Looking for a way to stay motivated? Want to find workout buddies? Try our BHC Clubs! There are two to choose from: Run Club and Hoops Club.

Run Club: Meets at 8AM every Saturday in the BHC lobby for a 3-5 mile run. All levels welcome. Walk breaks encouraged! Open to members and non-members. Attend 4 runs and receive a BHC Run Club T-shirt.

Hoops Club: Is moving indoors! Hoops Club will start up again on October 11th at the indoor gym at the Crown Hill Center. The October 11th start time will be 1:30pm. Sign up at the front desk.  Attend at least 4 times and receive a free BHC Hoops Club T-shirt.

How long have you been a member at Ballard Health Club?
I have been a member at Ballard Health Club since 2005, I think. I chose this club because I work upstairs and could not find an acceptable excuse not to workout.  The reason I stay is because of the staff and all  the workout options. The staff is fantastic, I have learned so much from the trainers and instructors over the years.


What is your favorite piece of equipment or exercise to do in the gym?
I don't know if I have a favorite exercise but if I had to choose it would be wall balls.  They increase my heart rate and work my large muscles. 

Why do you work out?
I like to workout because it makes me feel good and improves my mood.  

What do you do to work out?
My workouts are varied. I utilize the boot camp classes offered and various crossfit type workouts. These types of workouts keep me engaged, build my strength and improve my endurance. 

Why do you choose to work out at BHC? (instead of another gym)
I work out here because Ballard Health Club is my fitness family. I get to see the trainers and members often and they all know my name. I love that!!
 

This is an AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) Superset routine.  Supersets are exercise pairs.

Complete as many reps of both exercises in the superset, then repeat.  Rest 30-90 seconds before taking on the next superset.  If you're not challenged by the two sets of each, add a third superset to each of the pairs below.

Remember to give yourself a rest day before doing this routine again so your muscles can fully rest and repair.  If you really want to exercise instead of fully resting, do an "active rest" day of pure cardio.

Don't forget to warm up! I suggest 5 minutes of rowing and 5 minutes of biking. 

Superset 1 - AMRAP of Pushups
                  AMRAP of Inverted or TRX Row

Superset 2 - AMRAP of Squats
                  AMRAP of Crunches

Superset 3 - AMRAP of Decline Pushups
                  AMRAP of Pull-ups

Superset 4 - AMRAP of Walking Lunges
                  AMRAP of Supermans

Did you ever want to dress up as a zombie and dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller"?

Join us for Thrill The World!

Saturday, October 24, 2015 at 1pm @ Ballard Commons Park

Thrill The World is friends, families and neighbors who join together each year with thousands of people around the globe to celebrate Michael Jackson's talent by dancing simultaneously to "Thriller"!

More than just dancing to a 6 minute song, TTW is a global community project that is inspiring others to break down barriers, connect with people of all religions, race, political and economic persuasions, contribute to helping humanity, encourage environmental stewardship and encourage people to step up as leaders, visionaries, and creators.

Ballard Health Club is going to host the event at Ballard Commons Park on Saturday October 24th from 12-3pm. We will have a DJ so there will be a dance party. The Thriller Dance will be performed at 1pm to join with the worldwide event.

We are offering dance classes on Saturdays from 4pm-5pm. Classes are $10 each, or $25 for unlimited classes, for both members and non-members with proceeds going to Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Bring your friends and your kids - all ages are welcome, we're waiving the drop-in fee for this. Ballard Health Club is doing this because we care about our community, we want to help find a cure for cancer and because this will be a lot of fun.

Please join us!
 

We OPEN Studio Y for use as of November 1st!

There are many details to accomplish in the next few weeks, starting tomorrow with putting the finish on the floors. We are using the exact same method and materials to finish the Studio Y floor as has been used the past 17 years in our current studio. Lowen Clausen, the prior owner of BHC and Pat Gilbrough, the current owner, will be applying the several coats of finish together. A big thank you to Lowen for his part in helping with this!

All the products, including the primer, paint and floor finishing material used in Studio Y are water based and expel very low vapors. In addition, we will have a full month for the floor to cure and any residual vapors to disappear. I'm saying this because I understand some people are concerned about the "chemical" smell that usually follows new construction. I do think you will be pleasantly surprised about the lack of these smells in the new studio.

So...only a matter of weeks now!
 

Recently, we had a theft of personal property in the Women's locker room. So I felt this was a good time to write about security at BHC.

During the first 6 months of last year, (my first 6 months owning the club), we had 4 reported thefts of items from lockers in our locker rooms. In all but one of these instances, we believe the lockers did not have locks on them. The exception being the last of these. We think the criminal cut the rather small lock on a women's locker, stole the goods and started using the credit card within 15 minutes of our members arrival (our member got a call from her bank while she was on a cardio machine).

What I came to suspect is that our club was being targeted. It used to be easy to get unrecorded access to the locker room for drop-ins - and from there, unsupervised access to lockers. The only obstacles were the drop-in fee and putting a signature on an insurance waiver.

In mid June of last year we implemented a new procedure for drop-ins and tours. If any non-member is going past the front desk - we require a picture ID that we scan into our system. No picture ID then no admittance. We also started buying locks in bulk and are able to offer locks to our members at our cost of $5. A recent check shows that we have sold 571 of these locks.

Since implementing this new security procedure, we have had no reported thefts from June of last year until Labor Day, Sept 7th this year - about a 14 month stretch. What I describe as "reported theft" is when a member tells at least one of our staff about it.

On Labor Day, a person came to the club and acted as if she was checking out a possible membership. Actually, this person was checking out the front desk / lobby area to see how easy it was to sneak by. This person then left and met with an accomplice (wearing a large backpack) that was waiting at our breezeway entrance for her. The 2 criminals then had a chat for about 4 minutes right under our new security camera that is in the breezeway. After their conversation, the 2nd culprit waited for a large group of members walking into the club and tailed behind them, acting as if she was on the phone. Our staff that was assigned to the front desk was just returning from a channel change when this person was already past the front desk and appeared as if she had already checked-in. His focus was on all the other people that were waiting at the front desk. Once past the front desk, the culprit then went into the women's locker room and stayed there for about an hour. As soon as she left, we had 3 reported thefts from the women's locker room. At least one of these was from an unlocked locker and at least one, did have a lock. We believe the criminal must have had bolt cutters in her large backpack. Bolt cutters are pretty loud when they cut a lock so that is probably why she waited so long - to make sure no one was in the locker room.

Needless to say, we are much more on guard at the front desk and will make it more obvious to possible criminals that they are on camera when they arrive at BHC. Without our security cameras, we wouldn't have the great pictures of these 2 criminals that we do, and we would not know that the two were connected. I do think the greatest deterrent to possible thieves at BHC is to have information about them recorded when they arrive at the club - especially their face. I have to think these Labor Day thieves probably did not realize they were on camera - and perhaps checked out BHC before the cameras were in place.

The primary target of thieves are wallets. There are smaller lockers in our lobby area that can be much better supervised than lockers in the locker room. You can tell by reading this that your odds of being a victim of theft at BHC are extremely low, but to completely remove that threat, you could use the smaller lockers in the lobby area to lock up your more valuable items - or avoid bringing those items into the club at all.

We appreciate our members choosing BHC as their health club and will continue to work toward making it as secure a place as possible.
 

Sincerely,

Pat Gilbrough
Owner and General Manager
pat@ballardhealthclub.com