Curves?

Full disclosure, I am a Curves circuit coach so my perspective on this will be a bit different. At its core, Curves is circuit training, which can be used highly effectively to burn fat and build muscle within the same workout in a shorter period of time than some more traditional gym routines where you spend 30-45 minutes on specific muscle groups and rotate them. However, like with anything else, you're going to get out of it what you put into it. I see plenty of people on the circuit who d*ck around on the machines with poor form, then spend the metabolic conditioning stations chatting with friends or simply stepping in place, not working to raise their heart rates - when I attempt to coach these members, I'm usually informed that "this is how I do it."

Then there are other members who are practically crawling off of the circuit after having pushed themselves on the machines and spent the full thirty seconds on each met-con station with free-form exercises like jump squats, plié hops, mountain climbers, planking, etc. Generally, these are the members who have used Curves successfully.

Ultimately, Curves is like any other exercise program - it's a tool. One thing I like about Curves is that it's fairly minimalist - the machines are the machines and are set up so that it's very difficult to injure yourself so long as you pay attention to your form (and my job is to watch you and make sure you do!). If you're the type to get bored easily, there's room for variety in the met-con stations, where you can do whatever you like. The key to successful use of a Curves membership, so that you're getting your money's worth, is spend that 30 minutes really WORKING the machines, keeping your heart-rate around 85% of maximum for the entire time and using whatever diet plan you have CONSISTENTLY.

I really can't emphasize the need for consistency enough, and not just for Curves - this goes for any type of gym routine. Don't come in two days a week, d*ck around for 20 minutes, never raise your heart-rate and then eat whatever you want because "you exercised today!" Work or get off the circuit and go find something that you WILL work at, because that's the only way you're going to see results on anything.