My feet in a relaxed position

Ignore the mysterious yoga implements in the background. When relaxed, my feet are completely jeopardizing my posture, my joints, etc.

In the midst of our personal yoga lesson, I complained to Meg about lingering knee pain and pain in my periformis. Meg took one look at my legs and noticed that my hips, knees and ankles are completely twisted. This picture shows the grounding exercise that I need to work on - weight in the outer feet & heels, stretching through the big toe and grounding in the ball of the foot to straighten my ankles, knees and hips.

Rena on meg's yoga contraption

Live from Meg's condo. My friend, Megan, is a yoga instructor and hosted my friend, Nicole's baby shower today. Everyone was wondering what the straps and ropes were on her bedroom wall. Once all the shower guests left, Meg gave Rena and me some personalized yoga instruction. First move - on the straps, against the wall, upside down. Both Rena and I tried it and, in spite of the blood collecting in our heads, we achieved new levels of enlightenment and alignment.

The starfish

Bob's new shoes by converse

Mahan's Best & Worst of Gyms 2007

Happy 2008! All of the year-end "Best and Worst" editions, combined with exhaustive "new year, new you" references spurred the idea that I should compile my best and worst of gyms.

Urban Active will be the seventh gym membership I've held since high school. I've been a member at Body Dynamics (now defunct), Countryside YMCA, Bally's Chicago, Bally's Cincinnati, The Gym at Carew Tower and a one-week tenure at FitWorks. If you factor in my time at university facilities (U of Illinois, Northwestern), apartment building facilities (Fourth and Plum, The Renaissance and my current building, Park Place at Lytle), the gym experience jumps substantially. Needless to say, I consider myself something of a gym connoisseur. After careful thought and consideration, here are my "Best and Worst" of gyms...

Best Weights: Bally's. From 1998-2001, I went before work 5 days a week and loved it. As a morning regular, I was on a first-name basis with most of the staff and members. Sometimes I miss those days of frivolous fitness, but sometimes I relish sleeping in past 5:00 a.m.

Best Variety: The Gym at Carew Tower. Once I moved downtown, marathon training gradually replaced weightlifting, and The Gym at Carew was my most convenient option. For a downtown location, it offers great variety in the way of a lap pool, a whirlpool, group classes, weights and cardio. In winter, there was nothing better than finishing a run on the treadmill, going for a quick swim, then soaking in the whirlpool. I guess Countryside Y would be a contender here, too, but as it's located in Lebanon, it loses on the convenience factor.

Best Towel Service: Bally's Chicago - As someone who actually showers at the gym, I've found that gym towels are universally tiny and insufficient at covering all the necessary parts. At Bally's in Chicago, I was able to take not one, not two, but three towels in the morning so I could maintain some level of modesty in the locker room AND wrap my hair up in a towel.

Best Kickboxing Class: Dale Eads at Body Dynamics - Summer, 1996. My friend Kelly and I loved this class and had a slightly unhealthy obsession with Dale. Mostly because we loved his name.

Worst Gym Trial: Fitworks in Newport, Kentucky. I took the bait of a one-month free trial about 5 years ago and they called me at work every day for a month pressuring me to join. Lesson learned - avoid Fitworks at all costs.

Worst Pickup Line: "You've probably noticed me watching you." Ew. This line was delivered to me mid-workout when I was in college. It's comments like these that require "women's fitness" sections at co-ed gyms.

Worst Apartment Workout Facility: Fourth & Plum. I feel kind of like a traitor saying this since Fourth & Plum was the first apartment I had on my own. Even the pool on the roof couldn't make up for the ancient treadmill, the mix-and-match dumbbells and the "highschoolweightroom" stripes painted on the wall. I'm sorry, Fourth & Plum, but even on a limited budget, I had to get a real gym membership.

Worst Gym-Goer Hygiene: Northwestern's gym - 1998. I think I shall never forget this. My roommate was working as the director of Northwestern's fitness center in 98-99. I showed up after work (aka "Prime Time") to work out and a middle-aged guy in shorts and a tank top hopped on the Stairmaster Stepmill. The problem - he was wearing neither shoes nor socks. The fitness staff on duty quickly pulled him off the machine, informing him that shoes and socks were necessary. Each step on the Stepmill was then thoroughly disinfected, but the machine had been pretty much tarnished by one man's sweaty gym feet. Ew infinity.

Stay tuned for updates on where Urban Active fits in on the Best and Worst of 2008. Also coming: a link to my favorite marathon training plan, as well as the best and worst in athletic gear.