Anytime Fitness caters to busy lifestyles

New state-of-the-art health club is open 24 hours in GH

Susan Schell

of the Gateway

Anytime Fitness means just that: Members of the fitness club on Olympic Drive can workout around the clock — and their schedule — 24/7.

Owner Dean Carpenter said members receive a key that allows them access to the facility whenever they feel like exercising, whether that be 11 p.m. or 4 a.m.

Carpenter produced his business card that reads: Discover the club for REAL people ... ANYTIME!

“Not all people have 9-to-5 jobs that allow them to work out before work or after work,” he said. “You’d be amazed at the schedules people have. There are nurses, policemen ... this fits anybody’s schedule.”

Zac Wolfe, a personal trainer at the club, said the center’s flexibility suits him just fine. Wolfe competes within the National Gym Association as a bodybuilder, attends Olympic College and volunteers for the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Department.

“If I need a cardio workout late at night, I can come and do this,” he said. “My workout times vary. Plus, the equipment here is state-of-the-art. I haven’t seen other gyms with this level of equipment at all.”

Carpenter said he purchased the best equipment he could.

“I think that’s what fits Gig Harbor,” he said.

One section of the club offers Life Fitness-brand cardio equipment — each piece fitted with a 17-inch screen with cable TV. They are iPod compatible and have ports for USB sticks that can download a computerized workout summary.

Life Fitness summit trainers combine a stair trainer, elliptical and mountain-climbing workouts — all on one piece of equipment.

The club also offers two tanning booths.

On the other side of the building, Life Fitness and Hammer Strength weight equipment dominate the floor with half racks, dumbbells and free weights. The weight-lifting equipment is designed with special arms, so heavy weights can be lifted without a spotter.

The 5,000-square-foot facility is on the large side of the scale for the fitness franchise, of which there are about 1,000 nationwide. Members can use any facility.

“I really liked the building,” Carpenter said. “There are windows all around, and there is a separate weight area from the cardio area.”

Carpenter and his wife Becky, opened the business in March, having moved to the area from Federal Way several years ago.

“We love it here,” he said. “I wanted to have my own business in Gig Harbor.”

The address of the facility is all about convenience and location.

“It’s centrally located in town,” Carpenter said. “We have a lot of clients from Fox Island. It’s near the freeway, and people can stop by on their way home from work. And since we’re open all the time, there’s no hurry, no rush to get here before it closes.”

“It’s great for the clients,” said Wolfe, who added that most of the members formerly had memberships at other gyms.

Wolfe is one of two personal trainers at the club who helps clients get “started on the right foot.”

“I have a lot of clients, and I design their own workout programs,” he said. “Each of them has their own goals. Some are rehabilitating from an injury, some have been working out for four years and have reached a plateau. I teach them how to use the machines and show them different techniques for things, like helping lower back problems or tightening up their abs. Everyone is genetically different.”

Carpenter said that, since its opening, the health club has stayed “on track.”

This is the first venture into business ownership for the Carpenters.

Anytime Fitness

Anytime Fitness is open 24 hours at 5275 Olympic Drive NW in Gig Harbor, next to Forza Coffee and Harbor Greens.

For membership information, call 253-509-2747.

Reach reporter Susan Schell at 253-853-9240 or by e-mail at susan.schell@gateline.com