This is a question that I have heard many times over. It’s important that if you are going to spend the money on the gym that you get the right fit for you and your budget. So, let’s dig into the various types of gyms that are out there.
One that I see advertised a lot is Planet Fitness. They really push that their cheap price of their gym and that they are a no judgement zone. Their price is cheap. If you are looking for a manned 24-hour gym at a very low price. This would be a great option for you. As far as the no judgement zone, well, they have a dress code and no grunting or groaning policy. Then they have what they call the lunk alarm for when someone is grunting or groaning too loudly. So, it’s no judgement for only certain people? If you are super worried about price though, they are very cheap.
The next type of gym I want to talk about is your unmanned 24 hour gyms. There are a bunch of them out there by various names, such as Snap Fitness and 24 Hour Fitness. These ones vary in cost, but all are open 24 hours. You won’t be getting a locker room with them, your stuff is in a cubby like when you were little. I have found that the amount of equipment really varies from location to location. You won’t get the same equipment nor the same amount of equipment between locations. They are franchises and typically is strip malls, so the locations vary but are generally on the smaller size.
Then you have the specialized gyms, these include boot camps, yoga studios, and karate dojos. A lot of times these are at premium prices and you only get that specialty. However, if all you want is yoga, then it could pay off to go to just a yoga studio instead of a gym.
Quite a few towns and cities also offer a local recreation areas that offer a cheaper pricing for those that live in the town/city versus those that are in neighboring cities. The thing to watch out for these is the classes that they offer. Quite often the classes are separate from the cost of the membership, also at a higher price for those that live outside the town/city.
There is one more type of gym that I want to cover. This is the very large club/spa type of gym. You will pay a much higher price, but you also get a lot of amenities included in the price plus a lot of times there are even more services on-site that you can purchase such as a hair salon, nail salon, massage, chiropractor, physical therapists and a cafe. Quite a few of the classes are included in the membership price. These gyms are for those that want a premium service. If you are interested in trying out a membership at Life Time, you can check them out here: http://bit.ly/ltfitness
What’s the right gym for you? That’s a question that only you can answer now that you know the different kinds and what to expect at them.