The first time I went to a gym I left within ten minutes because I was so intimidated by the muscle men working out on the weights. It was full of testosterone and sweat and seemed like a really horrible environment, but times have moved on since then, as have the variety of gyms on offer with everything from women only gyms to themed ones available. And you know all those strange devices that Madonna and co use? Well they're at your local gyms as well...
So how do you find the best gym for you? Here are five tips to help you
1. First off, decide of you really want to go to a gym.
I know this sounds obvious, but you may just have bought into the whole gym lifestyle concept without deciding if it's really what you want. If you're more of an outdoors person, a running club could be more your thing, or even joining a rock climbing centre etc, for a less machine heavy workout.
2. What type of exercise do you enjoy?
If you're looking for cardio equipment you want to find a gym which has a lot of machines with a good policy about how long they can be used ion rush hour (6-7pm, when they flood with suits working up a sweat. A good gym should have a 30 minute max policy at peak times. Do you like aerobic lasses or spinning? If so, you'd want to go somewhere where they have a good timetable which updates monthly so you don't get bored, and if you like dance classes perhaps signing up somewhere like Pineapple might be a better bet. For more dance studios check out Dance Web for a good list.
3. As those annoying programmes say, it's all about location.
When would you go to the gym? If you think you've mainly go after work or in your lunch hour you want somewhere very near your office, or if you're more of a pre work and weekends gym bunny somewhere more local to your home could be good. You also want to take into account opening times, as some will start at 6am, whilst others at 8am. If you want to workout at the weekends and in your lunch hour a membership to somewhere like fitness first might be a good idea s they let you attend all their locations for a monthly fee.
4. Facilities.
If you're going to be paying a lot of money you want to make sure the gym fulfils your needs. What's important to you fitness wise? Do you want a pool, a spa, a spinning room? Make sure you know what you want and check out the gym thoroughly before you commit to a contract
5 Try before you buy.
Any gym worth their salt should let you have at least a 3 day free membership pass to try out the facilities. Go at different times of the day to see how busy it gets, what the classes are like, and how easy it is to get a locker- and don't let the pushy sales people make you joint ill you're totally sure it's what you want.
Obviously a factor of your gym membership is going to the price, so watch this pace for tips on how to get the best deal out of your membership- and how to get around those pesky joining fees.
Related: Sweat in the City for free: 3 month free gym membership for 3000 women!