Recent studies show that working out won’t help you lose weight. So why go to the gym? To check people out, of course. But New York Sports Clubs are just as diverse as the city itself. Each gym is like a little litmus test of neighborhood’s population. This week, we investigate all the variety New York Sports Clubs have to offer.

[Full disclosure: After working out at innumerable NYSCs, we think Cobble Hill has the most attractive clientele. Our preference for people who exercise in raggedy University of Chicago t-shirts might make this write-up biased.]

Except for a few old folks who invested in the neighborhood early, most of the members of the Cobble NYSC on Pacific and Boerum Place are under thirty. These are the people who write your newspapers, proofread your novels and curate your galleries. They are the over-educated working class of New York.

Need proof? Last night, more channels were tuned to PBS’s broadcast of the British documentary 49 Up than to Dancing With the Stars.

Just as Brooklynites confuse Murray Hill with Gramercy, Manhattanites can be forgiven for mistaking Cobble Hill with Park Slope. Park Slope is primarily a suburb, best suited for young parents. Most people in Cobble Hill aren’t the legal guardian of anyone, and the neighborhood offers better entertainment than watching mothers brazenly breastfeed at Tea Lounge.

The NYSC in Park Slope is filled with mothers trying to return to their pre-pregnancy weight, dads escaping the family and toddlers stuck in the gym’s daycare. At the Cobble Hill gym, most people are working on their revenge bodies from their years of being tortured in Phys Ed.

The limited weight area has the occasional bicep over girlfriend man. But most of the guys at the Cobble Hill gym sport thick framed glasses and are ten pounds over or underweight. The yoga pant is a rare sight, and these women seem to be exercising discretion rather than being modest.

Cobble Hill is a hub for twenty somethings who are ready for a real relationship, but not much more. Young couples can be espied doing sets together and giving each other space for cardio. As we always say, the couple that keeps elevated heart rates together stays together.

Tomorrow: The Upper East Side