to think gym memberships are mostly a rip off?

[StuckintheBellJar]

I used to be a member until I was forced to give it up due to financial circumstances. Instead, I bought a couple of dvds and some weights. I'm just as fit if not more so.

Anway, I worked out that with my gym you have to go at least three times a week, every week, or you'd be better off paying as a casual user. I know a few people who are members of the very same gym (council run) and all but one go less than three times a week, every week. Sometimes they'll be good and go every other day and then not go for a month.

I could afford to rejoin, but I can't see the point. It's an emperors new clothes scenario in my opinion.

It doesn't make them a rip off though.

Some people join so that they force themselves to go 3 times a week and get their money's worth.

Other people enjoy getting out and socialising with friends at the gym.

There is something fundamentally ridiculous about driving to a building to go inside and use machines that replicate running and cycling.

That would be fine, if everybody went three times a week. Many don't though. They often (and I count myself in this) miss an entire week due to illness or going on holiday or whatever. The whole thing instantly becomes a rip off at that point.

It does seem insane when you put it like that, kitchentiles!

Just join a cheaper gym then.

Mine is £15.99 a month for unlimited usage. Not a ripoff at all.

YABU

They charge an amount, people are willing to pay that amount.

If people were not willing to pay that much, they wouldn't be able to charge that much.

That's bloody cheap, Princess!

Just because people are willing to be ripped off, doesn't mean that they aren't being ripped off.

Then you could call anything a ripoff, just because you personally don't like it.

Gym contracts are a rip off - 3 month notice periods. :(

I go to a PureGym. It's £17.99 a month and is 24 hour. I go at least 3 times a week which is less than £1.50 a visit. I think it's totally worth it.

It's not that I dislike gyms themselves, I just think that paying more for something than you need too is a bit bonkers. It's almost as if people think that by paying the money alone they'll lose weight....

I love my gym :-)

£10 one off charge, unlimited usage.

Today I was there for an hour and I was the only one there AND I watched all three TVs (did a bit of exercise too...)

(I have decided, in this instant that I live in the perfect world!)

(in reality it is a gym at my work)

At my gym my DD's fee is £7 per month. I get at 15hrs+ childcare for this. Bargain as far as i'm concerned!

I've just joined a gym. I was a member of my last one for 2 years. Some of us love going to the gym :)

Its not a rip off because people can't be arsed to go an use a service they have paid for.

Mine works out cheaper if you use it more than twice a week. TBH, having the membership makes me go regularly because I hate wasting money

Mine costs about £34 per month (council run sports centre) and I go to about 4 classes per week (which would cost about £4 per individual class) so I do save money. You have the option to suspend your membership for between 1 and 6 months if your circumstances change. There is a 30 day notice period for cancelling your membership

Mine is frozen for life so it's pretty cheap now. Before DC's I used to go 5/6 times a week. These days I might manage just one visit a week but I can pick it up again when they are older. If I cancelled it I'd have to re-join at the stupidly high new fees.

I love my gym too. It would be the last luxury I would give up. Its been a bloody life saver during my nasty divorce.

I've made some lovely new friends there, and there is always someone to chat to, even at 7am when you've been awake all night...

Ohh, and added bonus I am fitter and feel better than I have for years

my old gym, even at £99 a month (for me and one of my daughters) still worked out cheaper than each of us paying for the activities separately but that's because it included tennis, I am just as happy at the council leisure centre (except I miss tennis and the outdoor pool). I can't remember exactly how much it is, but only about £30? Spend several hours a week there, definitely get my £££s worth. I think it should be free though, especially for people who aren't working.

I would do more outside stuff, like running, if the weather was nicer more often but it's bad enough trying to do the horses and ride when it's cold and windy and raining without running in it as well. Plus the machines are helpful at calculating your distance and you can listen to music without worrying about getting run over and the showers are nicer than our one at home and you get a free banana on Fridays (not sure why) AND it is a good place to pick up men get advice from serious weight training enthusiasts.

Not sure what alternative activities would allow you to isolate such specific muscles and train them as effectively, apart from just doing weights at home?

Yeah, what Joan said.

This thread is a bit like you saying someone's been ripped off because they bought a loaf of bread they didn't bother to eat.

Definitely a rip off.
My SIL has persuaded my DB to pay for her membership and as far as I can see she is still fat.
So it's a waste of money.

My current gym is really cheap - £22.50 per month! I use their swimming pool a lot but have never even set foot in the actual gym bit with weights and machines. Not a rip off as I would pay more if I paid for each swim individually. However, I will be moving soon and will probably have to go to a much more expensive gym and I will feel £80-100 is a rip off per month if I don't use more of the facilities. Some are really expensive so yeah, you need to work out if a membership actually makes sense what you consider what you use.

YABU Its a personal choice, the majority of things can be considered necessities or a rip off depending on who you are.

I love my gym membership. Once you've paid you don't incur any extra costs unlike some days out, I could happily spend all day there. Also ours has a pool, which is great for taking the DCs to on a boring day.

I've made quite a few friends through the gym, and I think paying forces you to go.

Where are all these incredibly cheap gyms that people are talking about? Are there any good value gyms in London?

I go to the gym, when my back is not screwed, in order to strengthen my back. I have no time to it on my own at home. In the morning before work/evening before kids bed, well there are kids in the way! Once they are in bed, it would involve clearing space and making my exercise area comfortable, by the time I did that I would be too knackered.

The gym gives me:
time to myself out of the family home, time to de-stress in a clean, uncluttered, non-toy environment.
the incentive to get fitter so as to strengthen my back
classes for pilates, body balance and yoga, which I much prefer to do in a class, particular yoga and body balance as I enjoy the sychronisation of group exercise, and it pushes me further than when on my own. Much less likely to stop half way for a cuppa!
I enjoy swimming and don't have a pool at home, I like to warm down with a few lengths after the main gym/class workout
I like the sauna. Again no sauna at home.
I can shower without children wanting to come in with me.

So, yes, for me it is absolutely not a rip off. I used to spend more than that on a night out pre-children, and this is something that gives me precious me time, even if it is only twice a week (try 3-4, does not always work that way).