How Much Does it Cost to Join a Good Gym? 4 Essential Tips to Lower Your Membership Fees

Last updated on October 31st, 2023 at 06:00 pm

Fitness instructor Aaron Townsend talks about what price to expect from a good gym and provides tips on how to cut your gym expense back without skimping on the quality.

How Much Does it Cost to Join a Good Gym? 4 Essential Tips to Lower Your Membership Fees

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When you are looking to shed some pounds and get into better shape, you are likely going to want to join a gym. The theory behind this is that if you have somewhere neat to go and surround yourself with like-minded individuals, even if you’re just running a treadmill, you’re more likely to stick to your workout and commit to your fitness goals than if you were to exercise on your own.

This is why every new year, there are many people looking for gym membership deals that will allow them to save a pretty penny. You don’t want to break your bank account just so you can narrow your waistline down a size or two. That’s why you might have some problems knowing exactly how much it would cost to join a gym. Luckily, you’ve come to the right place if you want to get some help finding that great and affordable workout spot.

How Much Does a Gym Membership Cost?

The cost of a good gym membership can vary. At face value, most gyms are anywhere from $15 a month on the low-end upwards of $75 a month for fancy ones. The difference between cheaper gyms usually comes down to amenities. You can get in shape at any gym.

The real question is what extras are important to you. While a $15/mo. gym might get you access to all of the weights and treadmills you want, there might not be much else. More expensive gyms tend to have showers, fitness classes, & even on-site child care.

Lower the Cost of Gym Membership by Looking for Seasonal Discounts

Quite a few gyms know that the start of the year is when most people take themselves back to the gym. They will want to offer incentives to sign up, like waiving that sign-up fee or even lowering the first few months’ payments.

If you can hold off a little while, you should shop around and see what gyms are willing to give you discounts built around the holidays or a certain time of year. Planet Fitness deals, for instance, are all year round and are designed specifically to attract new clients and reward them for staying on board.

Sign Up For Longer Memberships

One way in which you can join a pretty good gym for a fee that isn’t going to break the bank can be to sign up for a longer membership. Gyms like Prairie Life and Anytime Fitness have different price points depending on the kind of contracts you sign. The regular old annual fee is going to be about $35 a month and $35 for a key fob.

The longer the period of time you are willing to sign up for, the lower the monthly fee is going to be. The drawback here, of course, is that you’ll end up paying the gym over an extended period of time. These kinds of contracts are not easy to get out of. If they were, there would be no incentive for the gym to give you a reduced monthly rate.

If you are positive that your new found love of the gym is going to last more than a few weeks or months, you might be able to get hooked up with a pretty high-end membership without having to dip too far into your bank account.

spinning exercise bike
Via Aberdeen Proving Grounds on Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0

Look For a Gym That Offers Rates Depending on Income

When you are looking for gym membership deals, one way to get a discount that people often overlook is to search for gyms that will charge you for a monthly fee based on what you can afford to pay. The YMCA is one of those organizations. Once you sign up, you can file a couple of pay stubs or your tax returns and show that you can’t afford the full fee.

The nice thing about this particular way of doing business is that you can even contact someone and walk them through what you can afford to pay after they give you that initial price point. A household, at the normal rates, is going to have to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $72 per month.

The organization has various charities that will help cover the costs that you cannot afford to pay. This is a great option if you aren’t looking to go to a super high-end gym, but you want to make sure you are getting plenty of equipment to work with. There isn’t going to be a coffee bar available but that doesn’t mean you won’t get a workout that’s plenty good at this place.

Look for Group or Family Memberships

There are plenty of gyms around the country that are willing to drive down the price of a monthly subscription per person if you are signing up more than one person. If you are a couple who wants to work out together, you might be able to get lower fees per person by both going to the same place.

Other places will have entire family discounts where the kids can come along as well. The family deal isn’t something that is offered everywhere because kids aren’t even allowed in some gyms, but if you do some research, you are bound to find one that can cater to everyone for a lower price.

As long as you are careful and don’t jump at the first gym membership deal you come across, you will likely be able to stumble across a gym that you can absolutely afford.

Fitness Instructor

Aaron Townsend is a fitness instructor, who enjoys sharing helpful tips on how to achieve a lean and healthy body through constant and safe workouts.

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