Four Rivers Area YMCA

I love our town’s Y. It’s like my home away from home. Plus, I get a break from the kids (they have a nursery that’s free to full members) and can pump some iron at the same time!
Great classes, too! Cycling is my fave!

When I was visiting my dad and wanted to get a workout in and the thought of driving 30+ miles to the nearest Ballys wasn’t appealing, two friends recommended this YMCA. So I went to their website, printed off a guest pass, and off I went.
When I parked my car and walked up to the door, I noticed there was a note on the door that firearms were not allowed. This caught me off guard and I started laughing. I know I’m in rural Missouri, but really? Do you really need to put that on the door of a YMCA? But hey, perhaps if my trainer back home held a gun to my head I’d bitch a lot less about doing squats and lunges…
Anyhoo, I walked in and a woman sitting at the counter greeted me. She had me fill out my guest pass, made a copy of my license, and pointed out where the locker rooms were and told me if I needed help with any of the equipment to let her know.
As I walked down the stairs to the locker rooms, I noticed a huge studio with a class going on. I also noticed a nice pool and an indoor track. Dang, this YMCA was nice! The locker rooms were even nicer — clean and spacious.
I changed clothes, picked up a clean towel, and made my way back upstairs to the workout room. It was small, but it had plenty of equipment. It wasn’t too crowded, though it was 11am on a Friday. There was a good mix of people my age there, as well as some older members. Most of the cardio equipment had built in TVs — um, you’re telling me I can watch «What Not to Wear» while I get my cardio in? Yes please.
After doing cardio I moved over to the weights, and again, all of the equipment was nice and in great shape. I never had to wait for a machine.
As I worked out I noticed one of the employees helping a woman who was clearly brand new to working out, and while she explained each machine other members would jump in with positive comments about the machine and how effective it was. I thought that was very nice — if you’re new to a gym all of the equipment can be intimidating, and everyone was encouraging her. I wish more gyms were like that…
One thing this gym had that I have never seen — they have huge buckets of alcohol wipes to wipe down the equipment after you’re done with it. Gyms are germy, so I LOVED this.
After I was done with my workout I went back down to retrieve my things out of the locker room, and when I came back up I wanted to ask about the cost of a one day pass for future visits. There was a different woman working the counter, and she was talking to two other people. I lingered at the counter not wanting to interrupt, so I looked at different brochures while I waited. The woman finally said, «can I help you with something?» in a really snotty tone. I asked how much it would be for one day, and she said $ 15 and practically bit my head off while she did it. Yikes. After everyone else had been so nice, she kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.
Snotty woman aside, I had a great experience here and will definitely be coming back next time I’m in town.