Choosing a gym, but not sure where to stay? A pretentious fitness club or a democratic gym, at home or at work, do you need a pool? Let’s figure it out together.
The first step is to decide on the location. Imagine the schedule of your typical day and think about when it will be convenient for you to attend workouts. Personally, I always go in the morning, before work, and on weekends until lunchtime. Firstly, I am a morning person, I wake up quite early, and secondly, in the evening there are always many other opportunities to spend time.
In addition, in the morning, as a rule, there are significantly fewer people. Accordingly, it is convenient for me to wake up and immediately go to the gym, and then throw the bag home. In addition, on weekends there is no need to specially go through half the city to classes. And another thing: do you travel by car or public transport? Wouldn’t you be too lazy to carry a bag with things on you on the subway?
Once you’ve decided on an area, research the pricing of local lounges. Now the market is quite large, so there are options for any wallet. Are you dreaming of going to an expensive club? Little secret: when talking to a manager, feel free to and directly ask about discounts. I once had such a conversation:
– An annual card costs 43 thousand rubles.
– And the discounts?
– Only today and only for you we will give the card for 31 thousand.
Yeah, yeah, then I took it for 28 plus a month of freezing as a gift. Don’t forget to ask about gifts too. This can be a card freeze (so as not to waste time when you go on vacation or get sick), guest visits for a friend, a massage session, an hour’s training with an instructor. If the price still seems high to you, check if you can buy the card in installments, now many clubs are making such concessions.
There are now quite a few offers on the fitness market from democratic clubs with a price of 12-15 thousand for an annual card. Also an option, but keep in mind that there will be an order of magnitude more visitors. There was a case, I did not get to a group training once: there was nowhere to put the rug.
Plus the queues for the treadmill and the shower, the lack of water coolers and towels must be brought with you. And, as a rule, such establishments do not have a pool. Answer yourself honestly if you really need it. As the practice of mine and my friends shows, in most cases it is just a whim. Few people swim purposefully and constantly, mostly splash a couple of times a year and that’s it.
There is one more category of gyms – budget “exercise machines”. In them, you can pay for each visit separately, and not immediately all year. Such a system creates the appearance of economy, which is not always true. Let’s say you study 3 times a week, and the entrance costs 300 rubles. This is 900 rubles a week, 3600 a month, 43 200 a year!
Under fairly modest conditions. I am currently practicing in such a gym, but I save a lot on the services of a coach. We met him just in a pretentious club, where his consultations cost me twice as much. And here the effect is the same (after all, in fact, very little is needed for high-quality training), and the savings are obvious.
There are a few more nuances that should be taken into account when choosing a club, so that later it will not be excruciatingly painful.
1. Parking for customers. If you drive a car, this is an important point, especially now, when parking regulations are becoming more and more stricter. It will be very disappointing to be late for the start of classes due to the fact that you had to make three circles around the area in search of a place.
2. Air conditioning system. The room where a group of people is engaged in active physical exercises should be well ventilated. Very well ventilated! Your cardiovascular system will work at full capacity anyway, you should not overload it.
3. The number of simulators. It is clear that in a budget club there cannot be a separate cardio room, but if there are only two treadmills, ellipses or exercise bikes, you will have to queue up for the right to work out.
4. Ask to see the schedule of group sessions if they interest you, and make sure that it suits you.
5. If the club is expensive, check if there is a trial visit.
6. Find out if the club has a sauna. And if so, which one: Finnish or infrared. It is believed that due to the lower heating temperature, an infrared sauna is suitable for people who, for medical reasons, are prohibited from using the usual one. However, it should not be visited by women with silicone implants. Personally, I have no restrictions or implants, but I don’t like the infrared sauna – I like it hot!
Weigh all the pros and cons and make a decision. Productive workouts for you!