University Hills - Schlessman YMCA — Local services in Denver

We are blessed by the presence of a dynamic duo! Ryan and Juli are shining stars in a YMCA indoor cycling roster that has long been replete with excellent instructors. Lucky for us they take time from their endeavors in the helping professions (Ryan's a Special Needs high school teacher; Juli's a psychotherapist in private practice) to teach evening indoor cycling classes. (Juli also teaches Pilates). Parallels abound. Both teachers exhibit extraordinary levels of fitness but do so with the grace that inspires. Both are subtly vigilant--attending to the needs and well-being of their students via timely reminders of posture points and frequent, light-hearted challenges to work harder. Absent parental constructs and even the slightest whiff of superiority, this peer-to-peer experience, (which Juli and Ryan each evoke with their own inimitable styles) fosters a tribal experience for that hour. But what really sets these two apart from other instructors--and drives me to prioritize getting to a bike in their classes as often as possible--is their music. Ryan's mix is eclectic and fresh--and challenging!--especially if you are accustomed to working out to the comfort and predictability of mainstream A-B-A pop beats. First couple of classes I found myself wishing for the songs to end so I could catch my breath. Then one day the genius of Ryan's approach hit me. Every first Monday Ryan starts class 30 minutes early and screens a concert video. On that day he takes a bike on the floor with the students. First time I experienced this Ryan happened to be on a bike right next to me. As usual, the unfamiliarity of the songs disabled my egoic mind by making it impossible to use durational expectancies as my internal driver of how hard I should be working! All that was left was to try to match Ryan's output by gear and pace. (Even THAT was easy since I could see him in my peripheral vision). No need for mimicry. No need for internal resistance. No place for longing for a break. Just trust him and push!

Juli does this whole other thing. Indoor cycling is the first group exercise I have ever done. I'm a sole proprietor and when I first started indoor cycling I reported to friends how good it was to have someone else tell me what to do for that hour. I won't pretend to understand how or even what Juli does. What is abundantly clear is that she pours her heart and her soul into her mix. I've had the good fortune to attend many of her classes and I've never heard her repeat a mix. Like Ryan, Juli leaves the lights off in the studio and since it is an evening class, we cycle to her beats in ambient light from the parking lot. I long ago surrendered any attempt to understand the relationship between Juli's beats and the various jumps and runs and climbs she calls out. I'd much rather fall out of my head as soon as possible... and fall into that feral, linked consciousness that Juli generates for that hour every Wednesday!

At the...

I want to love this Y. I really do. The management of this Y may have good intentions but they sometimes seem disorganized and clueless. The facility tries to offer a bit of something for everyone and ends up doing nothing really well. They have dedicated precious weight training space to new futuristic (i.e. useless) machines that require RFID wrist bands to use. Fine, except 99% of the time all those machines sit unused. Meanwhile they got rid of some traditional highly used (and very useful) equipment to make space for the futuristic machines. FAIL.

This Y also outsources much of the IT to outside firms and as a consequence doing anything like checking your account, registering for a class, etc., is a completely clunky experience. This year they wiped out everyone's account as part of a system reset. Fun!

Most of the class trainers are excellent! However this has little to do with the Y because the instructors would be excellent wherever they worked. Questions to instructors about the class registration app usually gets a shrug and "yeah, the app is really bad."

The gymnasium has been without heat for many many weeks. A notification was finally sent out that a part for it was on order. But prior to that notification, asking anyone anything about it was universally met with a blank stare.

During classes in the gymnasium, floor mats and towels become covered in lint and hairballs. They don't sweep the gym floor frequently enough and frankly it's disgusting. I don't bother to mention this to anyone there because it is 100% guaranteed to get a blank stare.

They have removed the water fountain entirely from the lobby yet provide no paper cups. Water fountains have been around for 100 years for a reason. (Actually if you count the Roman empire I guess it's 1000's of years!)

All of the problems above are directly the result of management, not front-line staff. I hope things improve so I can...

I was recently visiting Denver for business and stopped to use this facility. After my morning workout I had a few hours of downtime before heading back into work. I walked across the street to get breakfast and returned to my vehicle to relax. I was minding my own business and happened to doze off for a brief nap. However, I was rudely awakened by two men knocking on my window. They were obviously YMCA administrators and one of them told me it was a private parking lot and said I wasn't welcomed there and would have to leave. I explained to him that I was a YMCA member, but to no avail. He responded by telling me there was a 2 hour parking limit and again stated that I needed to leave. So to avoid confrontation I obliged and departed the parking lot. Before I left though, I scanned the parking lot for any signs indicating a two hour parking limit to which there were none. So I called the front desk and asked if there was in fact any time limits on parking to which the receptionist replied no there were no rules of that nature. As a member who pays $107 a month to USE THE FACILITIES, I found the entire interaction demeaning, rude, and extremely unprofessional. If it were not for my girlfriend's and son's frequent use of the Colorado Springs locations, where I have been a member for over a decade without incident, I would have terminated my membership on the spot.

A side note, the gentleman at the front desk when I arrived in the morning was awesome and I would commend him for his admirable customer service. But whoever made the call to rudely infringe on my personal time and space needs to seriously reconsider their actions in the future to avoid similar negative scenarios which reflect extemely poorly on the culture and...