imaginarycircus

Peak hours are around 6-8 AM and 5-7 PM. They CLAIM peak hours are longer than that, but even peak hours aren't that bad. By 7 PM on weekdays the gym's usually emptied out a LOT. I've never gone before 9 AM, because I like to sleep in the morning, but when I was unemployed I would go at 11 AM or 1 PM and it would be mostly empty. There'd be a small crowd in for the classes, mostly older women, and a couple people meandering around the ellipticals.

When I go RIGHT after work (5:30 or 6), sometimes I have to wait fifteen minutes or so for a treadmill. That's the worst I've ever seen it. I really like going later in the evening, 7 or 8 PM, so I can just chill out on the treadmill and watch NCIS or whatever for an hour.

That said, I've seriously considered taking a long lunch break and working extra hours at night so I could go to the gym in the early afternoon again. Non-peak is pretty damn nice. And you'll get more attention from the trainers who teach the less popular mid-day classes. I went to a core class one time that was just me and one other woman. It was FANTASTIC.