When I recently switched jobs, I was very excited to find that my new company offered a corporate discount for Crunch, with a location adjacent to my office. I had been a 24 Hour Fitness member since 2010, and with a location a mere five blocks from my apartment, the convenience of the location had kept me a happy customer. I joined Crunch mainly for the classes. I started this job shortly after finishing my second San Francisco Marathon, and I was more than eager to add bootcamps, spin, and yoga to my routine.

Convenience:
The only downside to my new gym membership is that I have to lug my gym bag to the gym’s Financial District location after walking for almost 40 minutes, or I can choose to walk about 15 minutes to exercise at the gym closest to home. I almost always choose lugging my heavy bag because the morning classes and the times at Crunch New Montgomery are better than the classes at Crunch Polk.

Classes:
Crunch is known for their classes, and they surely do not disappoint. I love Killer X Training, Ultimate Conditioning, Heated Vinyasa, and Spin. The only class I haven’t loved was a morning yoga class. There wasn’t anything wrong with the class, it just wasn’t my style (difficult, heated) of yoga.

The only class I took at 24 Hour Fitness was spin, and I thoroughly enjoyed the instructor’s fast-tempo class and electropop soundtrack. 24 Hour is much more limited in its classes than Crunch.

Amenities:
The Crunch locker rooms contain shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hair dryers, lotion, q-tips, and mouthwash. At 24 Hour Fitness, your option is soap…and only soap. Crunch’s amenities are a step up from 24 Hour Fitness, but no where near Equinox caliber. I’ll let Jesse explain his love for Kiehl’s and steam rooms on a different post.

Equipment:
Kettlebells, TRX, wall balls, and other functional training equipment is all over Crunch, giving everyone the opportunity to work out the way they want. 24 Hour Fitness had just  installed a set of TRX equipment, but other than that, the equipment was fairly bare bones.

In the gym showdown, Crunch surely wins out, but I think the most important aspect in choosing a gym is to choose a gym you’re going to go to frequently. There’s no point in paying a membership if the gym is too far away/awkwardly laid out/lacking in classes if those certain aspects make or break your gym rat status.