Exercise good judgment when choosing a gym

10 tips for for choosing a health club you will actually use

as your monthly gym fee ever seemed a little bit like a charitable donation? You know, as if you were saying: “Here! Take my money, business down the street! I don’t need it, and I’d really like you to have it!”

It might quickly begin to feel that way if you have a health-club membership you never use. But c’mon – why let something like that happen?


The following tips can help you choose a gym that thins your waistline instead of your wallet.

1. Take time to shop around. Visit two or three health clubs, paying careful attention to where you feel the most comfortable and where there’s a mix of services, programs and equipment to help you stay motivated. If you love the classes being offered but they take place at inconvenient times, don’t sign up. If you love the pool but it isn’t open for lap swimming when you’d need to use it, don’t sign up.

2. Try before you buy. Free guest passes are the best way to comparison shop for a gym. Use each club at the time of day when you would actually work out.

3. Remember the importance of location, location, location. If the club isn’t within 12 minutes of your home or work and isn’t open at hours that are convenient for you, don’t join. Unless you’re a master of self-discipline, you’ll likely find excuses not to go.

4. Figure out how to miss the crowds. Are you the kind of person who hates going to a health club when it’s crowded? Then be sure to ask whether the club has a size limit for its overall membership. If not, and if the club is popular, it is likely to be packed at peak times. For planning purposes, the best times to avoid crowds at most gyms are Friday evenings, and mid-mornings and mid-afternoons on weekdays.

5. Ask about specials. You may be pleasantly surprised to learn about special deals for families or people older than 50. And depending on a given month’s sales quotas, deals may be more plentiful at the end of the month.

6. Know what your payment covers. Will you have to pay extra for an initiation fee? Child care? Towels? Use of a locker? Assistance from a trainer? Use of certain facilities? Such fees might prevent you from using the club as often and as effectively as you could.

7. Find out whether the health club has posted a bond. This money can be used to repay members if the gym goes out of business. To make sure the club is bonded, call your state’s consumer hotline or consumer affairs department, which you should be able to find by doing a Web search for the name of your state along with the words “consumer hotline.”