Gym Price?

[ImInStealthMode]

Could I ask how much you pay for your gym membership? I'm considering joining a local health club at £85 a month (they've got a good joining offer at the moment).

This includes access to an enormous gym, swimming pool, all classes and unlimited access to another good gym much closer to our home - the health club is closer to work.

DP thinks this is wildly expensive because his (Lads Lads Lads style, bring your own towel & soap, probably-got-sawdust-on-the-floor gym) is £38 a month.

Money's not an issue by the way so if I decide to join I'll join, just wondering if he's right to think it's so extortionate, when to me it seems like good value? (It's not the most expensive round here by some stretch).

Sounds expensive
I pay £35 for the local council gym and can use any of the gyms within the local authority area. Some have pools, some don't

Dh is with David Lloyd and pays about £60.

Thanks @dementedpixie. I've had a look and our local authority one is about the same as yours, access to 3 gyms and one pool and all classes.

Being forgetful (and a terrible snob) I've never got on with local authority gyms because 9 times out of 10 I'd have forgotten my towel / water bottle / £1 for the locker and used it as a tenuous excuse to skip the session altogether

£29 atm. I did have a £90 membership once and tbh not having to faff with towels and the like was handy, and they had the best class rota/teachers of any gym I've been to since. However it was oversubscribed and I really didn't feel I should need to set an alarm for stupid o'clock just to be able to book a gym class, and the products in the showers weren't great. So I just felt the price wasn't justified and left in the end.

Sounds expensive to me but I live up north, I pay for 34 for a Heath club style gym with a pool, local authority nee gym with pool is about 24 ish not sure if that includes classes. All other gyms around here are 10-15 per more than so it does seem expensive.

Our super premium one is 70 a month and it's is stunning!!!!

I pay £40/month for virgin active. Includes, gym, classes, swimming pool, sauna, jacuzzi etc.

My only gripe is their changing room policy so I’m thinking of switching to Bannatyne’s.

It totally depends on area.
But I think it's fine, if it has what you want and you can afford it, it's an investment in your health

I would say that if it’s a premium gym where you like the facilities and can easily book on a class, it’s worth it. The gym can be quite a sanctuary for some so definitely worth it if you plan to use quite often.

Mine was £65 a month and that was heavily subsidised as part of work benefits. Usual price (that I imagine no one actually pays) is £120 a month, but this is for a central London gym. Totally depends on type of gym and area.

What do you want?

A gym to go and do your stuff and go?

Or a place where you can do the above then maybe have a swim and a sauna?

We have David lloyd by where I live. Have to say it's worth the money for the outside pool. To be able to do my stufff then work from there for a bit.

Depends what you want.

Sounds fine to me but I pay c£350 pm usually in London

Thanks all. Some good considerations. I'm definitely want a bit of relaxation from it too, which I wouldn't find at cheaper options.

Oh and forgot to mention the cardio room has floor to ceiling windows overlooking the sea (no TVs!). Has to be more motivational than the windowless place I went to last.

I pay £130 a month which includes tennis. £96 if no tennis. That’s with corporate discount. I’m there every day, often for a few hours so I get my money’s worth.

I used to pay £20 a month at a gym I never went to. Now that wasn’t good value. If you think you’ll use it more and get more out of it then it’s value for money.

I think it depends how you think you will use it. How frequently will you go (I mentally compare to a PAYG type rate, so I'd want to be going 4 or 5 times a week to justify the cost).

My gym costs £19 a month but it is a small gym (but everything you want, and I prefer it is not busy) with only 3 classes a day (1 in the morning; 2 in the evening). For £35 I can join its sister gym that has a pool and more classes, but I soon realised that I was unlikely to go the classes and only swam 2-3 times a month, so it was better for me to join the small gym and swim occasionally.

However, if money is no object and you really like it, then you should go for it (I agree with your DH it sounds exorbitant).

@PuffItsGone

Sounds fine to me but I pay c£350 pm usually in London

Wow! And here was me thinking OP's gym sounded pricey. Do you mind me asking what you get for your money, over and above the usual facilities?

If money is no issue, then do it. It works out as what, £20 a week ish, which is only £5 a session if you go 4x a week.
At my local council gym (mucky, noisy, pretty grim), a swim on its own is £5 and spin classes are £7. Meanwhile, yoga classes at the nearby fancy yoga place are £9 a pop. So if I were you I'd be adding up what I'd spend on individual classes and justifying it to myself that way.

I'm currently not a member of a gym, but a few years ago I paid £40 a month for Virgin and went 4-5 times a week, either for the (clean! warm!) baby pool, or for classes, gym and spa for me. It was a lot of money to us, but I could justify it as it worked out substantially less than the local authority gym, per session.

I later joined the council gym as it was near work, but even though it was only £25 per month I didnt get as much value for money as I barely went - mainly because the weights area was taken over by intimidating blokes, the swimming pool wasn't clean, and the classes were usually full.

So yes, it's expensive, but if you'll use it then go for it.

I've been a member of 6 different gyms over the past 10 years or so. All very different gyms with different prices. The most expensive was £62 per month (good few years ago now), which was lovely: it had an outdoor and indoor pool, 2 saunas, 2 hot tubs, 2 steam rooms, loads of equipment and classes and gym instructors that were always on hand for advice. I had a lot of free time back then and was training for an open water swim, so I would spend at least an hour there everyday and went to a few yoga classes each week, so it was well worth the money for me. Sadly moved away from the area, still miss that outdoor pool!

Now I'm a member at a no frills 24 hour gym, which is £14.99 per month. The main reason I joined this one over the others in my area is that it is a 7 minute drive away and is also on my commute to work, so I can (or could before covid anyway) go before or after work. There is a beautiful gym with a pool and sauna etc that is a bit further out of the way and is £89 per month. I probably would have joined if it was as convenient to get to as the cheap one, but the opening hours are something like 7am - 10pm, so I wouldn't have been able to go before work, and would have struggled going after work as it would mean driving across town in rush hour.

I'd justify it as what will the cost per visit work out as? £85 x 52 = £1020 over the year, or £19.61 per week. If you will be going at least 4 times a week then it will be just under a fiver a time, which seems fairly good value, especially for the sea view (jealous!).

£120 a month here. I go twice a week, I joined it because it has a spa. I use the gym and do yoga or Pilates plus swim/spa when I go and it feels like a complete break from the daily drudge every time I do.

Pre joining I used to pay £24 a week for two yoga classes, it’s more or less the same cost as that.

Mine is £72 a month although i pay a bit less by doing it through a work scheme. It's a lot more than places like Pure Gym but comparable with other "higher end" private clubs in the area and the facilities are much nicer than the "council" run ones. That includes gym, classes, steam room, sauna and swimming in the only private 25m pool in the area. It's also practically next door so I have no excuse not to go!

In the interests of complicating things for myself I've just been for a sales pitch joining consultation with the state of the art health club that's opening around the corner from work in May.

A mere £115 a month BUT I would literally have to pass by it at least twice a day, which would limit my excuses somewhat.

Decisions decisions!!

I pay around £32 pm at a big chain (starts with an F) - no pool, but sauna, steam room, sun beds & really friendly atmosphere & staff. It's got a fab range of free weights & not too much of a bro atmosphere in the weights area - it's really roomy & there are several squat racks, so no-one's tapping their fingers while I'm faffing about getting weights on and off the bar. The gym floor is enormous, it's got masses of equipment, excellent trainers, and (pre-COVID) a really good roster of studio classes - only the weekday evening Pump class was ever over-booked or hard to get into.

Also within the gym, a coffee bar, an excellent Physiotherapy clinic (with a yearly free check up), and a beauty studio all on-site. If they had a hairdresser, my social life would be complete. The wifi is good enough to do online meetings there, which is a bonus.

I don't think towels and hair products supplied would justify three times the price. I can't wait to get back into the gym on Monday.

£15 a month. I think it's a mistake though, as it's not gone up in the ten years I've been a member! New members only pay about £20 though (large gym with studio and ladie's gym, no pool)

Pure gym off peak. £10 a month. May have gone up to £11.

£30 ish is average and the most I would pay.

Depends on if you want fancy spas or just gym equipment. DP just joined (yet to go obviously) the local virgin gym which is extortionate but has salary sacrifice through work plus discounts so has gone from £80 to £40.

Sounds very reasonable for what you're getting. I pay £65 for unlimited classes in my local PT studio, no gym.

I pay £54 per month that includes classes, gym, sauna, jacuzzi and a lovely pool

Facilities are spotless and changing rooms/showers are lovely