Barbara Holden is exactly what you would expect in a personal trainer. She’s trim with muscular arms, a flat stomach and toned legs. At 50 she looks fitter than most 20-year-olds. Holden, a personal trainer for more than 15 years, first began working out because she was too thin.

“I could barely lift three pounds,” she says.

Holden previously did public relations for the fashion industry, which along with her warm and incredibly energetic personality serve her well as the sales and fitness director of 24/7 Fitness.

Located at 47 West 14th Street, within a five-minute walk of four other health clubs, 24/7 Fitness is home to bare walls, bright lights, loud music and the lingering smell of many hard workouts.

24/7 Fitness is not a spa; it’s not a health club; it’s a gym. And it’s open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You won’t find a sauna, a spa, a steam room or any pretty mirrors at this club, says Holden.

“We are a barebones, no-nonsense facility,” she says. “We have great equipment, but we are extremely affordable.”

An annual membership paid in full costs a mere $352. A membership at the trendy, upscale Equinox, even with a student discount, sets you back $125 a month, plus a one-time fee of approximately $160. The club closes at 9 p.m. on weekends.

“If someone’s serious about their workout routine then this is a great place,” says Holden “If you’re more into the pampering and the primping, then this is not the place for you.”

Valencia S. works on the front desk from 12 a.m. to 8 p.m. Originally from Detroit, where she says nothing stays open 24 hours except Kinkos, Valencia also has a day job and sometimes stays up for 20 hours straight. “Once you get your body used to it, it’s not so bad,” she says. She even works out after her shift ends.

The night owls who come to 24/7 are cab drivers finishing their shifts, security staff from clubs that have just closed for the night, subway track workers and even people in the recording industry who emerge from their studios at odd times. Valencia knows many of them and chats for a few minutes when they come in.

“Some people just want someone to talk to at four in the morning,” she says.

Valencia says the slowest time of the day is from 4 to 6 a.m. On this Sunday morning, fewer than ten members come in during that time, all of them men.

Tariq Iqbal, a cab driver from Brooklyn, works a 12-hour shift and goes to the gym before heading home to shower and sleep. He chose 24/7 Fitness for the hours and cheap deal. He says that working out after sitting in a cab all day gets rid of stress and tension. He says it makes him “feel free.”

Jonathan W, a lean and muscular 37-year-old who lives near the Bronx Zoo, came in at 4 a.m. after the club he works in closed for the night. Normally, he says that on a Sunday morning he would go home to sleep, but he was off to an after-hours party that started at 6 a.m.

olden believes in morning workouts and says she won’t train people late into the evening because she believes the body needs to relax before sleeping. Yet while exercising at 4 a.m. is not optimal, for people working the graveyard shift, there isn’t a lot of choice.

Dr. Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery, says there aren’t any real health risks to after-hour workouts as long as you’re fully awake to avoid injury.

“The biggest risk statistically is getting to the gym at that time,” he says.

Jen

nifer Esty Alexandra Huddleston

Getting bigger, day and night, night and day.

Neatly stacked equipment lies in wait.

Top | Homepage | Sitemap | Day in History | Day of Blog | About Us | Help | Archives