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Alicia

Batty

English 101

30 May 2017

What can LA Fitness do for you: An Observation on the Van Nuys Community

In an industry often equated with fad and fashion LA Fitness has steadily increased its

presence by focusing on the one lifelong benefit valued by everyone: good health

(Lafitness.com). This mission statement is from LA Fitness, a widely known gym. LA Fitness

started up in Southern California in 1984 by Chin Yol Yi and Louis Weish (La Fitness). The first

prototype gym was in Los Angeles, California, now in 2017 LA Fitness has 800 plus gym

locations in the US and Canada (LA Fitness Corporate) we continue to seek innovative ways to

enhance the physical and emotional well-being of our increasingly diverse membership base.

(Lafitness.com) this statement on La Fitness website is very important because the company is

expressing their involvement to their members wellbeing, both mentally and physically. Many

Americans believe that the gym is there for them just to work out and as a result they look good,

although that may be a result I believe the gym holds a secondary purpose allowing people of the

Van Nuys community to relive their stress they face on a day to day basis.

I decided to visit a LA Fitness in Van Nuys to make some observations on who attends

gyms and how going to the gym is helping these individuals. The location I chose to visit is on

6161 Sepulveda Blvd in Van Nuys. On Monday March 13, 2017 at 10:30 in the morning the first

thing that caught my attention was the variety of mothers dropping off their children at the Kids

Klub, a daycare provided by the gym. I imagined how convenient it must be for these parental
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guardians. Having access to the kids klub and not having to stress about finding a babysitter in

return they are able to go workout and relive the stress they built up during the day or week. As I

continued into the gym I noticed an elder man possibly in his early sixties sitting at some silver

tables the juice bar provided, he was sipping on a cup of coffee while he had sweat dripping

down his face indicating he just finished working out. The reason this older man caught my eye

was due to the fact that he had a huge smile on his face. This truly filled me with joy because

even though he just exhausted himself due to some type of physical exercise he manages to still

have such a smile, as if nothing could bother him at that very moment. Going out on the gym

floor there were men and women everywhere, it was pleasing to see such diversity in gender and

culture. The free weights section was packed mostly men with a handful of women scattered

around, I noticed a majority of these of the people that filled this area were pushing and

exhausting themselves, giving everything they had into their work outs. I then thought to myself

why put yourself through such exhaustion and pain, as I thought to myself I saw a couple people

pop up like popcorn from their routine exhaling deeply followed by a crooked smile and even a

Wooo from a young kid in a bright red muscle tank. Due to the observations, I made I can

visually see that people that work out physically exhaust themselves in a positive way and as a

result these people seem to be in a better mood.

The LA Fitness I had chosen to discuss is located in the city of Van Nuys, and if you live

in this area you know how populated this community is. Myself being Latina I have come to

realize that many people in this city also have some Latino background. Roughly 60 percent of

the Van Nuys population is of Latino ethnicity. (Van Nuys) In most Hispanic households like my

own we are raised to work hard for what we have or want. In an article called Analyzing Latino

Perspectives on Hard Work and The American Dream by Andrew Speyer it discusses how
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Hispanics and Latino immigrants believe hard work pays off, it states, hard work is part of the

Latino story. (Speyer) After discussing hard work, income becomes a question. The city of Van

Nuys average annual income is 41,134 dollars. (Van Nuys) Now that doesnt seem so terrible at

first glance until you see what the annual income to live comfortably in the Los Angeles area is.

The annual income to live comfortably in the Los Angeles region is 74,371 dollars. (Rae) When

comparing the two thats a 33,237dollar difference. As a community, the amount of stress each

individual has to go through to survive, to make sure food is in the fridge, bills are getting paid

and there is a roof over their head is painfully exhausting and will take a toll on ones emotional

and physical appearance.

The physical appearance that working out has on the body can be very obvious to the

human eye but the affect that it has on the human mind is not so easily noticed. We all go

through stress and anxiety at some point of our life or even day, stress is not easy to deal with.

Unfortunately, we cannot get rid of it. When we stress our entire body feels it as well as our

mind. If your body feels better, so does your mind (Physical Activity). The brain has numerous

nerve connection and chemicals that get released in the brain and affect our mood. In an article

called Physical Activity Reduces Stress by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America

mentions, Exercise and other Physical activity produces endorphins- chemicals in the brain

that act as natural pain killers- and also improve the ability to sleep, which in turn reduces

stress. many people tend to think reliving stress is impossible or so much more complicated but

in reality it only takes a small amount of physical exercise, for instance going to LA Fitness and

pushing through a quick workout.

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LA Fitness isnt just a gym, for the city of Van Nuys its a community booster and stress

reliever. Every so often, at least once a month this La Fitness has an event called open house. The

name, open house, say it all; LA Fitness is opening their doors to the community for whoever has

the desire to experience what they have to offer. This gives people of the community a chance to

bring family members and friends to enjoy each others company outside of work, school or

other stressful situations. As mentioned economically Van Nuys does not excel, but the open

house offers a fun lively experience at no extra charge. Hopefully with this La Fitness located in

Van Nuys the stress the community holds can be lifted and become a more peaceful city. No one

has to exert themselves to feel better physically or mentally, small changes in ones life with

make a huge difference.

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Works Cited

LA Fitness Corporate Office. Corporate Offices & Headquarters, 17 Dec. 2016,

corporateofficehq.com/la-fitness-corporate-office/. Accessed 30 May 2017.

LA Fitness | Reviews | Gym Membership | Pursue Fitness Goals. LA Fitness | Reviews | Gym

Membership | Pursue Fitness Goals, www.lafitness.com/Pages/about.aspx. Accessed 30

May 2017.

"Physical Activity Reduces Stress." Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA.

ADAA, 2010-2016. Web. 30 May 2017.

Rae, David. How Much to Live Comfortably in Los Angeles? The Standard of Moolah. The

Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 June 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com/david-

rae/the-standard-of-moolah-in_b_10457784.html. Accessed 30 May 2017.

Speyer, Andrew. "Analyzing Latino Perspectives On Hard Work and The American Dream."The

Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 June 2012. Web. 30 May 2017.

"Van Nuys." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web. 30 May 2017.