Cancel That Gym Membership
Did you know that there are companies whose whole foundation is based on taking your money while giving you nothing in return? These companies exist, they are very real, and most people continue on paying them for nothing, you probably are right now.
The primary example of this that comes to mind is your Gym membership. Some people are very good at going to their local gym daily to workout, but the fact of the matter is that big chain or “Globo” gyms earn their money on upfront fees and the premise that most of the people who pay are not going to go. I know way too many people who pay for a gym membership that they don’t use. What many people are paying for is the delusion that having a gym membership means that they do workout.
Think about how much you pay for your gym membership. Now how much do you go to the gym? Is it really worth it when there are literally HUNDREDS of things you can do for free to stay in shape? Go run, do sit-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks, run the local stadium steps, join an intramural sports league, all these things are more fun than staring at some meat head stare at himself in the mirror!
You could save hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year by going outside and using the world as your gym! I’m not telling you to not workout, and some people use the “globo” gym everyday (good for you!), but most don’t. If you are a “most” person, or even if you aren’t, breaking the gym rut would be good for your workout routine anyway!
Mary and I do Crossfit workouts on our own, and the money we don’t spend on a gym membership we are using to buy different pieces to build our own gym of homemade (medicine ball, parallettes, pull up bar) or used equipment found on craigslist. Crossfit is a high intensity combination of Gymnastics, Aerobics, and Olympic Weight Lifting where all the workouts can be scaled to your own level of fitness. Doing this we are in the best shapes of our lives, and we aren’t paying a dime for it in membership dues!
As a side note I have a recommendation to gym big wigs. Why don’t you offer a punch card for workouts? Say $20 for 12 workouts. Like a buy 10 get 2 free visits or something. That provides more value to many of your customers, I can guarantee that it would be a huge hit (I’d probably buy one for a rainy day), however I do understand that it undermines your whole profit base.
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July 28th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Point well made. For many people a gym is worth the investment. Personally, I like getting out of the house to go to the gym, but the mere fact that you have to go out to the gym is the very reason many people, me included, don’t go! It adds one more step where you can falter.
I strongly advocate the type of exercise you are doing. It is excellent for losing weight and for maintaining strength and endurance.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Dr. Marks, I agree for many people it is worth the investment. And you’re point about “leaving to go to the gym” is a good one, but for the record, Mary and I never do a workout strictly at our house. We will go outside and run a mile before we do the main part of our workout, or there is a little outdoor workout area in our community that we will run to, then do pullups, pushups, sit-ups, box jumps…whatever we can think of until we are so dead we can’t run back. Then we make ourselves run back! It’s all free!
If we only did it at our house, I don’t think we would ever do it!
July 29th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Primarily I’m a creature of habit, both good and bad. When I’m hitting the gym regularly just being in the physical place gets me in the right head space pretty much automatically. Between that and the conditioning that happens to the songs on the mp3 player I have for the gym, it’s pretty easy for me to get in the good rut of making use of my gym membership.
I like having the variety of machinery available and the dedicated place and I’m not brave enough to try to get my exercise outside during the 6 months plus of winter we get up here.
That said, there is support for a new tax credit in Canada that gym memberships and sports club memberships would qualify for which would reduce the financial hit of keeping the gym membership around, and in theory encourage Canadians to become more active and thusly reduce health-care costs.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
YEs, Mr Dave, having an anchor or routine is what many people need. That is the primary reason for having a gym membership. But you have to use it! Many don’t after a few months.
I believe a tax incentive for wellness and healthy lifestyle choices makes complete sense. Healthier people are less burdensome to social services and are more productive. It’s a win-win. But then again, I always enjoy a good tax cut wherever I can find it!
July 30th, 2008 at 2:53 am
Excellent!
It reminds me the answer of Winston Chuchill to a journalist asking him his health secret : No sport !
August 2nd, 2008 at 6:03 am
[...] @ Simple Mom Inspiration and Learning: Five Things I Learned from Randy Pausch @ Uncommon Cents Cancel That Gym Membership @ Young and [...]
October 13th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
As a gym owner (not a globo gym) I agree w/ you on the fact that yes, MANY people are paying for a gym membership they never use. Also, perhaps they are paying for the mental satisfaction of being a “gym member.” But here is where i disagree with your advice.
Gyms arent the bad guy for taking people’s money who dont use the facility. I dont sell snake oil, you pay for access to a place to work out. They offer education, support and motivation. And they arent all meathead gyms, in fact at least 45% of my members are begginers. Dont believe everything you see on TV…
If an individual doesnt use a gym membership he pays for, its because hes not working out!People arent going to cancel their memberships and start working out at home because they will save money..They just dont work out period whether its $1000 per month or free.If spending $45 a month for a gym isnt insentive enough then nothing is.
Also where I live I can not see people running outside in the winter (unless they have a death wish)
Working out at home is ok for some people, but what about when you have kids, a telephone or a door bell? At a gym you can dedicate 100% of your workout time to working out. At home there is way too much distraction, making it especially hard to get a quality work out..
Now lets compare:
You could save money on a home gym or you could pay for a gym membership, but at home who pays to fix and maintain the equipment? Now whos saving money?
Or how about paying $50 a month on a gym membership v.s going out to eat at a resturant.Do you say “well id have to GO out to the resturant and i just dont feel like it”, no you just go spend the $50 and dont hesitate and have nothing to show for it.It nots about the money its about not wanting to work out. People who pay for a gym membership and dont work out dont benefit. and people who dont work out would not benefit from a home gym either, and those same people will never commit to a daily jog. the membership and monthly dues are not the problem, its the lack of willingness to exercise.
And the punch cards are a nice idea but when you dont commit to a membership (anywhere) you pay more, so that de-values the gym. Most gyms are at least $12 per day. Most gyms offer a daily rate (for rainy or snowy days)
October 14th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Elizabeth,
I do agree. Gyms are beneficial for many people, and my intent of the post was to not discourage people from working out, or going to a gym, but to stop being a member if you aren’t using it. The same is true for cable TV. I had full cable until about 6 months ago, now I just have antenna and I don’t miss a thing about cable…OK, I miss ESPN, but that’s it.
And thank you for running a smaller, non-globo gym. The favorite gym I was ever a member of was a small box gym, where the people owning it knew everyone there, and everyone helped everyone else out.
You make very valid points, but for me, I don’t own any “equipment” and the only peice I want is a rower. I do however live in TX so I have the luxury of being able to workout outside almost year around. So I don’t need a stairclimber when I can run stadium steps…
Thanks for chiming in!
February 16th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
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March 19th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
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