Things to ponder when deciding on the type of gym for workout

Working professionals these days are mostly desk bound. This is where you might be pinned to the seat for more than 6 hours a day. The tedious exercises you might have are likely running after a bus, rushing into the train or brisk walking to ‘chope’ seats during your meal/breaks. Being in the busy working environment, it would likely not your priority to set aside time to exercise. Maybe until you felt that your clothing started shrinking (loose fitting clothing become tight fitting), you started to consider working out to keep fit or get back in shape (again). Well, one of the popular places for training will be the GYM.

There are a few reasons that people heading to gym or fitness center as a place to kick off their resolution to keep fit again, such as: A) a dedicated place where you go and do some exercise, B) wide range of facilities readily available, C) worry-free on bad weather (no more excuses that rain will hinder your workout), D) put on facebook and twitter that you are in gym and get showered with likes and comments.

Here are some opinions for your reading if you are decided to head for gym and pondering on which one or type to choose. Okay, I have a simple classification on the type of gym – member-gym, public-gym and home-gym.

A)     Member-Gym

This type of gym can easily cost you over a hundred per month. Targeting membership fee as the gym primarily revenue. The good thing is that you will be provided with more facilities (shower, locker, swimming pool, etc), wide range of exercising equipments, activity classes, refreshments and some other benefits. These benefits can range from rental of DVD to discounts at some retail outlets.

If you are actively committed attending their classes (such as yoga and group training) and other facilities (such as swimming pool and sauna), in addition to using the equipments, this would be your choice. This is because separate fee for classes, like yoga that is conducted outside, will cost you additional dollars that usually range from $60 to $100 per month. Swimming in public pool will cost your another $1-$2 per entry. Thus, it will be worthwhile to own the membership in this case. Of course, for some of you, your wish might be engaging a “highly-decorated/certified’ personal trainer to oversee your training. Oh well, if you have that budget/extra cash and want to ‘enjoy’ your gym session that way, why not?

Just one thing to note for this range of gym will be that a minimum period of membership is required to be fulfilled. In general it might be one year, of course, there will be some that require 3 or 5 year which in return having a lower month fee.

B)      Public-Gym

This type of gym will require lesser fee compared to the member-gym. Generally, it is just a place where all exercising equipments consolidate for you use. No additional facilities (expect toilet and rental lockers) or benefits are available for you. You may pay per entry (approx <$5) or per month (approx <$50). The good thing will be that there is no period of commitment required.

If you are interested just to use the weight machines, track mills and other exercising equipments, this should work fine. This is will be economic for some people who have lesser budget due to other financial commitment or simply do not require addition facilities. They do have trainers around, ask if you need one.

Of course, due to the lower fee, you might expect higher volume of crowd due peak hours such as weekends. The amount of equipments available will likely lesser compared to member-gym.

C)      Home-Gym

All you need will be one-time investment on equipment(s) and invest on those equipments that you need. A basic set of barbell with weights or dumbbell will be around a hundred to start with. A basic multi-purpose fitness equipment or trend mill will cost you from a few hundred till thousands. The good thing will be you can use it anytime you like as long as you are at home without the need to queue at all. These things that you purchase will be there for you use until they break down. No additional cost required per month, unless you are paying installment for them.

If you are very discipline person, require minimum set of equipments and have a place for them (especially if you have young kids running around), this will be a good choice. You can enjoy your workout without having stress to see the big muscular boys or strong gals pulling double or triple the weights you did. Importantly, your personalized refreshment and bathing facilities are just a few steps away.

Of course, if you are not discipline or not motivated enough to workout on your own, you might be leaving your equipment to cover with dust just a few weeks after your purchase.

Therefore, it is important to understand your needs, budgets and time before you decide for yourself which type of gym you will go for. If you are lucky enough to have access to free gym because your school or company offer it, just go for it and sweat it out. Otherwise, do ponder over properly or else you will be burning your cash instead of your fats!


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