The cons of Curves?

otr12

It's easy to find people praising Curves. I want to know what you DON'T like about it.

This would really help me make my decision. I'd appreciate your complaints.

edorice

No muscle in the room to look at would be the downside for me.

Shed4Wed

I did it years ago, so it might have changed, but the problem I had was that once I got used to it, there wasn't a really good way to change up the work out.

One of the best things about the gym is the variety of equipment. Once your body gets used to one machine, you can switch to something else.

eeeekie

This is what I told someone yesterday...

"I had a membership and I'm not athletic in the least but I was bored out of my skull. The only plus was no men and the social aspect. Which I was lucky mine had a few younger ppl but I think a majority are hubs for bored older women lol "

In a nutshell it's not challenging at all and it's extremely repetitive.

BeckyKSmith

I agree with edorice. I like to see people and think "I cannot wait to look like that".
You can only work out so hard there. At the gym you can get a trainer to push you to your limit. Now days, gyms are running specials for $10/mo. I like planet fitness if you have one in your area. It is a "judgement free zone". I am very comfortable there. Free personal trainers too.

jessicajoy87

I was at curves for 2 months didn't lose anything and ended up gaining an inch in my thighs. I thought the workout sucked and didn't feel any different. I would recomend it for someone who isn't supposed to get their heart rate up or can't do vigorous workouts. Bu t someone trying to lose weight I would not recommend.

ktblueyz

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jenttifer

I found it just plain boring.

Ely82010

No chance to change your workouts. If you do join them go for Curves Smart so you can monitor your progress and calories burned.

Be aware that the only thing that will change with time and progress is the resistance in each machine, but you will always be doing the same workouts.

You can only modify the "aerobic" part done on the platforms between each machine. But Curves Smart only register calories burned at the machines, not what you do in between.

Some Curves are also offering Zumba classes and those are lot of fun. I join them for one year but the studio closed at the end of March because they lost the lease. I didn't want to go to another part of town to continue with them, so I canceled my membership. I prefer the variety offered at the gym, but I think that I did get some benefits from their workouts, but not much.

Runnermadre

At the one I went to for a while, they kept charging me even after I quit because they take your checking account number when you sign up. This was even after asking repeatedly to have my membership closed. It took a lot of hassle just to get our money back. I never felt like I was getting a full on workout there either. :-(

LuckyLeprechaun

no boys!!!! LOL j/k

Tennessee2019

I had a membership there a few years ago & for awhile was really good at going. But like every diet that I have tried, I tired of it & quit. Now I don't know if all Curves are run the way the one I went to was, but they had the equipment in a circle & basically had us doing "musical chairs" for only a short time on each machine & then move to the next one.
There was no time to "feel the burn" in the short time we were allowed on each machine. Heck, I didn't even feel an itch. So after 6 months of this & not seeing any results - I figured I was wasting my money & quit.

LoriLou67

Boring.....
I noticed the one I used to go to is out of business.
I had to have a conversation about cancelling my memebership and they started to fight me on it, but then I explained I was moving 2 states away and was going to live in the forest....making it financially difficult to justify driving 40 minutes for their workout.

But really, it was just boring as all get out.

otr12

Can you adjust the resistance on the machines?

elliecolorado

I went to the one here (because it is the only 'gym' in town) years ago and I absolutely hated it. Not sure if they have changed anything since then, but they only allowed you to workout 30 minutes a day. I also never felt like I was really getting a work out going from one machine to another every couple of minutes. IMO Curves is not worth the money.

pixietoes

I worked out at Curves, and I made some progress, however in the final analysis I looked at women who had been going there for years and they did not show the kind of strength or weight loss that I was hoping to achieve and I decided to go elsewhere. I think for some people it's a great place to go, especially at first. It's non-threatening and there's a lot of encouragement.

The benefits of working out at gym have been obviously different. I don't have to get measured to see how my body has changed, the changes are radical. But I work a lot harder than I was ever able to at Curves.

Pebble321

I went for a year or more and lost over 10kg and kept it off while I went, so it is definitely possible to lose weight at Curves. I stopped because I moved house and couldn;t get there
I don't have any major complaints but if you are young and athletic you might not really feel at home there, I think it is targeted more at slightly older women who aren't really fit (that is a generalisation but might be helpful).
The staff were lovely at my Curves and I enjoyed going there but it is exactly the same workout every day. This was OK for me because I like to get familiar with somehting and do the same thing every day. If you like variety, don't do it!

olyrose

I got a free 30 day membership a couple years ago, as part of their research study. They took my weight and measurements, I went at least three days a week for one month. At the end, the weight and measurements were exactly the same.

I liked it for about the first week, because I was so new to working out and there is only one way to do everything, but as soon as I got the hang of it, I stopped feeling like I was really getting much benefit from it. My muscles didn't burn when I left and I wasn't exhausted, and for me, I need to feel that burn after to feel like I really accomplished something.

The other problem for me, was that there weren't any people who looked like fitness role models. I kinda get nervous in real gyms because I am not fit and I get all red huffing and puffing on the machines, but I'd rather see people to aspire to, rather than ladies who were just there to get some movement in (almost all the women who were at the one I went to were older than retirement age and moved very slowly, though I know that's not the case at all of them).

I would recommend against Curves, just because you can vary your workout and resistance at a real gym. It might be nice to do it for a month or so to ease into working out, but I wouldn't recommend it for much longer.

Also, at my gym (Bally's) they have a women's only room, so you get the benefit of only women but with more equipment and possibilities.

olyrose

Can you adjust the resistance on the machines?

Not when I went - you were supposed to use your own weight or speed to make it more challenging, but it never really seemed to work. You only have like 30 sec at each one before you have to switch, so no time to.

Arielnesika

About the machines: they're resistance-based (or whatever the correct term is) and the faster and harder you push them the more workout you get.
The part that I hated was the forced social contact. The ladies , although they were all very sweet, weren't happy about me working up a sweat and not really wanting to visit. But the workout actually worked for me when I put some effort into it.

And the music. Wednesday was Cher day at the Curves I was going to. So only Cher for a solid 30min +. And dance mix country music... I just...

twest78

I had a membership there a while back and the biggest problem I had was boredom. I got sick of the same exercises, same music. I went there religiously for several months and did not lose one pound or lose any inches. I worked as hard as I could on the machines and the cardio stations in between, but it was hard for me to work up a sweat and I never felt like I had accomplished anything. The only people who were ever there were over 70 years old. Plus, you have to sign a contract and it's very hard to back out of once you're in it (or at least it was at the one I went to). I had an injury and had a doctor's note stating I would be on crutches for a minimum of 3 months and Curves told me all they could do was suspend my membership for a few months and would tack on that time to my contract when I was able to return.