“In theory,” she said, “you can move your legs and arms correctly, but really, you can work more efficiently if you separate the two exercises.”

Caveat aerobicizer!

* Gary Metzker is a certified aerobics instructor who has been teaching for more than five years at various clubs.

* If you know of a gym or health club you think the Gym Rat should scope out, fax to (213) 237-4712 or e-mail: gary.metzker@latimes.com.

The Rat Trap

On a rating of one to four rats, four being best, here is how the Gym Rat rates Gold’s Gym in Redondo Beach:

* Parking: Lots of parking right next door to the gym, and if you get validated at the front desk, you pay only 50 cents. ****

* Locker Rooms: The lockers are snug, and there’s not much elbow room. But the six showers (all handicap accessible) are nice, with adjustable shower-head settings, and, while not very wide, they are unusually long. Each locker room has a sauna. ***

* Juice Bar: Choose from a variety of smoothies, energy bars, protein drinks, vitamins and supplements and fresh fruit. ****

Gold’s Gym, 200 N. Harbor Drive, Redondo Beach. (310) 374-5522. A day pass costs $12. Basic membership is $380 a year and $405 for 15 months. There are also corporate and student rates. Other membership packages are available. Child care is free. The gym is open 24 hours.