Cathe AND joining a gym?

J

judegirl

Cathlete
My husband and I have been working out with Cathe for about a year now, and started doing her rotations three months ago, which we love. She tends to have a day or two a week on her rotations where she puts in "steady state run" or "60 minute bike ride", or other non-video activities. We live in Seattle, and let's just say the weather here isn't exactly conducive to weekly runs. :p We also don't own bikes, and have no space in our place for any large piece of equipment.

Because of all this, I've been considering joining a local gym to supplement my workouts. I would primarily use it for the bikes, ellipticals, treadmills, etc, and the occasional step or yoga class.

So I guess I've got two questions. One, is joining a gym a waste of money when I have 20+ Cathe videos sitting here? (I've been using Christi Taylor videos in place of the steady state runs and bike rides). And two, how do I choose a gym? I've belonged to several in the past, and I hate hate HATE that when you go in to take a look at a place you can't avoid sitting down with an extremely pushy salesperson who's going to try to talk you into a contract that is nearly impossible to ever get out of.

As far as gyms near me, there is a Ballys less than a mile from my house which I belonged to about five years ago. The place is a little old, but I guess it would get the job done, and it's very handy. There is also a brand new LA Fitness about 10 minutes away that would be a nicer place, but I've heard scary things about LA Fitness.

Does anyone have any recommendations or warnings about Ballys or LA Fitness, or any advice about this before I jump in?

Thanks! :)
 
I don't know what's available in your area, or what kinds of services you're looking for, but it might be worth checking some independent gyms (non-franchise like Bally's or LA fitness) as well and see what they have to offer. You may be less likely to get the pushy sales tactics.

ETA - I think having the option of more/different equipment to use, group classes, etc is worthwhile even though you have lots o' videos. Variety and change of pace is a very good thing.
 
If I don't want to use the treadmill, I just substitute a good solid cardio dvd (like Step Fit). I don't have a bike, either.

If you really do want to do the gym thing, check and see if your town/county has a rec center. My county has a very nice rec center that costs at most $3/visit. Or I can buy a 5-time pass for $10 or do the yearly membership thing. They have all the usual suspects for a gym.

I really like the per visit thing. I don't want to do monthly fees because I'd rather buy more Cathe stuff and I really dislike paying for something I don't use.

April
 
My routine is about half at home, half at a gym. It is most definitely worth it. When you find yourself increasing your strength you might very well take advantage of the various machines & weights you can find at a gym but probably not at home. There are exercise you can do at a gym (i.e. squats, bench presses, etc.) that you can't do at home.

And with a gym that close, how could you go wrong? :)
 
I ended up using my gym membership for just spin classes. Now I go to a place that isn't really a gym - it's called a wellness center. They do rehabilitation, and have a bunch of classes as well. No membership fees, I just pay for what I want. I had the gym membership for about 2 years before I realized I was pretty much using it for the same thing, and Cathe could take care of the rest!
 
I've been having the gym debate with myself (and DH) for a while for the same reasons--I get some great workouts at home and I've got lots of equipment to use for Cathe's workouts, but no treadmill or bike or elliptical (no room unless we put it in the unfinished basement). I would also like access to a pool. I am pretty much convinced we should join our local YMCA which has a nice facility just 2-3 blocks from our house but I have yet to convince DH.

I think if you know you want to have access to those certain things you can only find in a gym and not in your home, then it's probably worth it. If you aren't sure if you'll use it, then maybe not. The nice thing about the YMCA thing is it's not a high pressure sales kind of place but just a friendly community center. It's a lot more expensive than I expected, though.

[font face="comic sans ms" font color=teal]***Lainie***

My fitness blog: http://web.mac.com/lainiefig/iWeb/Site/Exercise/Exercise.html
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"The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself." -- M
 
I agree that it's worth it to join the gym, esp. given the weather where you are.

My experiences with both Bally's and with LA Fitness is that 1) they are meat market-y, and 2) very aggressive when it comes to sales and locking you in to their so-called "deals." I believe you would be better off checking out some smaller, "mom-and-pop" style gyms in your area as well as any nearby Ys, rec centers, or college campuses.

[font face="heather" font color=brick red size=+2]~Cathy [/font face] http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/wavesmile.gif
"Out on the roads there is fitness and self-discovery and the persons we were destined to be." -George Sheehan
 
Thanks for all the responses on this. I did some research, and it turns out that there is a local rec center not too far from us and it sounds like they have exactly what I'm looking for. I'm going to go check into it tomorrow, and hopefully I can avoid the meat markets! :D
 
I love the gym because it allows me access to the cardio machines that I do not have the room to put in my home. One day when/if I can purchase these machines for my own home, it is very likely that the allure of the gym will be gone but for now, I wouldn't live with out it!:)
 
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