The Gym

[starlightEXPRESS]

I'm not an exercise buff at all - I look like a hippo who's got a very bad face rash whenever I so much as try to do any - but am looking to join a gym. Now where I live I swear there are hundreds of the things around and they're all different - so I'm literally lost over which one to pick. The one that seems to be winning at the moment is Gymophobics but I've heard stories of it randomly just shutting down and people losing money - plus the joining fee is pretty high.

Do any of you belong to gyms? And if so which one and how much do you pay? (Am a poor student therefore can't be too expensive!!!)

 

[KittyBling]

This is only my personal opinion but I would never pay a joining fee for a gym, their monthly tariff is steep enough! If I were you I'd go and visit them all, they are usually more than happy to show you around, see which one you feel comfortable in that has the facilities you want. Good luck,

KB x

 

[alibalibee]

What about your local council gym? You should be able to get a reduced membership if you're a student, or even pay as you go.
x

 

[Geordielass]

I'm lucky, I have a gym at work (I currently work in a prison, so it's an excellent gym - we get to use it when the inmates are on lockdown periods) but certainly I'd go along with the idea of checking out your local council/leisure centre gym. They generally have large facilities and a very good variety of equipment. Even if you decide not to use them in the end, you can try before you buy with them, at least. I've paid for 12 months of gym membership before now, and only used it for the first 6-8 weeks, which is a huge waste of money. If you can manage to stay committed for a month at your local leisure centre one then you could pay the join up fees for another and be fairly sure it isn't a complete waste.

Having said that, I've been a member of Fitness First, in the past, and they were fine, though nothing outstanding, offering all of the fitness classes in with the price of the 12 months membership I had.

I have a friend who was a member of an Esporta gym at around the same time, she said it was expensive but that the facilities were fantastic. However, she developed a chronic illness and was advised not to use the gym any more, and when she got her doctor to write a letter to the gym to break the membership contract early, they refused, even though they were supposed to do so in those circumstances. It's certainly not only Esporta I've heard this sort of thing happening with, so be careful of the contract you sign up to.

 

[Blue Butterfly]

There are a lot of high schools around here that have gyms built on their grounds,the kids use the gyms for about 1 hour a day but other than that it's public use all other times. Do you have anything like this? It's a completely normal gym,with a workout room/swimming pool/squash courts etc it's just on school grounds!
I pay £30 a month but this includes gym,swim and classes at any time and on any days. It also includes a monthly session with a gym instructor in case I have any questions about my programme or want to have different exercises to do.

Claire x

 

[siany]

ive just joined my local council/ leisure centre i had to pay £13.60 membership for the year then you can either pay £4 a session or pay £25 a month for unlimited swim gym and sauna so thats what im doing.

 

[Redkoala]

I joined my local council gym few months back. Registration was free and it costs me £30 a month. That's gym and swimming. No sauna in mine which sucks but hey i go 4/5 times a week works out about £2 a session something like that.

 

[starlightEXPRESS]

I have taken the plunge and asked for the details of my local leisure centre - but they haven't gotten back to me yet! Am just waiting. They do this "Platinum Membership" that lets me have unlimited use of the gym, the sauna, the pool and all the classes they run there - but yeah have to wait for them to get back to me on the price etc etc. Thanks for all the advice!!!