Perhaps you’ve just decided to start training at a gym, or maybe you’re, for whatever reason, looking for a new gym. It’s important that you choose the right gym to train at. You’ll spend many hours there, and a gym where you don’t feel at home or where you can’t train as you’d like is a guarantee that you’ll eventually stop training altogether.
What should you look for when searching for the gym or fitness center that best suits you?
Choosing a Gym: Determine Your Training Goal
The first thing you need to do before looking for a gym is to determine what you want to achieve with your training.
Is your goal to get a toned body with nice abs (the Men’s Health ideal), do you want to get big and maybe even compete in competitions eventually, or are you looking for social contacts?
If you want to get big – bodybuilding, that is – and you train in a real fitness center, your way of training is often not appreciated by the other members and management.
Sometimes it’s even prohibited to do certain exercises in the fitness center (deadlifts are often prohibited), and wearing tank tops is often not tolerated. Additionally, the weights in a fitness center usually won’t be heavy enough to keep you occupied for long. Eventually, you’ll have to look for a more fitting environment.
If you’re a fitness enthusiast and you train in a hardcore gym, you probably won’t feel very comfortable among all the big guys who scream, sweat, and throw weights around. You’ll fit in much better in a fitness center.
Although the exercises and equipment for these different training goals are the same, and in principle, you could train anywhere, the type of gym where you train is decisive for achieving your goal.
The Location of the Gym
To stick to your training routine, and you’ll train a few times a week anyway, it’s important that the gym isn’t too far from your home or the route from your work to home. Nowadays, you can find many gyms in every city and most villages.
A gym can be perfect for you in every way, but if it takes you an hour to get there and another hour to get back home, you probably won’t stick with it for long.
The Gym’s Opening Hours
Although most gyms nowadays have long opening hours, it’s still wise to check this beforehand.
If you mainly train during the day, the opening hours are usually not a problem, but if you have a job with office hours, it’s important that you can train at times that suit you. Perhaps you want to have a workout before work in the morning, so it’s important that you can go to the gym early.
If you plan to train on weekends as well, check the opening hours and whether they’re open at all. Usually, the opening hours on weekends are different from weekdays, so make sure you know when you can go to the gym beforehand. In smaller family businesses, it’s common for the opening hours to be shorter, or they may not be open on weekends.
The Cost of Membership
You can make a gym membership as cheap or expensive as you want. Many gyms offer cheaper annual contracts to attract people, but it’s wise not to use them in the beginning. Most gyms also offer the option to pay monthly or quarterly, and when you’re just starting at a gym, this gives you the opportunity to try it out for a while before committing fully.
It might cost a bit more if you opt for a shorter-term membership, but if you find out that the gym isn’t for you, at least you’re not locked into a year-long contract right away. If the gym suits you well, you can usually adjust your membership midway through.
I always recommend trying out a trial session at a new gym before committing to a membership and spending money.
The Weights and Machines
Check the range of machines and free weights in the gym carefully. Can you do everything you want with the offerings? Is everything well-maintained and clean?
Not all gyms are the same. Some gyms mainly have heavy weights and basic machines, while others mainly have high-tech machines and few or even no free weights. The best solution is a combination of these two, but that’s not often found.
Fitness centers usually have fewer heavy weights on hand, mainly because heavy weights deter the average fitness enthusiast. Many women also feel intimidated by heavy weights. It often happens that the heavy weights, if they’re present, are in a separate room from the regular fitness area.
Additionally, many fitness centers limit the weight of the dumbbells because they know they won’t attract ‘big guys’ that way. Many fitness enthusiasts feel intimidated by bodybuilders, and that costs fitness centers members. Therefore, the dumbbells in fitness centers are usually not heavier than 25 kg.
On the other hand, if you want to get heavily muscled, you’ll need to find a gym where you won’t outgrow it within three months; a gym with lots of free plates, heavy dumbbells, and large stacks on the machines. If you’re a bodybuilder, make sure your gym definitely has a power rack (for squats), a good leg press, plenty of Olympic bars with a good stock of plates, and enough training benches.
If your intention is to do a lot of cardio, then it’s important that there’s enough equipment in the gym. The last thing you want is to constantly wait for a machine to become available. Additionally, it’s nice if there are multiple types of cardio machines so that your cardio training doesn’t become monotonous.
Again, know what you want to achieve, and make a decision based on your preferences.
Guidance and Group Classes
If you find it difficult to stay motivated, then personal trainers at the gym can help you get the best out of yourself.
Check if the gym where you want to become a member has certified trainers on staff or possibly allows external trainers.
If you like to work out with multiple people at the same time, it’s convenient if the gym offers fitness classes. This can range from spinning classes to kickboxing to a group fitness class. Ask for a class schedule and see if you can attend fun classes at the times you train.
Hygiene
An important point that many athletes don’t pay attention to when choosing a gym is hygiene.
Throughout the day, many people come to the gym, and not everyone uses a towel to wipe down the machine or bench they’ve just used.
It’s also important to check out the changing rooms and shower areas. Dirty shower areas are a source of diseases like athlete’s foot.
The Atmosphere in the Gym
Although I mention this point last, it’s actually the most important point to consider when selecting the right gym!
Your training goal is most important to you. To achieve that, you need an environment that supports your goal. The atmosphere within a gym can make or break your workouts.
You train best in a gym where there are multiple athletes with the same goals as you. The energy of the people around you helps you make your workouts more intense, and you draw inspiration from those who are further along than you.
If you want to become a broad bodybuilder, what’s better than a group of serious bodybuilders to lift you up at your gym?
If your main goal is to lose your love handles, then it’s better to join a fitness center where you can take cardio classes with a group of people with the same goal.
Often, you see that bodybuilders are not welcome in a fitness center, and they are even banned. Owners of fitness centers know that the majority of their clientele doesn’t appreciate the presence of bodybuilders, so they prefer not to have them in their center.
The best scenario is when your gym has the kind of people as members that you want to belong to. Be honest with yourself and make a wise decision. You don’t want to be stuck in a gym where you don’t belong.
Conclusion
My advice is: visit a few gyms and fitness centers nearby and see how the building, equipment, and people come across to you. Usually, that’s a good indication of whether you’ll feel at home there.
Choosing a gym isn’t something you do lightly. You need to feel at home in the gym and with the people you train with. The gym becomes a second home for you, and if you can’t do what and how you want there, it can be a disappointing experience. For many people, that’s often a reason to quit exercising. Make sure you’re not one of them!
