Review: Bucktown Athletic Club

Take me to the bar…err barre. This week, I’m doing a trial at Bucktown Athletic Club to see if a general purpose gym can live up to the niche studios. Any bets?

Bucktown Athletic Club is roughly a mile from my house and right off the Damen Blue line, so it would be sweet bliss if I could get all my gym needs filled in this one location. The Club is part of the Chicago Athletic Club network, with a number of other locations that you can visit as a member. I’m a class junkie, so membership is super reasonable compared to the rates that you pay at niche studios. A 12-month membership is just $69!

So let’s get to the dirty details. What did I think? 5 stars for the barre burn class, tropical oasis facilities and rows upon rows of open treadmills. The barre burn class was the perfect balance of that deep burn and the elegance of ballet – the studio space was relatively new with polished wooded floors, full length mirrors adorned with ballet barres on 3 of the 4 walls and we used resistance bands as well as balls to add some variety and extra burn to the workout. The class was packed and you knew why afterwards! I left feeling like the essence of grace, poise and strength.

Now, the not-so-good with a note that as a spin instructor, I’m going to be much more critical of the format I teach. The first spin class I tried was terrible. Like, the worst. It was a 6:30 a.m. class, so you can assume most of us were more serious riders – newbies will generally try something for the first time at a more reasonable hour. Even a newbie would have found like this class boring though. We were on a moderate hill nearly the ENTIRE 45 minutes, there was little to no variety and we didn’t get out of the saddle until the 4th song! By that point, my internal dialogue was screaming “set me free!” not because it was challenging, but because I was bored. out. of. my. mind.

However, I decided to give spin another shot because I REALLY wanted to like this gym. The barre class was amazing, the location super convenient and I loved that the class schedule was filled with Les Mills formats like BodyPump. I went to the live DJ class on a Thursday night thinking this has to be good – if anything because of the music. Well, this was better, but I’d give a it a “good, not great” rating. The instructor was more lively, energized and personalized in her teaching. There was more variety, but – a pattern. It was sprint, climb, tabata, jumps – repeat repeat repeat. We literrally did 3 different tabata drills on a flat. Let me tell you, one was enough. And when I can guess what’s coming next, you need to change up your game, girl. The DJ also – just ok. Nonetheless, it was a good workout, but it confirmed that Bucktown Athletic Club wasn’t going to be the place for me.

Any new fav classes or gyms in the Chicago area I should check out? Let me know!