Describe your perfect gym.

WeightHacker

one of my fave thing was going into with my sister in law. was they had Saunas and steam rooms next to the swimming pool, they had two swimming pools. one mainly for kids and one for the adults. they had weight lifting in one room wide open space and there was a lot of free weight rather than the machines. they did have some machines weight.
then upstairs there was a place near the entrance they had all the treadmills, etcs mainly for people who just wanting to walk or run or whatever they had to do. one of the great thing they had was if you had kids they had childcare for that. ^^
and for some people like me. (sometimes forget things) was able to buy, towels, or locket to lock the lockers, and other source of things that you could have forgotten.

and the most of all, is to keep the place clean. the gym i go to now, dont really clean their machines after they close down, so germs spreads, which is pretty gross. i think its very important check all machines if they are out of order or still in working condition and also deep clean it, cause everyone sweat and use the same machine through out the day. (who knows the person is sick and they use the machines) plus it also helps to have the people, to use those wipes to clean the machines after they are done before they on or after. ive seen this alot. which i think is nice. and to keep the bathroom clean. ^^

surely it would cost a lot to have your own fitness place. but i think in the long run it will be well worth it.

mtbardell2013

Because you're all being so great and helpful, I have a follow-up question:

What do you currently pay for a gym membership?

What would you be willing to pay if your gym had the amenities you were looking for?

DavPul

I currently pay $100 per year, but that's only because I've been a Bally's (now LAFitness) member for like 18 years now. I'm supposed to be at the point where I pay the dues but never show up. Jokes on them.

But I would pay $30-40 per month for the type of gym I go to. I've paid $80 per month for a slightly fancier gym, and at one time signed up for a ritzy gym (Equinox) to the tune of $140 per month. Cancelled that one before ever setting foot in the place, mercifully.

TheApocalypse

An empty one.

Gwyn1969

Because you're all being so great and helpful, I have a follow-up question:

What do you currently pay for a gym membership?

What would you be willing to pay if your gym had the amenities you were looking for?

The perfect gym:

Multiple power cages and lifting platforms. Decent bars for both Olympic and powerlifting, and a good selections of both iron and bumper plates. Chalk available. Knowledgeable employees. Members put away their own equipment. Members understand what they can do, and not do, with the equipment and thus do not wreck it by doing stupid ****. A population of serious lifters. A prowler, or two, and room to use it. A few bench/incline stations, a full rack of dumbbells. A leg press. Pullup/dip stations separate from the power racks. No group classes unless they were intro to lifting classes offered every so often, or specific technique clinics.

What I pay now: $70/month

What I would pay for the above: up to $100/month.

bethlaf

family style gym with childcare or kids classes, and teen classes, and a pool..
and
free or SMALL fee nutritional consults

if they had family memberships, i could go 100 month.

GetSoda

power rack
bumper plates
bench
resistance bands
good quality barbells


had to build it myself

HannahJDiaz25

Clean Bright Child Care

A large, bright room with mirrors for yoga, Pilates and balls. (Free weights and medicine balls stocked here)

Enough space in the lifting section that guys are not piled up on top of each other!! (It makes me nervous to feel someones breath on me while I am working out...especially a huge sweating guy! Just sayin ) I have never felt comfortable working out in the weight room because of how close all the equipment is!

CLEAN white Showers with no grout.


-And that's it :-) as you can see my biggest desire is clean space.

Oh and I would pay 70 a month for a gym as described if the child care made it worth it. ( I don't need a health club, just a gym with child care!)

dad106

What my old gym has that my new gym doesn't:
An area to do things besides lift barbells and weight machines.

Sometimes I like to do bodyweight based routines, and before I could go into a quiet little studio and be all by my lonesome.

Now I have to share the basketball court with rowdy teenagers, and almost get wacked because they don't realize that they have no game

paulperryman

Our gym http://www.goodlifehealthclubs.com.au/Clubs/SA/Dernancourt - cost $16 per week on a per year membership

has most of what you could need and plenty of machines to cater for a good group of people at once
It has, lots of cardio machines, TRX area (suspension training) and Weight machines/Free Weights, a steam room and a sauna, Child care services and various group classes plus outdoor group activities, safe style lockers and personal trainers
They are also very friendly staff that any of which can be asked for free advice and assistance and if you are a regular they get on a name to name basis

But if it was to be perfect i would add a pool and regular maintenance of machines, more space inbetween machines and i notice at ours and this isn't uncommon it seems, but 25% of the cardio machines require maintenance of some type that goes unchecked (ie TV's not working, need oiling, adjusting) and even some of the weight machines and Safes are not useable, they know about it but it doesn't seem to be addressed. Now thats not moaning cause it's only a minor inconvenience and doesn't stop you getting a workout since there are plenty of alternatives

Note too with the cramped style gyms the machines can register the HR's of people directly around you if they are wearing one. I've had this happen, the person next to me was doing a casual stroll without a HR monitor on a treadmill and i was busting my *kitten* on a cross trainer and we were both doing 160bpm according to the machines even tho she wasn't breathing heavy at all and wasn't sweating one drop. and conversly the opposite has happened, my HR monitor was registering 150ish and the machines would say 0 or a really low number which was the person next to me

Copaiba

i hate the loud music! most people listen to their own anyways and its obnoxious when i can hear the gym's music over my own headphones =/
and yes to kettlebells! my gym doesn't have them and i asked about getting some and got shut down with some silly corporate policy excuse

Loud music is my biggest complaint! I like alternative music, not pop. Until recently, my gym wasn't obnoxious but they moved and added a bunch of weightlifting stations so when the teenage boys moved in, so did the g-d speakers. I was listening to the Black Keys last night and couldnt hear a thing. Makes me MAD.
I spoke to the owner about it last night and she said I'm the only person that complained but that they would turn it down FOR ME. I hate being a whiner and rocking the boat. I might have to quit. Its very sad because its just a mile from my house and the only decent gym in the area.

Dewdropps

Child care. During the school year it's easy to find times to work out because the kids are at school, but I don't know what I am going to do next month when they are out. Might find myself and the kids swimming much more so I don't need to stress over it, but it would be so great to be able to have child care right on site that is fun for them. They offer child care where I go, but mostly it's babies and toddlers in there so my kids really wouldn't be having much fun.

gerard54

A gym full of squat racks, for me to curl in...