“It’s kind of the same thing as how people who go to church throughout the year feel on Christmas and Easter when it’s so crowded that you have to get there an hour-and-a-half early to get a seat,’’ said Terry Stone, a 41-year-old management consultant from Charlestown who goes to both religiously. “It’s so annoying.’’
Ben Valentino, general manager of the Boston Sports Club’s Fenway location, looks forward to this time of year, both for the business - “This is our black month, the month that determines our year’’ - and the accidental comedy.
“They’re so easy to spot. They have their iPad in front of them looking at exercises. They have the iPhone apps that are supposed to be personal trainers. They sprint on the treadmill instead of running. They’re just 110 percent gung ho,’’ he said. “But they don’t know how to pace themselves, so they burn out, or injuries arise. Ninety percent of the time, they’re gone in two or three weeks.’’
For the regulars, surviving those weeks - most put the over/under somewhere around Valentine’s Day - is just a part of gym life, said Tim Fraser, a 28-year-old lawyer from Chelsea.
“It’s twice the amount of people, easily,’’ Fraser said as he was entering the Equinox gym next to the Back Bay MBTA station. “This is a big gym, but I haven’t been able to find a place to jump rope since the new year.’’
As Carrie Pennewell prepared to enter the Boston Sports Club in Central Square in Cambridge yesterday, she begrudgingly admitted that it was her first visit in months.
“I’m terrible, I know. I’ll be the one they’re pointing fingers at,’’ joked Pennewell, a 22-year-old public relations professional. “It’s just that the holidays came and work got crazy, so now I’m jumping on the bandwagon. This year I’m going to cook healthier and work out more than one month.’’
Health club memberships in the United States increased by more than 10 percent in 2010, to 50.2 million, according to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, based in Boston.
