Choosing a Fitness Club
All fitness clubs offer different amenities ranging from towel service to full-service smoothie bars. Many clubs have massage therapy, fitness programs and even personal trainers.
The first thing you should do is research the club. How much is it per month? Check out the website; find out different programs that are offered. What types of classes are offered? Do they provide personal training? What are there hours?
Your next step, plan a visit. Upon your arrival a fitness consultant will greet you. He or she will give you a guided tour of the facilities. Take notice of the exercise area. What types of equipment are available? Are there enough machines? Is there a weight lifting area? What about a pool?
Be sure to ask questions. What types of specials are being offered? It’s important because the club might be running a special. The club my wife and I chose had an initiation fee waiver. What kinds of classes do they have? Again it’s important you ask plenty of questions.
If the consultant offers a one-day pass, take it. This is your chance to test all exercise equipment. How do they work? Are they complicated? Are they easy to use? I particularly found the treadmills easy to use.
How important is location? Not every fitness club is centrally located but with today’s gas prices you don’t want to have to drive a long distance either way. The club we joined is only a few miles from our house. It’s convenient for us both. In that, there isn’t a club close to where my wife works or myself.
What about hours? A number of fitness clubs have limited hours, where some are round the clock. If you work late during the week and the place closes at say nine or ten in the evening, you are in a mad rush to work out. If the club is open twenty-four hours then of course there isn’t. It’s also good, especially on the weekends (if it’s a 24 hour club.) This is also a critical factor because so many of us work late during the week and want to be able to work out.
After you have visited a few clubs and gathered the necessary information, it’s time to make a decision. Granted you need to take everything into consideration. With my wife and I, we visited several clubs in our area. One had very little exercise equipment and was entirely too much for what you got. Another one I visited was nice, but wasn’t impressed with the layout. Our last club we visited was by far the best. The monthly fee included all classes, pool, and two free personal training sessions.
Again it is imperative you take your time in choosing the right fitness club. Don’t stop at the first one you visit. After all it might not be worth what you pay.
In the end, choosing a fitness club isn’t easy. However if you have made the right decision it’s one that will last a very long time.
