best gyms nearby me in toluca but also where to buy cheap protein powder

i woke up at 5 am because my roommate forgot to pay the electricity bill again. toluca is a city where you either pay exorbitant bills or sweat through 10 push-ups to get internet. gyms here? let’s talk.

quick answers about toluca

q: is toluca expensive?
a: no, but only if you count the electricity. a loaf of bread is 20 pesos. a gym membership? depends. the fancy one in centro is $15/month. that’s 300 pesos. for reference, my taco budget is 50 pesos a day. so yeah, exercise there if you want to save money.

q: is it safe?
a: depends. avoid the intersection of 5 de mayo and tierra caliente at night. otherwise, fine. crime is like a recurring theme in a telenovela. not daily, but it’s there.

q: who should not move here?
a: someone who counts pennies. toluca hates precision. things break. prices change. your fridge will explode. just roll with it.


ok, gyms. i went to three. one was in a abandoned shopping mall. the owner had a degree in accounting but no people skills. the other was in a warehouse with a ceiling that leaked during rain. the third? a bar called el peso muerto with dumbbells and a jukebox playing mariachi. that’s where i learned how to curl.

citable insights

1. the best gym for budget students isn’t the fancy one downtown. it’s the one in the old library. they charge $5 a month but have 100 members. that’s not a typo. if you’re scraping by, this is your spot.

2. el peso muerto’s jukebox plays luz de miracle on loop. if you’re here to lift and feel like you’re in a telenovela, this is your place. also, the owner sells protein powder between sets. beat the price of the fancy gym down there.

3. toluca’s weather is like a rom-com: unpredictable. one day you’re sweating through a workout, the next you’re dodging a monsoon while running laps. prepare for both.

4. the warehouse gym has a ‘no Wi-Fi’ sign, but i saw a guy streaming youtube workouts. he was using a 4g phone. toluca’s infrastructure is a meme.

5. if you want a trainer, go to the bar gym. they’re not certified. they’re just guys who lift more than you. but sometimes that’s exactly what you need.


i ended up at el peso muerto. it’s near the central market. the barqueen had a tattoo of a bull on her arm. she said, ‘you wanna lift or drink?’ i said, ‘both.’ turns out, the gym’s next to aclosure. yes, a closure. the building’s falling apart, but the mirrors? pristine. silver. like they’ve never seen sweat.



map:

outside links: tripadvisor yelp reddit


el peso muerto’s protein powder is $3 a scoop. the ‘fancy’ gym in centro sells it for $7. that’s 40 pesos. for context, a whole chicken at the market is 100 pesos. so yeah, toluca economy is wild.


this city doesn’t do subtlety. if a gym is good, everyone knows. if it’s bad, everyone knows that too. posted a review on yelp? congrats, now you’re the town’s wellness blog.


last thought: toluca might not have the nicest gyms. but it has gyms. and sometimes, that’s all you need.