Jill Will Run

I've got a gym membership but it's with a no-frills gym called Planet Fitness. I think they've basically been buying up a lot of the World Gyms around here and buying up their equipment. They don't have pools and classes, but all I really want it for is the occasional treadmill run when I can't make track practice, and to ride the bike, or use the weights. It's only $10 per month, which is great for me. Plus, their hours are great - mine opens at 4:30 and stays open until 10 p.m. most nights during the week, and then it's 7 to 7 on weekends. Much better than most other gyms around here. That did sound like a lot of money the way they put it with what you needed to pay to sign up. Have you talked to Chris about his experiences with anytime fitness?

I'm a couple of days late here, but I just wanted to add that THIS is exactly the reason I quit 24 hour fitness. I had a membership, then they opened a fitness center nearer to where I lived, but there was alway an upgrade fee to use it, which I paid (this is back when it raised my fee from $6.00 to $12.00 a month. This was after I paid an initiation fee and was told that my fees would never go up (part of the sales pitch) Then we moved, and again I wanted to use the fitness center nearest my house, but to do that they wanted ANOTHER upgrade fee (which I again paid, even though I was pretty irritated about it). Thing was, I was so irritated about paying the upgrade fee, that I stopped going, so...I finally just quit. In other words, I don't believe that even the "super-duper-ultra-sports-club" will be the last upgrade fee you would ever be asked to pay. Now I have a treadmill and various weights and resistance bands and when I cross train I do so at home. I'd like to add a spin bike to the collection though too.

i cancelled my gym membership a while ago because i was NEVER using it, i had some free weights at home and a treadmill. then i got a spin bike for a really good price, and now my husband and i added some more weight equipment for a home gym! its the best :)

Boo to the "deal"! Is there an "all" sport club in your area or just the super? I used to be a gym member but am not currently. Traveling so much makes it a little pointless to pay for, and thankfully I haven't really needed to xt. Though, now in post-marathon mode it'd be nice. Would you become a regular gym mouse or is this just temp? The month-to-month might be cheaper if you were only planning on going for another month or two. Depending on how much you'll use the gym, a smaller (cheaper) gym might still be sufficient? I know I need to get back in there myself, and am hoping to join the YMCA (probably) when I am home again for good.

I belong to Anytime and spend about $35 a month prior to my insurance benefit. However...I can't wait until the membership is up and I can just invest in equipment on my own.

I'm not a fan of gyms, but that's mainly because I don't utilize them to their full potential. If I was into the classes and doing a variety of weights, it all makes sense... but I'm not. It's all such a huge money-making scheme for the franchises, because most people who sign up never use it. For cross-training, I ride my bike (usually on my trainer) or swim at Desert Breeze. For weights, I use dumbbells and resistance bands (that is, when I actually get around to using weights ;) )

I have been a member at LVAC for about 3 years now, but I can understand how that location is not convenient for you. I enjoy being able to go to the gym when I want to but I also would not pay the price that 24 Hour Fitness charges. Maybe picking a mountain bike at Walmart would be a good option. While those bikes aren't good for crazy riding I don't see you doing enough to hurt one of those bikes.

Hey, Jill - I've had a gym membership for years and years. Right now I'm paying about $70 a month. Sounds crazy but totally worth it--I can go to any other chain locations during off hours or weekends. I can run there (it's a mile from my house) in the morning or stop there after work. $70 a month is worth it to me in order to get that cross training action... although I wouldn't mind spending less! Go for it if you think it'll make you happy, especially when the weather gets cold!

I am thinking about a gym membership myself. My husband did the Costco membership for 24-hour Fitness and it really is a good deal. Luckily, the one close to us is an All Sport Club. Honestly, in looking at it the only thing the Super and Ultra sports seem to offer that this one doesn't have is towel service and beach volleyball. I'll bring my own towel and if I want to play beach volleyball I will go to the beach. I do need to find something for cross training. In S.D. I had my Stroller Strides classes. I can easily work out with my body weight and resistance bands, but I find it hard to motivate myself. At the gym, I can have my kids in the day care and they'll have fun. I also like the idea of yoga and Pilates classes. I never seem to do them at home. There is also the benefit of the swimming option at the gym. I still think I might want to do a triathlon someday and if so, I need to get serious about swimming. And, God forbid, if I get injured I need a place for alternative exercising.

Sadly, those prices sound like a dream to me! It is tough to find a decent gym for less than $80-$95/month in NYC, if you can believe it. If/when I ever have a home larger than a shoebox apartment, though, the first things I am going to buy will be some decent free weights, a treadmill and a road bike. Because honestly, that is pretty much all I ever used my gym for . . . and if I would have had the space to store that stuff, I could have saved a TON of money over the last 5 years. And, as I'm learning at school right now, you are MUCH better off using body weight, free weights, resistance bands, etc. for resistance training than any of the machines in a gym. In all honesty, if you are just going to use the gym to bike, I would probably say skip the gym membership and buy yourself a real bike. It will just be too hard to convince yourself to go to the gym "just to bike", whereas having the bike right there in the garage or whatever will be convenient and simple. Plus, 3 years is a LONG time to be locked into something like that. Ha, it's sad to say, but I tend to be a gym skeptic . . . especially with most of the national chains like 24-Hour Fitness. There's a reason 80% of people who purchase gym memberships cancel within 6 months; it's because gyms are designed to sell memberships and make money; not to retain customers and keep them happy, help them get results, etc. Okay, rant over :)

I did belong to gold's gym but found that I was only going when I had an appointment with my trainer, so then I asked if I could drop the membership and still train with him. turns out that I could. (I already pay him through the gym $40 a session for training.) So I have my DVDs, my Wii fit, my cycle on a trainer and then sessions with the trainer, and skipped the gym membership. They didn't have a pool, so I have to go to the public pool anyway. Bottom line gyms are great, if you GO! Personally I would go more if my other 1/2 or a friend was a member with me.

Although I will say that it can be worth taking a job at a gym just for the membership - guilty of that one too!

I used to work at a few Gold's Gyms and was amazed at the people who would pay $79 a month, plus all of the other fees. Then going to college, our student price was something like $25/semester. So now I'm really jaded and won't join a gym at all - I'd need some great deal like $100 for the year, haha.

I have a gym membership. I belong to an L.A Fitness...before I moved I could run to the gym, workout and run home. Now that I moved, it is 20 minutes away and completely out of my way but I still feel it is worth it because I need the pool to train. I looked around at other gyms, and mine is cleaner and offers more than any around. Fortunately, they are opening one closer to me, that is also on my way to work which makes me even happier I stuck it out. At the gym: treadmill on super cold days, spin classes, swimming and lifting At home: run outside, bike outside or bike trainer inside, shred DVD Btw...I pay $32 and month and would not even consider paying more. I am locked into the price I signed up with, and it is month to month.