I'm looking to get membership to a real gym, but low on $?

Question

Of all the "chain gyms"--Spectrum Club, Bally Total Fitness, Gold's Gym, 24 Hour Fitness--do any of them have a monthly rate of $20-30 per month? I would love it if you could send me a link.

I live in Los Angeles--Santa Monica. It sucks that Cardinal Fitness does not have any locations in LA, their prices are great!

Answer 1

Practice your negotiation skills...I'll bet any one of those that you mentioned can accommodate your price range...probably for even less. But don't act too excited when negotiating (always appear like you are on the verge of leaving)...this way you won't lose out on the extras. To do this, you might need to negotiate with someone who has real power in the organization (not a new sales rep.)

"...You don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate." - Chester Karrass

Answer 2

Beware of the chains such Bally's or Xsport Fitness, unless you don't mind the 1-2 year commitment and a down payment (they call it membership fee.) If you default, and not pay til the end of your contract, they will put it in collection! ( they did that to my ex about 10 yrs ago.) I'm not sure where you live, but most towns/cities have their own fitness centers, where usually you don't have to pay the membership fee, the rates are low ($25-$25 per month) and sometimes they offer it for 3 months at a time. Call or visit the website of your town to find out more details. Also, in Illinois where I live we have Cardinal Fitness, where you sign up for month-to-month membership, you can cancel any time and the sign up fee is about $30 or so (cost about $20 per month, deducted from your checking acct.)

Answer 3

Do you have a cardinal fitness near you? Thats where I go at its $20 a month, no contract.

Golds is pretty expensive.

Ballys, LA Fitness make you sign long term contracts, which is never good.

Worlds Gym is pretty good. I was a memeber there also and they have like 6 month, 12 month contracts which isnt bad. You pay all up front, but my membership worked out to about 27 a month. I just switched to Cardinal cause it was closer to my house.

One thing I do like about Worlds is that its open 24.7, where as Cardinal is like 5-10 M-F, 7-5 Sat, Sun.

http://cardinalfitness.com/
http://www.worldgym.com/

EDIT:

I read the YMCA's threads, and I dont wanna sound harsh, but YMCA does not have a real gym. At least the one I go to, they have about 15 pieces of equipment in a 20x20 room. Maybe the big city ones are bigger, but thats just my experience.

Answer 4

Depending on where you live, have you also checked into the YMCA - they can sometimes assess your income and qualify you for lower monthly gym memberships. Also some local city councils offer gyms for a per-use fee - and some local community colleges or universities may be cheaper per visit than a membership even if you are a non-student than the more expensive chain gyms...

Answer 5

Well first off...if you have health insurance find out if they give a discount, most will and at certain gyms. Look into that first. Then shop around..most are 50 and up a month. Good luck!!

Answer 6

Try looking into a YMCA. They are inexpensive and some of them offer assistance if you qualify.

Answer 7

Try the YMCA. You can pay on a sliding scale there.