A live DJ spins upbeat electro music while you walk on a brand new treadmill with a personal TV attached, watching Bravo as a hip gym staffer brings you hot towels.
If that’s your idea of a good gym, then Dolphin Fitness is not for you.
The weights are rusty, the machines are old, and there is definitely no towel service. And it’s one of the best gym’s in New York.
I’ve worked out in a lot of gyms over the last few years, and here’s what I love about my Dolphin Fitness on 24th Ave in Bensonhurst:
- It’s a true 24/7 gym.
- It’s working class and gritty. Very alluring to the Rocky in all of us.
- There’s a ton of great equipment.
- And only 99 bucks for six months.
If you’re like me training at off-peak hours (ie- 4AM), and you want a bare bones gym where you can throw some real weight around, then this is the place for you.
Equipment highlights:
- Insane amount of dumbbells, sufficient amount of barbells and plates.
- Three squat racks, two power racks.
- Boxing bags, including two heavy bags.
- A separate room dedicated to core (ie – ab) work. (…but sometimes it’s a little hot back there)
- Three flat bench presses, one incline, one decline. Ton of standalone benches.
- Four Cable Crossover Machines.
It’s not perfect. There are crowding issues after hours. Some of the equipment is showing significant wear (however, the gym is currently undergoing a face lift). Some of the staff are pushy salesman. Dumbbells are never in their marked place.
If you want to do crossfit, “boot camp” classes while spinning to a live DJ, then look elsewhere. Dolphin Fitness – the gym that remembers it isn’t a night club.
tl;dr – No frills gym for the blue collar weight trainer.