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.

Steph_135

Haven't personally tried it, but from my mom's and her friend's experiences:

- Be careful when you sign a contract, cause you will always get jipped if you leave before it runs out
- It's more of a place where people go to chat while they work out
- No possibility of increasing your weights (that's why I won't join)

And who wants to do Zumba in a circuit?! :bigsmile:

treadingpurple

I used to go to Curves with my Mom before my birth defect progressed and damaged more of my nerves and muscles in my lower body. I didn't lose any weight while I was there, even when I was on their diet program and their supplements. In fact, I think I gained weight. I got bored of the same routine and it go to the point where the exercises didn't even break a sweat.

I too had trouble with them being rude and irritated when I wanted to cancel my membership. They kept saying that they'd offer me a discounted membership fee. I kept trying to explain to them that my legs were giving out more and more and spasming a lot, and that it was hard to keep my balance on the machines. They wouldn't listen. Eventually, I had to bring a note from my doctor to prove, that my birth defect was progressing. A month later, the owners called me to see if i wanted to join again because they were having a big bargain. This time, I went to there, in my wheelchair, and showed them that there was no way I could exercise there anymore and could they please stop bothering me. i never heard from them again.

Now, my birth defect has gone into the remitting stage (it is a relapsing/remitting defect), so I am able to walk with a walker or cane again, but I would never join Curves again. I prefer just going to the health club.

Jessie

corsayre8

Ok, I'm no athlete, but if I take the time out to go to the gym, I want to work out. I want to push myself. I want to make it worth my while.

This usually involves working up a sweat.

At Curved this was literally frowned upon. People commented on it, and turned in fans. It was humiliating.

And this wad for a tiny sheen. Now I go to a gym where we all leave puddles under our spin bikes.

edorice

Haven't personally tried it, but from my mom's and her friend's experiences:

- Be careful when you sign a contract, cause you will always get jipped if you leave before it runs out
- It's more of a place where people go to chat while they work out
- No possibility of increasing your weights (that's why I won't join)

And who wants to do Zumba in a circuit?! :bigsmile:

You know they are losing ground when they had to add Zumba as part of their program. The commercials are just sad.

Ely82010

Can you adjust the resistance on the machines?

No, you can not change the resistance. If you are part of Curves Smart, the system will change the resistance according to your progress.

missbp

The Curves I used to belong to, had a large population of elderly women. Which is wonderful that they were keeping active and fit. BUT, it seemed to take a little extra time for them to get on and off the equipment. I felt like I was spending way too much time waiting to get on a machine. It was never a 30 minute workout. Additionally, the cushions that people would use were a bit of nuisance. I did not need to use them, but those that did would often leave them there on the machine and the next person to come along would have to deal with it.

Lastly, the Curves I went to had a worker that was over weight and would notoriously sit there and eat crap at her desk. Candy bars and chips. Needless to say, I did not keep my membership there for very long.

M

bmw4deb

repetitive and boring

mlb929

Can you adjust the resistance on the machines?

This was my major problem with Curves. I did it for 6 months, it was very social, but the median age was 60 and I was 30 at the time. I got above and beyond the capability of the machines and it didn't take long. The cardio was only as intense as you made it. Often times, I'd have to wait for someone to finish to get on a machine because there weren't enough open spaces. Most of the people where I went were very large women who it simply killed them and I needed more.

Plus, the owner of our curves was overweight, lazy, sat and ate snacks while we worked out. She gossiped about me because I brought up that it wasn't intense enough for me, she told me to go faster on the reps, I was moving as fast as I could She then told people that the only way I would get more muscle tone was to lose more weight - I was really light weight already by that point.

The kicker to me leaving - was I'd been attending daily for 6 months- paying my bill monthly, signing in daily - and I got a post card in the mail from her saying "we've missed you, please come back" - I'd never been GONE! And I figured if she saw me daily and didn't know who I was in this really small down - and I'm not shy or quiet - that she obviously didn't need my $$ anyway. I drove by the other day and think she is out of business.... wonder why.

robie

I think if you have not been doing any exersicing this is a great way to start but you can also get to a point where it is not enough
The curves I go to do not have the problems that have been spoken about here. The one I go to everyone is very supportive of each other. The age range is between 30 and 70 but that is inspiring to me that there are 70 year olds out there working on their health and fitness. The lady that works there is about 45-50 and looks hot for her age and that is all she does besides a good diet. I on the other hand go three times a week and then run in the treadmill and use free weights and bike ride a couple times a week. I think if you can find anything to mix up you excercise program you will stay focused and keep from being bored,you just have to find what works for you