Questions to ask when considering a fitness center

Are staff members friendly, caring, and helpful?

Is the club clean and well maintained?

Are new members provided with several club orientations and instruction on how to use equipment (one orientation is not enough to thoroughly assess an individuals goals, lifestyle, health history, and adequately design a program)?

Does the club offer each member with a personal fitness consultant with each membership to help ensure success?

Are there long lines at the equipment, or crowded aerobics classes, at the time that you would be using the club?

Does the fitness center guarantee their rates for a minimum of 3 years?

If a facility offers a much lower price than the competitors how can they justify these prices while preventing overcrowding? Since rent, staff, equipment is somewhat constant, additional memberships will be required to offset overhead which can lead to overcrowding.

Does the facility offer too good to be true specials (i.e. buy one year – get one free)? Facilities who offer tremendous specials are usually in dire need of cash and/or they hope people buy a membership and don’t use it. Long term business models cannot support facilities that significantly discount memberships.

Does the facility offer a unique fitness experience and comfortable atmosphere?

Is the facility associated with other health and wellness professionals that you could be referred to if you have a problem?

Does the facility provide consistency in pricing? or do they vary/cut their prices just to get someone to join? A reputable facility provides equality in pricing because they understand how upsetting members can become when they pay different rates.