Between Mount Vernon and Lisbon, there are mainly two options for local gyms open to the public: Elite Fitness and Lester Buresh Community Center, or LBC for short. Between Mount Vernon and Lisbon, members of each of these respective gyms consist greatly of high school students, and which one is the best option for high school students is greatly debated amongst the high school weightlifting community.
The price of going to the gym is a big factor in deciding which gym a student or adult might go to. An Elite membership is $35 for a single person to have a monthly membership to their facilities, not too far off from the $37 a month you would pay at the LBC. To students, however, the price per month at Elite is different and much more appealing because high school students get a discounted membership of just $25 per month. Both run packages for family or couple memberships but regardless, Elite Fitness will always be the cheaper option. If you are looking for a local gym and want to save money, Elite would probably be a better option.
The biggest reason for the difference in demographics between Elite and the LBC is the environment that Elite Fitness has in comparison to the LBC. Many students report that they enjoy the atmosphere at Elite.“The LBC doesn’t feel like a very energizing environment compared to Elite,” said senior Blake Stajskal from Lisbon High School. “Elite also has fewer rules making it a more anabolic environment. Elite Fitness is a far better gym to work out in compared to the Lester Buresh Community Center. It is filled with people who take fitness more seriously and who create better environments for working out,”
Elite Fitness benefits more experienced weight lifters, while the LBC is not as suitable for advanced lifters. There are even several fitness influencers who come to Elite for the days they work on their pectoral muscles, as well as a current professional football player. From personal experience, Elite members are not shy to reach out and give you advice. If you are a high schooler, especially if you are an athlete, you will most likely be able to find a friend group at Elite due to the amount of high school lifters.
Students such as Jackson Hird and Indiana Ferguson also agree with Blake that the environment at the LBC doesn’t compare to Elite Fitness due to the social expierience. Many students appreciate the mirrors at Elite to check their form or maybe even admire the pump your muscles get after a workout. The weight of the dumbbells is also a major concern for more advanced lifters. The LBC only has seventy-five-pound dumbbells as their max weight, while Elite has 130-pound dumbbells. This is excellent for stronger lifters. The racks at Elite are also more suitable for advanced lifters because of the slack in the bars and the quality of the benches. The barbells are super stiff at the LBC, which if you have ever performed a deadlift, bench press, or squat, you would notice that slack in bars helps smoothly perform the lift. The benches are super thin, Indiana Ferguson reported, “I can’t fit on their benches.” Elite also has a wide array of barbells that can be used to target muscles in unique ways, the LBC lacks this greatly.
While Elite Fitness has more support from high schoolers in Mount Vernon and Lisbon, there are several advantages to the LBC as well. The LBC provides a convenience factor for those who cannot drive yet and live in Mount Vernon. Some freshmen and even some sophomores in high school don’t have the resources to get to Elite, and must instead settle for the LBC.
The LBC also has benefits for athletes. The LBC is not primarily a gym, but rather a recreation center, so it makes sense Elite would have superior gym equipment. The turf room in the LBC has much more agility equipment than Elite’s turf area, which is helpful for people who want to work on this specific aspect of their training. The turf room also has a batting cage, a baseball player might choose to work out at the LBC for the added benefit of being able to practice their swing. The basketball courts would be appealing to basketball players as well, which takes up the majority of the downstairs level of the LBC. The courts have plenty of space to play pickup with friends and work on your shot, this would be very compelling to basketball players. The LBC even has a rock wall, a well-beloved part of the LBC. You can almost always find kids climbing it and having a good time. Senior Braxton Pitlik said, “I love the rock wall, it’s dope.”
The overall consensus among high schoolers is that Elite Fitness is the better choice for a high school student to lift at. This doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the best for you specifically, however. Certain groups of students could benefit from the LBC far more than they could from Elite. For the pure purpose of lifting, Elite Fitness is the more popular and probably the better choice.
