Gym preferences

For what it’s worth - i have equipment at home but recently went and joined a gym. After the pandemic I wanted more human contact and was a bit sick of always being home.

I used to be a member at Planet Fitness and am now a member at YMCA. If it's a financial based choice I'd go Planet Fitness. If you can afford the more expensive YMCA then that has a lot more going for it. Most YMCA have a pool, group exercise classes, mentors if you ask and the equipment. Planet Fitness really only has the equipment... but if you aren't planning to use any of the extra benefits there isn't anything wrong with either one.

Personally, we use the pool and the group exercise classes a TON in my household. Plus my daughter is in the afterschool program, basketball and volleyball through the YMCA so we make good use of our membership.

There was a recent thread with almost that exact same question that you might want to read.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10879666/weighing-my-options

If you want to lift, and don't have weights at home, joining a gym is a reasonable idea. (Though used weights may be getting cheaper as the pandemic wanes, that may be a less good solution unless you have enough experience/training to be safe and effective.) You can consider doing some cardio at home with the treadmill, even if you choose a gym.

I love my YMCA, but every YMCA is not the same, and we don't know lots of relevant things about you or those gyms (like how close they are to your home/work, or what your fitness goals are beyond "want to use weights again"), so it's hard to answer. My best guess is to pretty much copy my answer from the other thread (because IME people don't follow suggested links - apologies if you're one who does).

Probably Planet Fitness is cheaper, and your budget matters . . . but if the Y is affordable even though more money, then perhaps other things matter more.

What may matter more - which are issues of personal preference - is things like:

* what kinds of equipment, classes, and amenities each offers (for example, some YMCAs have pools, Planet Fitness typically doesn't; and some YMCAs will have a wider range of strength training options than typical PF does - but YMCAs differ)
* hours they're open
* cleanliness of the facility
* general "culture" of the facility, i.e., are staff (and maybe even patrons) pleasant to be around
* how convenient the location is for you (I don't have a cite, but I saw some survey-type research recently suggesting that convenience of location is a surprisingly large variable in how often people work out, and small differences of distance are meaningful).
* how crowded it is (and how much competition therefore for equipment or space in classes)
* pricing of added-cost options, if there are any relevant to you (classes, personal training, services like massage or whatever)
* payment methods available
* cancellation rules/methods if you decide to stop
* ability to put membership on hold (no charge) if you're out of town for an extended period (if that may matter to you)
* etc.

Since this may be a long term meaningful decision for you, make a list of things you'd like in a gym (or what activities you think you'd like to try/do at one). Then make a list for the things in my asterisk list that you care about above plus any others you think of. Some of it you can get from their web sites, but you'll want to visit each, and ask for a tour. (Call in advance in case you need to schedule, but prefer a time close to when you'd be most likely to go.) Compare lists side by side in context of the price difference, then decide.

If you totally have no idea, go with the cheap one, as long as it's not dramatically less convenient.

Just my opinions.

I currently have both memberships and I like them for different reasons. The weights are better at the Y, but PF has more cardio equipment. I teach classes at the Y, and enjoy the social aspect of that, but when lifting I like to be left alone. I lift heavy for me, but not exactly "heavy" so PF has sufficient weights for me (they don't go as heavy as the Y does if you need that sort of thing). I really prefer lifting at the Y, not sure why.

In general:
If I'm going before work I almost always go to PF. They have nicer showers and I can do a nice circuit workout with machines there in an hour with no waiting.

If I'm going after work it is usually for a spin class so it's the Y. I'll also stay and lift after spin. I can kill hours at the Y and not realize it, whereas I feel rushed at PF.

When I had young kids the Y was a game changer because they offered child care and swim lessons, soccer programs etc. that the kids could do while I worked out.

I agree with those who said tour and get a feel for the two. The one you feel comfortable being in is the one you will use. If you feel good in both spaces by all means go based on price.

Good luck!

I would say it comes down to which [1] has the equipment/classes you want to do/use, [2] has those freely available (not all tied up) at the times you can be there, and [3] is convenient enough to work it into your schedule. For me, that meant the LA Fitness a few blocks from work that almost always has squat racks/deadlift platform combos available in the time period just right before work.

ETA: YMCA's also vary widely by location. The nearest one to me is an older rundown one with minimal equipment and space, and you were sharing the locker room with the SACC kids running around like animals dripping pool water into puddles everywhere (couldn't sit on benches or stand in socks when changing). I hated it. Meanwhile, some of the suburban ones are giant new state-of-the-art complexes.

My wife and I used to workout at the "Y" many years ago. We have a few around town and they are not all created equal. The one we worked out at was a full facility and probably one of the best gyms in the state. It was more like a full on club than just a gym. The other couple of facilities here are pretty small in size and offerings. The main location we used always had updated and well maintained equipment...the other locations tended to have older equipment, less classes, etc.

We had small kids at the time so we benefited from the childcare while we worked out. The kids also took their swimming lessons there and we did summer camp there for a couple of summers. They had a variety of classes from spin to yoga to pilates to...pretty much name it. One of my favorites was on Sunday mornings they had a "Daddy and Me" fitness class that I would take my older child to pretty much every weekend.

They had a fully equipped weight room to include free weights, dumbbells, machines, and a bumper plate lifting area with a power cage and a large cardio area on the opposite side of the gym with a small indoor track separating the weight room and cardio area. The lower level was a full gymnasium for basketball, volleyball, etc. They also had a half-Olympic pool outdoors and a kids pool. Locker rooms also had a sauna. The grounds also included a playground and small skate park as well as tennis courts and outdoor basketball courts.

The biggest downside for us ended up being the location. It was across town from our house so we had about an hour long commute total to go to the gym and back from home and it wasn't convenient to our normal commuting routes from work either, so we had to find something more convenient. From a budget standpoint I would say it's affordable but it wasn't necessarily "budget"...can't remember exactly, but I think we paid something like $80/month for a family membership, but we felt that to be a pretty good deal considering everything they had and we used.

I've also been a member of PF, but only as my backup gym. I work in two different offices in two different towns throughout the week and there is a PF about 3 miles from one of my offices that I work at twice per week. My main gym is Defined Fitness and it's about 2 miles from my main office and they also have a location about 3 miles from my house. Defined is only local to my state but is the biggest "big box" gym in the state. Only downside is when I travel I don't have a gym, but honestly even with best intentions I never end up working out when I'm on vacation other than all of the walking and hiking I end up doing and if I really wanted to I could just use the hotel's facility.

I primarily used PF as my cardio gym in the winter so I could go at lunch. Any program I've run uses primarily free weights so I find the PF weight room lacking for what I need, but if you're mostly using machines and dumbbells and doing cardio, it's fine and it's definitely budget friendly. I did find the "lunk alarm" to be pretty ridiculous and annoying and I think their general marketing theme of...basically any other gym is judging you is BS. I've been in and out of gyms since I was 13 and never felt like anyone was judging me. I stopped using PF when I got my indoor smart bike trainer and Zwift and was able to start doing my indoor bike workouts at home.

Best thing you could do is take a tour of both and see what they have to offer and compare that to what you want to do and what you will use and see where those needs and/or wants meet with your budget.

The answer lies on your programming, equipment needed, hour(s) available, adherance, etc...you can always try both and see if you have a preference or use both in some cases.