by Will Praht
Nothing worse then spending a lot of money on a membership to a workout facility and after a few months finding out it just does not measure up or falls short of the promises made. Now your stuck with 12 months worth of fees and no way out plus your going to have to go through the process again to find a new gym.
How can you avoid the trouble and the letdown? Here are a few of the best ways to help find the right gym for you.
1.Experienced and Friendly Staff: For me one of the most critical of the list of things to look for. Make sure you ask all the questions which pertain to the type of work you wish to accomplish when training at this facility. Don’t just observe the person who is trying to sell you the membership but also the other employees who are in the facility. Is there a lot of inattentive workers just biding their time til shift change or are they actively working with members or taking care of the facility.
Try adding a visit about a half hour before closing time to the facility to see how the crew handles the patrons at this time. Are they more worried about herding out the clients and getting out of their or will they stay fully operational til closing time before announcing closing. This little insight can go a long way to letting you know how they operate on a whole.
2.High Grade Equipment & Equipment Maintenance: Take time on your visit to look closely at the equipment. Often times facilities bring in lower quality equipment made for individual use rather than the commercial grade for high traffic. See if the staff knows the rating of their equipment, especially the treadmills, elipticals and other cardio equipment (many facilities buy light commercial rather than commercial to save money, bad move if the equipment can’t handle the hours of use it will spend more time down and being repaired than running).
Do not mistake the words high grade equipment with new equipment. Many older pieces of equipment are actually higher grade than their replacement as long as they receive the proper maintenance. Some older pieces of equipment are irreplaceable in how they target the muscles being worked. Pay more attention to such things as: is the motion smooth, are cables frayed, is the range of motion of the machine proper to target the working muscle, do the machines not feel stable when working, do you feel safe on the equipment, etc,….
3. Do They Offer A Trial Period : We are not just talking about a special promotional package here, where you get so much time free if you sign up for x amount of time. What we are talking about is a no commitment trial period of workouts (usually 3days to a week) where you can come in and familiarize yourself with the equipment and workout to see if everything meets your standards. Gyms which offer only one training session or none I would tend to steer away from for a variety of reasons: 1. in one workout you can’t really get the feel of all the equipment and you don’t want to overtax yourself trying to test everything out, 2. This is a good sign that the owners may not have the confidence in their own product to make the grade on a trial period (ifs it’s not good enough for them, it sure shouldn't be good enough for you), 3. Sometimes this can be a sign of bottom dollar profit centers, this gym is only open to make money and does not have it’s customers best interests in mind. Thus it often reflects the type of custom service you will also receive as a client.
4. Convenience: Is your gym close enough to your home or work to allow you the convenience of hassle free workouts. Many studies show that the farther out of the way your gym is the less likely you are to go on a regular basis. Try to find a gym on the way home from work or go to right after work to wind down without going out of the way. If you want to go home first keep it within a reasonable drive so it does not become a chore.
The rule of thumb for most cities is within a 10 minute drive. The more rural we become the farther the drive to compensate for the limited choices. Try to never have more than a 20 minute drive for the most rural places
5. Do the Hours Fit Your Schedule: Many people in the excitement of trying to get back to working out forget one of the most crucial questions, What are your hours? If a lot of your workouts will be centered around the weekends, make sure they have weekend hours to fit your needs. If you work odd hours are they open when you can make it to work out? If it’s a 24 hour center, is someone always on duty or do you use a pass key. What are the hours someone is on duty to ask questions or report problems? Find a gym that fits your needs rather than trying to work around the gyms hours.
6. Check Out the Other Patrons: While you are visiting remember, you are going to be spending time her on a regular basis, will you feel comfortable in this environment. The best time of day to check out what the patrons are like would be to go during peak operation hours (normally anytime between 4:30 and 7:30 p.m.).
This will give you a good feel for the type of facility you are joining, and the type of people you will be spending your workout hours with. Gyms tend to gear toward women only, women friendly, or hard core weightlifters and bodybuilders, which one are you the most comfortable at?
7. Technical Skills: What about the attendants and the Trainers. Are they sufficiently skilled and knowledgeable in the fitness field to answer your training, diet and nutrition questions? Is this gym just staffed with sales people but no actual working knowledge of fitness other than what they have been programmed to say.
Many gyms are staffed with the lowest paid high school students, who are attractive but really are just for sow and to watch the desk. If you are new to working out is this where you want to get your training information from? If you already have a solid workout program and understanding of what you are trying to accomplish this may be fine for you
8. Peak Operation Hours: This covers actually a few areas, not only the time of day that are the most crowded but what days tend to be the most crowded. When it is crowded is there enough machinery and options to work out or is there a lot of waiting on equipment. Once again visiting during peak hours will help solve this question.
If you have to work out during peak hours and there is no other gym that fits the bill you may want to try and work out on not prime workout days. Gyms are typically busiest early in the week and trail off til the weekend comes. Morning hours are usually more crowded than afternoon on Saturdays. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday options are often better than Monday, Wednesday and Friday which are the highest demand days.
9. Cancellation Fees: Make sure cancellation fees are spelled out in the contract. What if you have to move for some reason, or there is financial loss that does not allow you to continue at this facility. What are the penalties for getting out. You don’t want to continue to foot a bill you can’t afford when things out of your control occur, make sure all such cancellation fees are reasonable and in place.
10.Atmosphere: Make sure you go in with a steely eye. Check out all the facilities including dressing areas, showers, daycare (if applicable), lounge to see how clean and well kept they are. The condition of these areas will tell you a lot about how seriously the staff takes their operation.
Likewise if you want certain things in a gym to help motivate you such as bright colors or a little sparkle don’t be afraid to move on until you find one that you will look forward to going to everyday you choose to workout. If you settle now, it will slowly become an issue in the future.
Much of your time is spent at the workout facility that you choose. A lot of this time we are intensely working on our own personal goals of health and conditioning, which many times do not come easy. Hopefully by following these guidelines above your trips to the gym will now be of a more pleasant and fulfilling nature than a chore. I wish you Good Luck and Good workouts and more importantly Pleasant workout conditions.
