For those of you that follow me on Instagram, you know that I'm an avid gym rat!  I clock a lot of gym hours.  See a brief interview I did where I talked about my journey.

So on Monday, I was part of the B-Metro Magazine blog team for the grand opening of a new Planet Fitness here in Birmingham, the 6th in the Birmingham Metro Area.

They are located at:

The Shops of Montevallo

4500 Montevallo Rd

Birmingham, AL 35210

205-703-0571

Meet the helpful staff with a trainer who is a certified instructor on duty that will personalized a fitness program for you as part of your Planet Fitness membership.

Next to sewing and fashion, fitness has become the third love of my life.  And I chose a Planet Fitness membership over a year and a half ago because I knew I needed to work out consistently.  Working out at home wasn't cutting it for me and I needed to be a structured atmosphere being inspired by other people getting on their fitness.

What I love most about Planet Fitness is the location.  In my area, it's a franchise and one owner who takes pride in all of his locations.  I love the cost.  It's really low and only the cost of two Starbuck's lattes for the whole month.  I choose to prepay mine for 18 months for $199.  I'm on my second 18 month now.

I appreciate that this is a no frills club.  I'm not a person that needs classes, saunas, towels and a juice bar.  I just want to get in, get it done and be out!

I knew what I needed to work on when I joined and I researched and designed my own program.  But for others that haven't a clue as to where they need to start, there are trainers available to help.  It's really a very non-intimidating environment.

And for those that have a limited amount of time and need to get the best workout possible, the 30-Minute Express Workout area is perfect.  You get a combination of strength training and cardio.

And before or after your workout, you can get what I feel is the equivalent of a deep tissue massage in these amazing massage chairs -- this is part of the Black Card Membership.

The controls are right on the arm of the chairs and I cranked that baby up!

And I also go to try for the first time, the hydro bed massage.  Let me tell you about this.  It was so relaxing that I would probably fall asleep and be asked to leave!  You get a head to feet massage with sounds of the ocean!  It is amazing!