CARDIO CONNOISSEURS HAVE TWO GOALS at the gym: 1) Burn calories and 2) Don’t think about how hard it is to burn calories. They’re usually aided by a tried-and-true blend of muted TV screens, blaring music and slightly tattered magazines. But “American Morning” with captions sometimes isn’t enough to transport you away from mile three.
That’s why Gold’s Gym developed the “Cardio Cinema.” It’s a dark, cool room with rows of treadmills, bikes and elliptical machines — and, of course, a giant movie screen playing a title of the day, like “You, Me and Dupree,” “Scary Movie 4” or “Die Another Day,” on repeat.
“It makes the time go so much faster,” says Meagan Harms, 26, after finishing up a run to “The Devil Wears Prada” at the Van Ness club. “When I’m not in here, I’m just thinking about how long I’ve gone.” An appealing flick has the power to lure her to the gym and keep her going longer: “When they played ‘The Bourne Ultimatum,’ I was in there for over an hour.”
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Kevin Wheeler, 38, doesn’t even care what’s playing: “Time goes faster in there because there are no commercials.”
Their responses are exactly what the top brass at Gold’s was hoping for. “My standard memory of doing cardio generally involves looking at a television I can’t hear,” says Dave Wallach, senior fitness manager for Gold’s Gyms in Virginia. “With this, exercise is less of a chore, and there’s more of an entertainment factor.”
Share this articleShareAnd there’s another health benefit: The screen is so large, exercisers don’t need to strain their necks to get a good view.
The one thing they do need to strain, however, is their eyes. The dim lighting helps create that authentic theater ambiance, but it makes it tricky to adjust machines. “I can’t really see where to press the buttons, so I use my iPod as a light,” explains David Duncan, 20, who was also sweating to “The Devil Wears Prada.” (“I can watch a chick flick,” he says.)
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And once exercisers adjust to the darkness, the control panels are certainly visible enough to keep them honest. If anyone gets so captivated by a scene that he or she forgets about pedaling, the bike will let him or her know, Wallach promises.
The lack of lighting is actually the main attraction for law student Scott Daniel, 26. “It gives you the illusion of solitude,” he says. “It’s easier to focus in there than the swirl out here.”
Wallach suspects that new exercisers may also find the environment less intimidating — if you can barely see your own machine, who knows what the person next to you is doing?
Only four of the local branches have the cinemas set up so far, but Wallach says he suspects the concept will eventually become standard. Just don’t expect any dumbbells to make an appearance except on screen. “For weights, I’d like to see them concentrating on form. So Olympic lifting in front of a movie screen? Maybe not,” Wallach says.
Photo by Marge Ely/Express
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