Lets talk about YOUR GYM

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

I use the gym at work. It's free, very well-equipped with a great selection of machines, free weights, cardio machines, and miscellaneous gear like TRX, bands, medicine balls, etc., is staffed with folks who know what they're talking about, and there are some great trails nearby for running. I'd have a hard time finding a better one even if I was paying for it, although I'd love to have a pool and sauna available.

I joined my local ymca and I go almost daily. Because of spine issues I am limited to swimming and recumbent cardio machines (elliptical and bicycle).

I swim laps and do water aerobics for the most part. In the water I rarely feel pain and can do things in water I can't do on land.

Swimming really uses so many muscles and you burn up calories quickly.

To date my YMCA has had three Olympic Medalists get their start at our pool.

After a swim, there is a wonderful large Jacuzzi spa pool to soak in, warm up, and keep your muscles loose.

I whole heartedly recommend water fitness activity for folks with issues like arthritis. Especially for folks that are seriously overweight.

The YMCA has all sorts of classes and excercise equipment. With staff available to help you get started.

I don’t care about classes. A good amount of weights and weight benches plus lots of cardio machines are fine, don’t want to wait in line when it gets busy. Also I expect not to get approached by annoying personal trainers to sign up for try out sessions.

kjflaherty wrote: »

Wow thanks everyone. These are great responses. I do need to see if there is a YMCA here, other than that I think my choices are 24 hr because its close, planet fitness (not opposed but I really want zumba), and some fancy shmancy places that are kinda close but are way too pricey. I haven't thought of the Y.

Try to sign up when they have the no activation fee deal. Our YMCA is doing that deal now. They do it often. Saves you 100 dollars if you don't have to pay the no activation fee.