I have a home gym with a treadmill, eliptical, stair master, stationary bike, weight machine, bench, free weights, and an open area for doing aerobics (like Zumba). Even though I have a home gym, I still like going to a real gym because the equipment is usually better than what I have. I believe in body confusion, so, I like to use a lot of different kinds of machines and a professional gym offers more than what I have at home.
At one point I had three gym memberships at the same time! One for the gym in my town, one for the gym near my work, and an awesome gym that I would sometimes use on the weekends.
How do you pick a gym? Let me give you some advice.
(1) What are the hours of they gym? Will those hours fit into your schedule? I used to go to a gym on Sundays that didn't open until 9am. I would race through my routine so I could get to church on time. If a gym closes at 7pm on weekdays, will you get home from work with enough time to go? If it doesn't open at 5am, will you be able to get a work-in completed before work? Make sure the gym hours will work for you.
(2) Where is the gym located? I liked going to the gym near my work because I would leave the house early and miss the rush hour traffic. When I was done with the work-out, my office was just a block away. You need to consider the location carefully. If the gym is twenty minutes away? That is twenty minutes taken out of your work-out! Finally, look at the neighborhood the gym is in. If you go to a night class and come out of the gym at night, will you feel safe walking to your car?
(3) How big is the facility? The gym near my house is small, privately owned, and filled with retirees. It is a nice, friendly environment. But sometimes I feel like I'm exercising at the old folk's home. The gym I use on weekends is huge, upbeat, modern, and filled with young healthy looking people. But that can be intimidating to a new comer. There is a social order to gyms like that: how long you can sit at a weight machine before someone has a huff, the expected order to move from one machine to the next, or the expected cleaning method. It can be difficult to just "fit in". So, you need to find the size of gym that you feel comfortable with.
(4) Who are the members? The gym near my house is filled with the town locals. They know everyone and everyone knows you. That was difficult for me at first. I go to the gym to sweat, stink, and get disgusting. It was a little uncomfortable! I preferred the larger gyms where I was completly anonymous. Also, check out the age and fitness of the members. Are there a bunch of muscle heads grunting as they lift giant stacks of weights? Are there old people on oxygen trying to stave off the effects of aging? Are there preppy people (easy to identify by the women coming to work out in make up and designer gym clothes). Pick what you'll be comfortable in.
(5) What are the fees? Some gyms will fee you to death. Sign-up fee, monthly fee, towel fee, personal trainer fee, locker fee, use sister gym fees, massage chair fees, and on and on. Be sure you understand what you need, don't buy more than you need, and be prepared to say "no" to the hard salesmanship.
(6) What types of equipment does it have? The gym by my home has old equipment. At any given time, a quarter of the equipment sits with an "out of order" sign. The gym I use on the weekends has televisions on the treadmills and digital read-outs on the weight machines - very new and classy. However, the more bells and whistles? Often means the membership fees are higher. So, you have to decide what really matters to you.
(7) What facilities does it have? We have an LA Fitness in town that has racket ball courts, basket ball court, sauna and a pool! All of that is really great... if you use it. Unless you plan to use those 'extra' facilities, it is a waste of money.
(8) What are the locker rooms like? For the gym near my work, I have to take a shower at the gym and get dressed for work. Unfortunately, the shower area is just a big room with shower heads lining around the outside walls. The gym I use on the weekends has private shower stalls. If you plan to shower at the gym, pay close attention to this and pick what you are comfortable with. Also, are there ample lockers to lock up your gear? Mirrors to get ready?
(9) Is the place clean? I have a rule about restaurants: the bathroom will tell you everything you need to know. The same is true for gyms. If the bathroom is disgusting, the gym will be too. A good gym will regularly wipe down and clean all the equipment. There is nothing worse than getting on a piece of equipment that is sticky from months worth of sweat build-up.
(10) Air conditioning and fans? The gym near my house has no airconditioning. The best you can do is prop a door open and blow a fan on yourself during the hot summer months. It is miserable. The best situation is to have airconditioning in the building, and aerobic machines with built-in fans.
(11) Fitness Classes? It used to be that the women did the fitness classes and the men lifted weights, but not anymore! There is sometimes a 50/50 split men and women. So, check out the class listing. What kind of classes do they do? Are the times convenient? How is the instructor trained?
(12) Does the gym have fitness instructors? The gym near my work has a fitness instructor who patrols the gym areas to answer questions and provide advice. If he sees you lifting wrong or you need a spot? He is there is assist. I haven't seen any other gym provide that service. If that is something important to you? It may be worth paying a slightly higher membership fee.
(13) Personal Trainers? This is a difficult discussion for me to have. I love the personal trainers and I have learned a lot from them. But they are expensive. The gym management will push getting personal trainers because that is how the gym makes a lot of money. I just don't like the pushy sales tactics. The gym by my work provides 3 hours of free personal training per year. They also have sales during the holidays where you can buy and bank up personal training hours. The gym I use on the weekends? No such thing. The personal trainers are expensive and pushy for sales - I don't like it.
(14) Help track your progress? The gym near my work provides a personal trainer for 3 free hours per year. During that time, the personal trainer sets up a plan and gets you started. They give you a book to track your progress. Twice per year, they meet with you to check your progress and do a health check. Some gyms will have a gym app that lets you track your progress. It is important to track your progress because as you are doing resistance training, you forget what the weight settings should be on all the different equipment you'll use. Or, you'll forget what the target pace should be on all the different cardio equipment. Unfortunately, the other two gyms I attend have none of these things and I have to keep track of it all in a notepad. If this is something that might be important to you? Check on it.
(15) How is the staff trained? The gym near my work has certified staff members available to assist. The gym near my house? Is usually staffed with high school kids or grandfathers looking for a retirement job. You want to make sure there is staff available to help you if you need it.
Each gym will give you an opportunity to try it for a day. Don't go with the intention of getting a great workout. Instead, use that day to see what they gym is like, what the people are like, how are the locker rooms, what is the condition of the equipment, etc.
That's my advice on picking out a gym. If you have any questions? Please let me know!
