Lets talk about YOUR GYM

kjflaherty

I want to hear what you look for in a gym. Since I moved I've been apprehensive to join a new one. Getting out of gym contracts be like getting out of a death contract.
I like zumba, some group fitness classes, I need the weights. I love the hottub.
But I'm afraid if I hate the one I join I'm so stuck. So tell me what to avoid, tell me what you like, tell me everything. How is 24 hr fitness?
I want your opinions!

DawnEmbers

Well, having joined quit then rejoined. I can say that it isn’t difficult getting out of contract at 24 hour fitness. I like the gym when I live close enough to one. Currently go there now and train powerlifting. Sure the one location doesn’t have 2.5 lb plates but for the most part it has what I need, is close and affordable. Other gyms work just as well.

tess5036

Can you try for a day, or join on a monthly membership to try it out

GottaBurnEmAll

I've tried a bunch of different gyms and well, since I'm not a class person that was never a factor. I realized that for me, the hassle of making time to get myself ready to go and driving there on top of working out on top of waiting around for equipment drove me nuts.

When we worked out the costs, we decided it was worth it to invest in weights for home use. I've never regretted it. There's nothing like working out in socks and your underwear.

I should note that I'm not a very social person. If you are, tour different gyms and see which have features you like and pick the best fit.

2baninja

I use Snap Fitness, it's open 24-7, but no fitness classes or hot tub, but it works for me, close to work/home and never very crowded. Most gyms let people come f2f or free for a few days.

cdudley628

I use my local YMCA. It's not 24 hours, so the hours can be a pain in the butt (mostly for people who like to work out late at night), but there's group classes everyday that are included in the membership, a pool, a hot tub, basketball courts, and all the usual equipment. There's a wide variety of classes that happen daily and membership is paid based on household income. I can also go to any YMCA in the "network" which is basically any YMCA in my state. Also you can cancel membership any time with no fees, or put your membership "on hold" for several months. ETA: There's also saunas in the locker rooms!

Mouse_Potato

I was a member with 24 Hour Fitness at one point. They gave me no grief at all when I asked to cancel. Now I am (was) a member at L.A. Fitness. I recently was out of the country and my credit card got compromised, so my bank cancelled it and sent me a new one. I had a lot of automatic payments to update and I didn't get to them before they tried to run my card again. They started calling me relentlessly. They called three times during a dental appointment, four times during my staff meeting. At one point they were calling every six minutes. Needless to say, I will be ending my membership.

Okay, to be fair, I was thinking of cancelling anyway. I got tired of waiting for the squat rack, so I've been building my home gym over the last year or so. I love being able to work out at home! I can wear whatever I want, workout at whatever hour I want, and I never have to wait on equipment.

deputy_randolph

I wish I belonged to a powerlifting gym. My gym is fine (there are usually available racks), but the music is terrible. I would NEVER use a hot tub at my gym (if my gym had one).

My gym has daycare, which is a plus.

zdyb23456

I have kids, so the ymca is where it’s at for me. Free childcare and my daughter is on the swim team which requires a ymca membership to be able to use the pools for practice.

I’m not a class person and since I’ve gotten a bit more serious about running I do 95% of it outside. I’m realizing I don’t use the ymca other than dropping my kids off for a run outside or for my daughter to swim.

I guess my response is not helpful at all!

bbell1985

I need a good squat rack, decent plates, a place to deadlift, all of the things for body building (free weights, cables, some machines), and some cardio stuff. There are classes at my gym but I don't go. We have a day care and a sauna. It's a neighborhood Brooklyn gym. Very clean. But think strong accents and Timberlands and bros who go tanning. Love it..such characters.

JeromeBarry1

It's my house. There's an elliptical, a climber, a treadmill, and a rower, as well as a small variety of assorted equipment.

Courtscan2

My gym is my garage I have a bunch of free weights, a barbell with a variety of weights, a bench, a pull up rack, some bands and a yoga mat. I do Beachbody programs with it, and works as well for me as any gym could. It does cost a bit to set up initially, but I use it pretty much every day and over the long term, much cheaper than endless gym fees.

Fitnessmom82

I am at 24 hour fitness. It's got everything I need. Our home club is considered a super sport location, I think because it has a pool and basketball court. They've got plenty of machine for cardio, lots of different weights, free weights, machines ect...they have a trx system and lots of kettle bells, medicine balls ect... They also have a steam room, sauna and child care. It's not the cheapest option around, but it's the most convenient for me. The people are nice and they try to keep up on maintaining equipment. I like the personal trainers, although they are pricey. There are lots of different classes offered. Our membership let's us go to any location and there are quite a few around here, so I get a wide variety of classes to chose from. I mostly stick to my home location for convenience.
The only cons are the price and the fact that it's not the most update to date place. One location near me looks like it has not been renovated since the early 90s. The other two that i usually go to are also pretty dated, that is really not a big deal because it's all working equipment that gets the job done.

mmapags

The right mix of equipment and not too crowded at a decent cost.

mnbvcxzlkjhgfdsa12

I’m a member of YouFit. I joined because it was right by my house and ridiculously cheap ($11 a month!) I thought it would be awful because it was so inexpensive but it turned out to be fantastic! I’ve never seen people cleaning so frequently and the equipment was all new as it was a newly opened location. Even better they offered spin classes.

YouFit is not open 24hrs but that wasn’t something that was ever an issue for me.

We moved house and I kept my membership as there is a YouFit near my new house. I don’t enjoy it as much because they only offer Zumba, but it’s still a great low cost option.

The best gym for you will be a very personal chouce. I’d echo others saying that proximity to you home/work is really important.

sardelsa

Probably not helpful for you, but it has to be in my house. With the space and equipment I need (barbell, plates, bench, dumbbells, kettlebells, cable machine, bands, plus other accessories). Plus a huge mirror and TV/screen..

MoiAussi93

I just use the fitness center at my apartment complex. It has treadmills and bikes and a couple of elliptical machines, some weight machines and hand weights. No classes at all, but I am not a group fitness type so I don't mind. We have two pools and a hot tub, but outside...not in the gym. Works for me! I don't have to go anywhere and the treadmill is the only thing that is a must have for me. Before I lived here, I just ran in the park. That was fine as well.

SCoil123

My gym is open 365 days a year which was important to me. I like to workout extra on long holiday weekends. My husbands gym is usually closed or at least closed early these days. I also wanted a gym that had people at all different levels working out in it because I feel more comfortable. I do wish my gym didn’t charge extra for classes. I might check them out if they were included in membership.

sofchak

I have a home gym and a YMCA membership - love the Y for the days I am motivated (or the weather is too crappy for a run) and enjoy the home gym on the days when I can’t seem to muster up the motivation to drive 10 minutes to the Y.

If you have a local YMCA, I encourage you to check them out. As others have said, they have a lot of gym locations (I’m from Jersey and the YMCA in Nebraska accepted my membership when I was there visiting family) and the cancelation/hold policies are quite lax.

The YMCA also has a large variety of classes and my local one has an app so you can track the class schedules and your progress in the classes.

Good luck on making a decision!

FlyingMolly

I love my YMCA. I picked it because it had free childcare and the family rate was better than two memberships at another gym. It has a full schedule of classes, trainers, an Octogon frame, WiFi, nationwide reciprocity, childcare and kids’ activities, a community, a couple of pools...I used to bring my son in the morning so I could work out, then bring him back in the afternoon so I could work (I was freelance writing at the time).

Eventually I got so sucked in that I got a group exercise certification, and there were teachers who had known me for years and were eager to have me sub their classes. I covered a class for seniors over the summer and then started alternating with the regular teacher and the students invited me to their holiday party and had a card for me, for crying out loud. Before I knew it I had a full year of teaching experience spanning about ten different formats and could take that to “real” gyms and now they’re hiring me, too.

So I’m passionately pro-gym/community center combo now.