Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

I just used the building's fitness center for the first time, and I think I need a real gym.

It's a good set-up for a lot of people: a variety of cardio machines, some fairly standard resistance machines, and some dumbbells. The problems, from my viewpoint, are that there's none of the balance stuff I want (the closest I got was sitting on a large exercise ball to do my biceps curls), only one kind/size of exercise ball, and no floor mats, either built in or portable. The area with the balls is carpeted, but with a very thin carpet: I'd do better exercising on my living room floor, whose carpet provides better padding. Of course, if I'm exercising in my apartment, I could get out the actual exercise mat.)

Still, I managed some exercise, and some of the constraint here was being out of practice, so fewer of things than I would have liked:

Crunches (feet up on large ball), 2 sets of 15
Squats, 3 sets of 15
Calf raises, 2 sets of 15
Opposite arm/leg balance exercise, 12 pairs
A little tree pose, just standing on the floor
Biceps curls on large ball, 10 pounds each hand, 2 sets of 15

With a resistance machine, triceps pulldowns, 2 sets of 12
Standing row, 12, 10 (I didn't note weights on any of what I did with the machines)

Chest press machine, 12, then 9 or 10, I think


There's an LA Fitness branch near here, I think; does anyone reading this have experience with that chain? Or other recommendations for a gym in downtown Bellevue?