A gym membership may seem like a big investment, until you calculate the various benefits. Careful fitness center selection maximizes the benefits and minimizes buyer’s remorse. Select a gym that is clean, progressive and convenient to your home or workplace. You are also more likely to use a facility if you enjoy the company of the other members.
Exercise Guidance
A professional fitness trainer evaluates your strengths and weaknesses and helps you design a program suitable for your goals and needs. While most fitness centers charge extra for personal training, they usually offer a free introductory session. Your instructor will to you how to use the equipment and determine the optimal weight, number of repetitions and sets.
Variety
Unless you live in an enormous home, even the most sophisticated home gym system cannot compete with the number of machines offered at a fitness center. Most gyms also offer free or low-cost exercise classes. This variety of exercise options potentially prevents exercise burnout.
Amenities
Saunas, steam rooms and whirlpools offer a welcome reward at the end of a workout. Some gyms even have additional spa services, such as massage, manicures, pedicures and facials, thereby providing one-stop shopping for all your health and beauty needs.
Sport Activities
Some fitness centers also have squash, tennis and basketball courts, as well as swimming pools. They often have fitness programs that support the skills needed for these sports. Swimming is usually included in membership cost, but club members receive significant court-time discounts.
Weather Proof Workouts
When extreme heat, cold, rain, ice and high pollen count may prevent outdoor exercise, the fitness center offers a weatherproof alternative.
Evening Workout Safety
Safety concerns often keep people from running or cycling in the evening. The gym provides a safer venue for evening aerobic exercise. Some centers even have outdoor group runs.
Camaraderie
The gym provides a suitable venue for making new friends, business networking or finding a romantic partner. The friendships created at a fitness center keep you accountable to your program. Other members may call you when you don’t show up for that aerobics class.
About this Author
Lisa Marie Mercer has been a professional writer for nearly 10 years. She has authored “Open Your Heart with Winter Fitness,” “Breckenridge: A Guide to the Sights and Slopes of Summit County” and “101 Fitness Tips for Women.” She’s worked as a fitness professional, tour guide and ski resort employee. Her work has appeared in “Aspen Magazine,” “HerSports,” “The Professional Skier,” “Pregnancy Magazine” and “Wired.”
