There are a lot of places here as Houston is a big place.
Before the Vid-apocalypse I was going to 24 Hour Fitness.
It was decent, not too far and average price @ $36 mo.
It was getting a little ragged in some areas but not terrible.
They closed during Covid and never opened.
They have some other locations albeit farther away.
In the mean time I bought some dumbells and a weight bench.
It works but not much help for lower body plus it is harder to stay motivated at home.

Started looking over some others but there are soooo many negative reviews at some of these places.

Can they really be that bad?

Maybe it's planted bad reviews from the competition or just a plethora of chronic complainers.
Typically, I mainly see:
1) rude staff 2) dirty facility 3) hard to quit without billing problems and excess fees.

Well, I don't plan on talking to staff and don't plan on quitting but am concerned about the cleanliness of the facility and also security.
Additionally, all I want is a free-weight area, a few machines to supplement the weights and a nice wet area/locker room to unwind.

The only one so far I like is Lifetime Fitness and it's $170 month!
Can't do that.

Anyway, just guess I have to go visit a few and find out.

I hope they aren't as bad as some of these reviews.

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The only one so far I like is Lifetime Fitness and it's $170 month!

It that for a regular membership or for one of their fancier sites? I was a decades long LTF member and quit when I had to start waiting for instagrams idiots to stop filming themselves so that I could get on a machine.

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Originally posted by Ronin1069:

quote:

The only one so far I like is Lifetime Fitness and it's $170 month!

It that for a regular membership or for one of their fancier sites?

Seems they are all fancy sites.

I've been very lucky to have my small, sole-proprietor place. The owner is the only staff and over the years (13 or so) he's become a good friend.

Maybe you can find something similar.

I think you have to determine the farthest you're willing to go, and start checking places out for yourself within that area. I don't trust online reviews. Maybe also they might offer trial periods for free or a smaller fee.

It can be difficult.

I joined Life Time Fitness in 2005. At the time it was $60/mo. for an Executive Club membership for a single. (Probably what they now call a "Signature Club" membership.) Great equipment. Great staff. Clean facility.

By the time I quit, eleven years later, the price had gone up to $75/mo., they'd started replacing top-of-the-line equipment with clearly lower-quality stuff, the staff--when you could find staff--was nowhere near as good, it had turned into a kiddie daycare center--particularly in the summertime, and cleanliness was little more than a fond memory.

And the character of the membership had taken a definite turn for the worse.

At that time I switched to a small, 24-hour, sole proprietorship gym nearby. No steam room, sauna, whirlpool, or pools, but it had adequate equipment, was clean, the ownership and staff were great, and the character of the membership was more to my liking.

Sadly, a variety of factors obliged them to close their doors in late 2022

I could not find another gym I liked nearby. So I said "To hell with this!" and started putting my own home gym together. I've now enough equipment there's little I could do at either of my last two gyms I can't do at home, but it's been expensive. I've now invested so much in it I could've paid for my last gym membership for 21 years and LTF, at their current rate, for five.

And I'm not quite done. I still have a leg press or hip sled and an open trap bar on The List

After experiencing the benefits of my own home gym I wouldn't go back to a public gym if somebody offered to buy all my gym equipment for what I've got into it and LTF offered me a free lifetime membership.

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Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I could not find another gym I liked nearby. So I said "To hell with this!" and started putting my own home gym together.

This.

And it doesn't have to be all that expensive. You can do quite a bit with just some free weights, resistance bands, your own body weight, and a few pieces of furniture. Tons of Youtube videos out there with guidance for home workouts that require no/minimal equipment or basic weights.

Then add in whatever cardio machine you like (stationary bike/rower/treadmill/ellipitcal/etc.), or just run/jog outdoors for free on nice days and do high intensity interval training inside on bad weather days.

Between those, all of your basic to intermediate fitness needs are met. And you're only out anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

At the prices mentioned so far ($170/mo, $75/mo, $60/mo, etc.), a basic home gym will pay for itself in no time.

Plus you don't have to travel, or wait to use equipment while someone gets the perfect footage for their TikTok video, or catch something from Johnny Rottencrotch who used the equipment before you.

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Originally posted by smschulz:

Seems they are all fancy sites.

Prices vary. There is one about 30 minutes from me. It was $110/mo, but it was too long a drive and I knew I would not end up going regularly.

Then a year ago, they opened one 5 mins from me. I thought that was great. But, when they got ready to open, I was shocked to learn that this one is $225/mo!

I go to the fitness center run by the local park district. It's nothing fancy, but it's clean and well maintained; they have an indoor walking/running track, free weights, stationary bikes, and lots of machines.

The best part is that it's $37.50/mo. It would be even cheaper, but I pay more because my house is outside the park district boundaries.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
And it doesn't have to be expensive. You can do quite a bit with just some free weights and bars, resistance bands, your own body weight, and a few pieces of furniture.

Then add in whatever cardio machine you like (stationary bike/rower/treadmill/ellipitcal/etc.), or just run/jog outdoors for free and do high intensity interval training inside on bad weather days.

True, but once you get going you find "If I had <this> I could also do <this>" and you start acquiring more and more equipment

I'd thought I'd get away with no more than the adjustable DBs I had already, a bar, some plates, a bench, a functional trainer, and a rower. Then, once I had the bar it was "But, if I also had a rack of some kind I could also do bench presses," so a short squat stand with safety spotter arms was added.

You can see most of the evolution of my gym in Creating My Home Gym: Equipment Discussion

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Between those, all of your basic to intermediate fitness needs are met. And you're only out anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

Yeah, you don't need to do what I've done to get a good basic-to-intermediate workout. I've kind of turned the gym and working out into something of a hobby

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Plus you don't have to travel, or wait to use equipment while someone gets the perfect footage for their TikTok video, or catch something from Johnny Rottencrotch who used the equipment before you.

Or get shut down when the next scaredemic happens.

Plus, if you just feel like going into your own gym and knocking out a few reps of something or another when the mood moves you: You can.

https://metroflexhouston.com/

I worked out at the OG Metroflex in Arlington when Ronnie Coleman was in his prime and lifting there, winning Olympias. You’ll have to deal with some meatheads but they have an anti phone policy which is worth it alone. $50 a month, but you can front pay a year in advance and they’ll drop it to $450-500. You get a passcode, your own, for entrance, 24/7, if the Houston one is run like the Arlington, Plano, and Ft Worth one.

I still go to 24 hour because I have a lifetime membership. $50 a year. A special they ran in 2006 where if you agreed to drop $900 for a 3 year membership, paid in full up front, subsequent years, for life, are $50 a year. I’ve never had it lapse and they try to jack up the cost on us and people sued and 24 hour lost.

I’m planning on a rural move and priced out building my own. It’s about 12k all in (already bought my bike so 10.5k left to spend) to get everything I want/need. And that’s using Lift Master adjustable dumbbells.

Lifetime sucks. Another commercial gym with everyone on their got damn phones, not cleaning their stations, and campers. Metroflex, none of that shit is tolerated. They’ll kick your fucking ass out. I’ve been to the one in Plano and contemplating paying their $50 a month even though that is what I pay a year. Because of their anti phones, anti woke, anti gen z policies. It’s a real gym to get real work done and it’s fucking bad ass and worth the drive. Like minded people will be in there. It’s the real fucking gym dude and you’ve got one there. They will give you a free trial. Metro is old school too, metal to the bone, machines are old but they all work. Dumbbells old but they all work. 1 month, you’ll be in love with the place, the motto, the spirit, etc. People are in there to do work, not fuck around like a commercial gym. You want a home away from home that is anti woke/genz/phones, and red state to the bone. Go to Metroflex. Place will change your life. I learned so much at the OG one as a 20 year old something, NASM certification was a breeze. Can’t speak highly enough of it. Hit google images to see what it’s like inside and go for a free trial. People are there to work, no fluff.

quote:

Maybe it's planted bad reviews from the competition or just a plethora of chronic complainers.
Typically, I mainly see:
1) rude staff 2) dirty facility 3) hard to quit without billing problems and excess fees.

I know a former manager of LA fitness very well, and he's shared some insight over the years. The national chains all run on the same business model:

Make a big up front investment on equipment when they first open, but don't spend money on maintaining it (e.g. lubing pulleys and bearings) which results in broken equipment out of service for long periods. As a result, the longer a location is open it keeps getting shittier and shittier.

Clean it just enough to sell memberships and keep health inspector off their backs

Crazy sales goals and sometimes Corporate announces new ones at 5 PM with close of business deadline. If an individual staff member figures out how to hit the goals, they increase the goals. Corporate puts pressure on managers and managers put pressure on staff which makes staff frustrated resulting in high turnover.

staff is typically late teens and early 20s, and learn used car sales tactics from other similarly aged people. Used car sales tactics aren't going to generate good customer reviews.

Corporate intentionally makes it hard to quit. Plus, staff make money selling memberships not cancelling them so they don't want to spend time on a quitter.

---

Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

la fitness bought my old club in 2011, so i'm grandfathered with great price + closer/easier to get to!!

pool, basketball, racquetball, various classes, weights, what's not to like!!

i deal with employees when i check-in, ususally welcomed to club/have good workout/have a good day when leaving!!

The last time I tried to join a gym, it was like a sleazy used car showroom. 3 Month free membership but only after an "enrollment fee". Lots of pressure to upgrade and buy some kind of supplements too. Hard pass. My townhouse complex has a small gym and its free. I have been making it work.

I have a membership with 24 that I haven’t used for quite some time. It’s just not up to my hygiene standards. I’ll use it in a crunch but I try to avoid it. But I’m only paying $10 per month. The machines are okay, just the water stuff (pool, spa, sauna, showers). Kinda disgusting to me.

I’m old and safety is a concern. I use the rotating bars to do push-ups. And use resistance bands for the back/shoulders. And some light dumbbells for arms. I have a bench but don’t use it - safety. For lower body, walks, bikes, sit ups.

I’m not gonna win any fitness awards. But it’s better than nothing, cheap, safe, convenient and doesn’t take up space.

I belong to a gum called the Edge and its a decent gym, equipment is adequate, facility is clean, staff is ok and they have membership starting as low as 10 bucks a month and it goes up from there. I opted for the 10 dollar membership because I just need access to the weight lifting equipment and cardio machines.

quote:

Anyway, just guess I have to go visit a few and find out.

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Originally posted by konata88:
I’m old ...

I'm curious: Just how old is "old?"

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Originally posted by konata88:
... and safety is a concern.

Then you should be lifting heavy. Studies show that, as we age, lifting heavy is beneficial to preventing injury.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
I use the rotating bars to do push-ups.

What are "rotating bars?"

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
I have a bench but don’t use it - safety.

I don't understand what this means. How can a weight bench possibly be unsafe?

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
For lower body, walks, bikes, sit ups.

Walking and biking are good for cardio-vascular fitness, not so much for lower-body strength. Situps aren't a "lower-body" exercise at all.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
But it’s better than nothing, ...

Any exercise is better than no exercise.

For the seniors among us that may be interested: I strongly suggest you acquire and read The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40. In it you will find most of what you've been taught to believe about aging and physical ability/fitness has been utterly wrong.

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Originally posted by Prefontaine:
https://metroflexhouston.com/

Looks nice but THAT would be quite a hike for me.

I'm lucky to have a Planet Fitness nearby. For $10/mo, you have 24/7 access. My wife & I usually go there at 2AM and get an hour+ workout. At that time, no lines, no worry about getting the machines you want to use. And, we get a chance to cool down before going to work! LOL

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Originally posted by odin:
I'm lucky to have a Planet Fitness nearby.

Planet Fitness is a non-starter if you want a gym with a decent free weight area. The one I went to, the barbells topped-out at 70 lbs. Apparently some of them have no free weights at all?

Then there's the Lunk Alarm

I was already this >< close to leaving PF after my first month when I found out about the Lunk Alarm. That tied the knot for me. I was outta there that evening.

If that's all ya got that's all ya got. And, as I told somebody else, any workout is better than no workout at all. But I wouldn't recommend PF to anybody who's the least bit serious about lifting.

That being said: For somebody who has a new-found interest in getting fit: Planet Fitness would be an easy, inexpensive way to get their feet wet. To see if it's really something they want to do before, for example, going out and spending a bunch of money on a home gym.

Back in my youth, the early 80's, I joined a gym, a small one. I went for my first workout without glasses, I was pretty nearsighted at the time. Finished, and hit the shower. Five guys followed me in, all to shower as well I thought. The big one said, "Officer, you might want to find another gym." I squinted hard and looked around. These guys were all halfway house releases from the prison. I finished and went to check out at the desk. The guy there said, "Here's your month's membership fee back. Sorry it didn't work out." It could have been ugly.