Joining a gym is a great way to ensure that you get fit, lose weight and stay in shape. But before you go paying top dollar for a gym membership or personal training program, keep the following 5 tips in mind to ensure you get the right membership, at the right price.
1. Ask for a free trial:
The vast majority of health clubs or gyms, even personal trainers, will allow you to access their facility on a trial basis before you join. Free trials allow you to get a good feel for the gym environment, the other members and how helpful and friendly the staff are. If the gym you are considering joining is going to force you to joining before a trial period, it’s worth heading to the next closest gym.
2. Go with a short-term contract:
Most gyms offer month by month gym memberships as an alternative to longer-term lock-in contracts where you must pay for a set number of months. In most case, the month-by-month memberships will cost a little extra on a per month basis as compared to committing to say six or twelve months.
Obviously gyms want customers “locked in” for a certain period of time and that is why they incentivise new members to take out a longer contract period. Of course you never join a gym expecting to quite, however be realistic with yourself and if you have a history of starting at gyms and dropping out after two or three months once the initial motivation wears off, go with the month-by-month membership initially and only commit to the longer-term contract once you’ve proven to yourself that you’re going to stick at it this time around.
3. Get help if you need:
One of the first things you should decide when joining a gym is whether or not you should invest in a personal trainer to help you with an initial program. Although this usually comes at a cost, it’s the best way to ensure that you start with a program that is tailored to the results you are looking for and if you do not really understand how to exercise in order to get the results that you want, then a small investment in a few personal training sessions can be a wise choice.
You may even decide to join a gym like EFM Health Clubs, who offer a hybrid service that is in between a regular gym and a personal trainer. This type of small group fitness training is becoming incredibly popular now because it allows you the ability to exercise with the supervision of a fitness trainer, but without the absolute cost associated with 1-1 personal training sessions.
4. Go with convenience:
We all live busy lives and sometimes that little 10-15 minute drive to the gym is enough to stop us from fitting in a workout for the day. If you are choosing between two closely-matched gyms, the best advice is to go with the one that is closest to home or work. In fact, if you are looking to join a new gym and trying out a few different locations, start with those closest to your home or place of employment because convenience really is key to staying on track with your fitness goals.
5. Is a gym the best fit for you?
You’ve made the decision to get fit and exercise regularly, but perhaps joining a gym is not actually the best option for you right now. There are plenty of great options by way of working out at home and home gym equipment, so it is certainly worthwhile considering those options. By the time you factor in monthly gym membership payments for 6-12 months, that same amount of money could have been invested into a piece of home gym equipment that you can keep for life.
Exercising at home is also the ultimate in terms of convenience, given that you truly can exercise when you like, for as long as you like. The most popular pieces of home gym equipment include exercise bikes, elliptical machines, rowing machines and free weight training equipment such as inversion tables.
Conclusion:
Take some time to look around for introductory deals at local gyms in your area, but at the same time, give some thought to exactly what you want to get out of your fitness program. You may find that investing in a piece of home gym equipment is the best option for you after all. If you do decide to join a gym, make sure you do so having experienced a range of gyms in your local area so that you can identify the best fit for your personal circumstances.
Sources:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com
