Check List To Joining A Gym

1 Necessary facilities

Have your goals in mind when you are picking your gym. Overtime your fitness needs will change and you need to make sure the gym facilities can cater for this. So number one rule is know why you are joining a gym, have your one, three and six months goals set in your head before you step in to a gym. Maybe even your 1 year goal to. All gyms should have:

· Great selection of cardio machines

· Good size free weight training area

(squat rack, bench press, cable machine, dumbbell)

· Stretching area

· Studios

· Personal trainers

· Changing room (Showers, lockers and sauna and steam room)

2 Monthly Fee

As well the facilities and helpful staff, the gym should also provide you with towels, water, shower gel, hair dryers. I know some gyms that charge you extra for towels. If this is not covered by the monthly fee, what are you paying it for?

3 Trial Run

Always have a trial run before joining a gym. It will help you make up your mind if it’s the right gym for you. If the gym does not offer a trial session then you should think why that is. You always notice more things about a gym when you workout in it; such as the staff, how good the quality of the machines are. Look at the gym members, it’s a great time to ask them for the inside information and get some feedback. Good tip for you- if the gym refuses a free trail run is to find one of the personal trainers and see if you can book a free trail session with them.

4 Peak time

Think about your goal and your lifestyle. Are you going to use the gym in the morning before work or after, maybe in your lunch at some point? Do your free trail then, as this will be the time you are going to be in the gym. Can you get on everything you need for your fitness goal, do you feel relaxed and are you certain this will be the right place for you? If you are going to do lots of classes, if so can you get into the classes you want. Talk to the staff to find out the busy time and ask questions.

5 Classes

Lots of people do classes because they find them more fun and it helps to push them more. A gym should have a great variety of classes for you to join in with. Classes will help improve you in different areas of your fitness and keep things interested.

6 Using other branches?

Gym chains offer you the possibility to use different branches to train in. Sometimes this is free or a small additional cost. Will this be useful to you? If you have the same gym chain near your house and work place this could be a great thing. You can join the gym near to your work and if you train on the weekend you can train in the gym close to home saving time on travelling. Win, win.

7 Qualified Staff

As you take your fitness journey to reach your goals, you may or will need advice from the staff who works in your branch. Get to know the staff as they will be a great help in you reaching your goals with advice and any other help you may need. There should be two types of trainers working in a gym. Fitness instructors (level 2 qualification) and Personal Trainers (level 3-4 qualification) Both members of staff will help you out with any question you have but if you want to get to your goal faster then I would look into hiring a personal trainer!

8 Signing a contact

Don’t feel pressured into signing a contact if you don’t understand it or be put on the spot. Nearly all contacts in gyms are 6 or 12 months so it’s an expensive long-term contact. If you feel pressured to sign or put on the spot, ask to take the contact home to relax and read it. If happy sign and start your journey. Good luck!!