FREE GYM #9 - Pulse Fitness - New York

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I admit it, I held a stereotype. I thought that all Americans were fat. This is simply not the case, well, not in New York anyway. People are very fit conscious here. There is a gym on every corner and you will always find a person powering through Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge or the many streets and avenues which criss cross the city. New Yorkers have truly adopted NYC as their gym.

As you can imagine, I had limited time for the gym. I had the whole of New York to see and a seminal US/UK conference on 'Stop & Search' to attend. In terms of sight seeing, I highly recommend the free Staten Island Ferry ride past the Statue of Liberty, the emotive African Burial Site, and the obscure MOMA PS1for its experimental modern art inside and the experimental graffiti outside which festoons the buildings around a colourful Queens neighbourhood.

However, I did manage one gym, courtesy of my good friend Hakim, which was perhaps the cheapest gym I will EVER come across. Yes, Pulse Fitness (Queens) had old equipment, yes it had crumbling walls, yes it was sticky and yes an old man kept yelling in Spanish at me but it was only $99 per year, including 24 hour access, 30,000 square foot of space, aerobic classes and a whole room full of boxing stuff. That works out at a crazy $8.25 [£5.16] per month.

C'mon, find a cheaper gym - I challenge you.