Joining a Health Club

Thing No. 1  

You know what they say about location.

You may like some really swanky place in some fancy neighborhood but we’re pretty sure that if your gym is more than 5-10 minutes from work or home, this will add just the hurdle your lazy psyche is looking for to rationalize not going.  Conduct your search in a small radius and only expand if you don’t find anything you like because the only thing that will discourage you from going more than a drive is if you hate the place and everyone in it; gymticket.com or citysearch.com.   Make sure to doublecheck the gym's reputation on Yelp.com also.  If the gym is bad news you'll learn it there.  

Thing No. 2  

Try before you buy.

Any gym will give you at least one guest pass – The bigger ones, for at least 7 days. You can also squeeze 10-12 free guest passes out of friends that belong to fancy gyms because the gyms want them to bring people in.  The majors will almost always give you a trial membership for a discounted fee (usually equating to between $20-$30 per month.) Definitely take them up on this for as long as you can. You should be able to apply this fee to a membership later.  Do not commit to anything beyond the trial period – pay very close attention to what you sign.  Make sure you test it out at the times you would normally work out. There is nothing worse than standing around waiting for some joker to get off a machine.  Again, with the majors, you should also get at least one consultation with a private trainer (1 hour) to asses what kind of shape you’re in, take you through an intense workout (which will familiarize you with the facility) and stretch you. Make sure you walk away with a specific routine that you can follow on your own.  If you’re going to take classes, check them out (if the time table works for you, make sure it isn’t going to change) and see what the instructors are like at your preferred times and how crowded the classes are.

Thing No. 3  

Stretching is very important. 

If you're up to it, most gyms will extend your free trial if you ask.  The bigger gyms have salespeople that work on commission and are very anxious to sign up members.  They usually have the authority to stretch the trial period at least once to get a sale.

Thing No. 4  

Shop around at the end of the month. 

This is when health clubs are desperately trying to meet quotas so you'll be in the best position to negotiate.  The spring and summer months are especially good because they lose memberships to people who simply take to the free outdoors so they offer special deals that you can lock in for the year.  November and December are also good times to shop since business is slow while everyone postpones until after the holidays.  January is, in theory, the absolute worst time.  We’re guessing that “getting in shape” is the number one New Year’s resolution around the world (well, perhaps not in Uzbekistan but almost everywhere else.)  On the other hand, many gyms try to optimize the spike in interest at the start of the year by offering special deals.  You can check it out but you probably won’t have as much negotiating room and besides, it will be packed.

Thing No. 5  

Shop around for special promotions, discounts and coupons. 

Truth is, you should avoid signing up for a long-term membership at all if you can.  Look for a place that charges you by the month.  If you must sign a contract, look everywhere for special deals – grocery stores, your employer, online promotions and newspapers.  And, ask health clubs about current promotions as well as off-peak, buddy programs and family discounts.  You can't really compare membership costs online because they vary from location to location and are individually negotiated (Thing No. 10) but if you're feeling rambunctious, look for message boards like fatwallet.com to at least get an idea of deals that other people have gotten in other places – a decent barometer.