Silver Sneakers DOES let you join more than one gym at a time, unlike the similar but different Silver and Fit where you have to choose just one. My Medicare Advantage program switched us to Silver Sneakers a couple of years ago, but I just figured out this new wrinkle. So now I can go gym shopping without having to give up the obviously most practical health club choice (YMCA). 

So now I am embarking on an exciting new round of Gym Tourism. I've always enjoyed trying out different Y locations, but now I can expand my horizons. On Wednesday I joined LA Fitness and did a little workout at their Richfield location at 65th and Lyndale. Here's my review.

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LA FITNESS RICHFIELD (65th and Lyndale)
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LA Fitness seems to be an unremarkable mid-tier health club with a national footprint and a dozen Twin Cities locations. They accepted my Silver Sneakers ID with no fuss and I was a member within about 5 minutes. The bored young receptionist showed no interest in welcoming me to the club - no offer of orientation session, club hours, class schedules, or even "the locker rooms are over there.". I guess it's all in their phone app (doesn't EVERYBODY have a smartphone?) so no point in using IRL communication tools (like your voice, or even hours posted on the front door). So I just treated it like a video game where you wander around and take in clues from the environment. 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
The main room past the front desk houses the exercise machines and a very large weight-lifting area in the back. It is spacious, quiet, cool, and surprisingly uncrowded at 4:30-5pm. The weather outside is unpleasantly hot and sticky, but the A/C is doing a spectacular job in here. There are no TVs hanging overhead, no sounds from the mostly empty side rooms. It feels... restful. There's a cute little juice bar off to the side selling tempting protein-fortified fruit smoothies. There is a large mat room for stretching out, and a full set of exercise machines. There isn't a great deal here that interests me, but it feels like an inviting space, especially on a hot day. I can imagine dropping in here for a short workout and leisurely stretching session and then treating myself to a mango smoothie. 

ODDITIES AND DEFICIENCIES

• The stretching spaces are nice and big, but have little to no equipment besides mats. Just a few rollers, one BOSU, a couple of exercise balls. No stretchy bands. No mirrors or stretching bar on the wall. 
• There is no walking/running track. 
• The space allocation is peculiar. There is one very large group exercise room, an absolutely CAVERNOUS spinning room (empty), and 2 small racquetball courts. It's hard to imagine that this little club could ever muster up a spin class that would come close to filling that room, which looks kind of like a university lecture hall. I would think that some smaller group class rooms would have allowed room for something that might actually get used, like a pickleball court? But what do I know? I have only designed gyms when playing The Sims. 
• The pool is clean and new, but small, clearly not intended as a lap pool. So I won't be coming here for swimming.

• The ambience of the workout area is very appealing, especially on a hot day. My home gym is the handy but cramped old Blaisdell Y, where the A/C struggles to keep up with the humidity, so this is a big draw in summer.
• The locker room is fantastic!  It's spacious and clean, has nice individual showers and changing cubicles, and the most beautiful lockers I have ever seen in a health club. Look at them! They are twice the width of the usual skinny metal ones, wide enough to hold my bulky gym bag with ease. And they are made of wood - an unexpectedly retro design choice in such a modern building. Oh, and there's a warm, cozy sauna right there in the locker room!  Usually only the most expensive clubs have a sauna/hot tub that you can use without having to put on a swimsuit and tromp through the pool area.