Curves Gyms and Fitness Centers pride itself for a supportive and friendly environment for women. The facility was founded in 1992 and it has grown to 8,500 branches around the world since then. In essence, the idea behind Curves is to provide a no-frills and “no-intimidation” facility for women.

The centerpiece workout program is dubbed as the “30 minute fitness”. It is designed to give you an overall aerobic and strength training in just half an hour. Curves Fitness has listened to the main concerns of women and tackled the challenges they face. They offer a solution to the following:

•    Lack of time – nowadays, who has time to do anything? Modern women tend to have busy lifestyle – work, deadlines, domestic chores, and commuting – these all take a significant amount of hours off their day. Most have a difficult time fitting in a long workout session. Fortunately, an all-around 30 minute workout will tone all the major muscles and keep you healthy.

•    Privacy – while some women don’t mind working out around guys, there are many women who feel conscious about the lack of privacy in other fitness centers. It simply isn’t comfortable for a number of women to have guys starting at them as well.

•    Machines that focus on one area –equipments on the gym are generally designed for focus on one particular muscle group. As a result, most people need to spend at least 1 ½ hour at the gym to have an effective session. The Curve workout program is built around the concept that it is possible to achieve optimal fitness in just 30 minutes as long as you target the right muscles.

What can you expect from Curve Fitness?
If you’re expecting to see traditional machines in a Curve Fitness Center, you’re in for a surprise. This is because the program is specifically geared for women who are pressed for time. So what you’ll find in these centers are actually hydraulic resistance machines that provide steady resistance that will allow you to move safely and smoothly.

The machines can be adjusted according to your current level of fitness. It is easy to use for women of any age. The 30 minute program will tackle all the necessary components of a workout including warm-ups, strength training, aerobic exercise, stretching, and cool-down. The Curves Circuit is composed of the following:
•    Abdominal Curl & Back Extension
•    Hip Adduction & Hip Abduction
•    Leg Extension & Leg Curl
•    Biceps Curl & Triceps Extension
•    Chest Fly & Shoulder Retraction
•    Leg Press
•    Chest Press & Seated Row
•    Squat
•    Hip Extension
•    Trunk Rotation

Then, of course, you can expect a female-only environment. Get the support and camaraderie from other women at this gym; you can also develop long-lasting friendships with others who have the same struggles as you. The Curves Fitness Center is definitely a lot different from other gyms out there.

The Curves workout program is highly rated. You will see the difference after trying out the facility for yourself.  You can also learn  more by reading gym reviews to see what members of Curves have to say about their experience with this fitness center.

Bally Total Fitness is one of the most well known names in gym franchises.  While some people prefer to workout at home, a majority still see their gym not only as a place to exercises, but as an escape from the daily stresses.  Bally Fitness has a number of benefits to offer, however there are some potential drawbacks as well.  Here is a quick review of Bally Fitness, including the biggest potential benefits and drawbacks to help you decide whether or not it is right for you.

Overview of Bally Total Fitness

Ballys Fitness is also referred to as Ballys Total Body Fitness and total is their point of emphasis.  Along with the standard gym accessories, Ballys features a number of additional products and services to help people achieve their fitness and weight loss goals.  This includes personalized workout plans, personal trainers, and much more.  They are known for having a more active and high energy environment than some of their competitors which is perfect for some and a little overwhelming for others.

Benefits of Bally Fitness

1.    Something For Everyone
Ballys Fitness prides themselves on having something for everyone at their gym.  This includes anything from free weights and machines to personal training sessions.  While the “feel” of the gym can be a little more intense than some people prefer, it still strives to make sure that anyone can get exactly what they need.

2.    Flexible Membership Options
One of the biggest benefits of Ballys Fitness is the wide variety of different membership options that they offer.  They are most well known for their month to month plans, however they offer a variety of long term, cost saving plans as well.  Within each plan, you can choose between a single gym, local gyms, or a nationwide plan depending on where you will need to workout.

3.    Variety of Classes
Ballys Fitness has a wide variety of different types of classes so help you meet your goals.  Some of the most popular classes are things like yoga and similar organized programs.  There are also personal health classes that will help ensure that you meet your fitness goals.

Potential Drawbacks of Ballys Fitness

There are a number of potential drawbacks to choosing Ballys.  One of the biggest potential problems is that the staff is paid primarily based on commission.  This means that you may get hit with hard sales tactics on a semi-regular basis.  Additionally, this means that some of the staff may know more about selling than exercise.  There have also been some complaints about overall maintenance which includes equipment that isn’t immediately fixed as well as the bathroom/locker room area.

Bally Total Fitness has been one of the most popular gyms for some time and for good reason.  There are a number of benefits that current members enjoy including a variety of exercises and equipment, flexible membership options, and a large number of classes to attend.  At the same time, there are some potential drawbacks as well including hard selling tactics and the possibility of maintenance issues from time to time.

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With branches scattered all over the US and even around the world, Gold’s gym is your best bet if you want to enroll in a fitness center that is accessible, has complete amenities, and offers good value for money. The gym has celebrity fans including Jim Morrison and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Gold’s Gym has the latest fitness machines, exercise classes such as mixed martial arts and yoga, and certified trainers. Some branches offer personalized services such as childcare and tanning beds. It is apparent that the facility aims to provide an all-around convenient solution to your fitness and beauty needs.

The gym is most renowned for bodybuilding. This is because a lot of bodybuilders who won nationwide competitions trained at this facility. Gold’s Gym doesn’t limit its clientele to bodybuilders though. Anyone from runners, skiers, and working professionals can take advantage of their packages. The membership plans are affordable, ranging from $50 to $60 a month.

Features
There are a variety of weight machines, cardiovascular, and elliptical equipments at Gold’s Gym. The facility also has trainers who can help dieters choose the right exercise for their body type. If you want to you want to have a more controlled approach to exercising, you may want to get the services of a personal trainer. However, it is important to note that this will add to your membership fee. Personal training, along with childcare services, is considered as an add-on fee.

Pros
Most members have no complaints about the facility. The upside provided by Gold’s Gym more than makes up for its downsides. The equipments, exercise classes, and guidelines offered by trainers can help anyone accomplish their fitness goals.
•    Good Value for Money
•    Variety of Workout Programs
•    Latest Workout Machines

Cons
If there is one main downside to becoming a member at Gold’s Gym, it is their ill-trained or plain uncaring staff. The physical trainers are well-qualified, but the people handing your documents may provide some misinformation as some members have said. For example, there were several members who were told they can cancel anytime they want, only to find out that this must be submitted at least a month in advance.

In addition, the facility, (in some branches) is packed during peak hours. You have to wait your turn to use the machines.
•    Difficult to Cancel Membership
•    Charges Apply for Add-on Services
•    Month to Month Membership Costs More than Signing a Long-Term Contract

Overall, Gold’s Gym offers high-quality services at reasonable fees. The number of workout programs makes it exciting even for long-term members. For example, when members get bored with beginner’s yoga class, they can switch to martial arts classes or stretching workouts. Some members have issues about hidden fees as they pay more than what was advertised.  If you can commit to going 2-3 times a week to gym, Gold’s Gym can be the right place for you. There are a variety of programs on offer at this facility. Members will have an enjoyable time getting fit despite the disadvantages identified here.

With countless branches all over the country, Anytime Fitness has definitely become a brand to be reckoned with in the fitness industry. Like most gyms with gyms scattered in different areas, the facilities available in one branch may be in better shape than in another. But in general, Anytime Fitness share important commonalities.

Basically, the gym is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; few gyms can boast this feature. However, it should be noted that the facility is only staffed from 8am – 9pm from Monday to Friday and 9am – 1pm on Saturdays. Members can still enter because they will be given a card and a pin number. These will be used to enter the building when the staff is off-duty. The “anytime” feature is one of the main attractions of signing up at Anytime Fitness. Even if you work crazy hours, you can still keep in shape.

Inevitably, members will encounter pros and cons when they sign up for Anytime Fitness, we’ve outlined some of the positives and negatives at the facility.

Advantages
•    Open 24/7 – the feature allows for ultimate flexibility. It is the perfect gym for people with shifting schedules or work at night.
•    Inexpensive – compared to other gyms, Anytime Fitness offers reasonable rates especially if you get a membership during one of their promotions. However, regular rates may be rather high compared to other gyms (depending on your location).
•    Equipment – the facility has high-quality equipments that are effective in shaping and toning your target areas. The equipments are also in working condition; most members have no complaints about that.
•    Amenities – in some of its branches, Anytime Fitness has tanning beds and child care services. The former is beneficial for members who want to look good and the latter provides convenience for parents with small children.

Disadvantages
•    No security at night – because members are only given a card and a pin number to enter the facility, safety is an issue in certain areas. Some members would be understandably hesitant to work out by themselves at odd hours of the night.
•    Full during peak hours – members may have a hard time getting available machines during peak hours, usually after work. This is because people descend on the gym all at once. Depending on how busy the gym is, the unavailability of certain equipment can be frustrating for some.
•    Impolite staff in some branches – Anytime Fitness is not immune to complaints about their staff. Members have complained that receptionists in some branches are rude and unhelpful. It also doesn’t help that most branches are franchised so the level of management varies.
•    Not a place to hang out – there are some gyms that encourage interaction among members through group exercise and even the interior decors. But Anytime Fitness is a place to work out, not to hang out with members or friends.

For many, the advantages of Anytime Fitness outweigh the disadvantages. In fact, most people might not experience some of the complaints mentioned here because their branch may be well-run. Overall, the 1,000 Anytime Fitness branches is testament to its success at helping members get fit.

Working out is something that everyone should do, but often part of the problem is finding the time, which is an excuse that is quickly eliminated with Snap Fitness. Snap Fitness is not unlike many other fitness clubs in the fact that they have many of the fitness tools you will need in order to succeed with your fitness goals, but they do differ in one area for sure; time. Snap Fitness is opened on a 24 hours a day, seven day a week basis and this makes Snap Fitness the most convenient place to work out imaginable.

Snap Fitness also differs from a lot of other gyms in the fact that they do not require their customers to sign any lengthy contracts. In fact, you can get an affordable membership at Snap Fitness on a month to month basis. They even allow you to freeze your membership for up to three months if you need to do so.

Snap Fitness is a gym that can be utilized by anyone who is always on the go. For example, if your job requires you to do a lot of travelling, then your workout schedule will obviously be affected. But, with Snap Fitness, as long as you can find a local Snap Fitness center, your workout schedule will not have to be altered in the slightest. That’s because a Snap Fitness membership allows you to jump from Snap Fitness gym to Snap Fitness gym, no matter where you may find yourself.

Snap Fitness even puts their money where there mouth is. They have a guarantee that if you do not look and feel more fit within 30 days, you can get your money back. That means that you either get started on your path to a better you or you don’t pay a cent.

While the main premise of Snap Fitness is to allow those who want to work out on their own to do so whenever they see fit, there are also alternatives for those who require some help. With Snap Fitness, it is possible to hire a personal trainer to jump start your results though the staff of Snap Fitness, especially the personal trainers, are on limited hours.

Perhaps the best part about Snap Fitness is that you can get a free week’s pass when you visit their website. This pass allows you to take full advantage of all that your local Snap Fitness has to offer. After the week is up, you can then make the decision to continue on and start paying month to month, or you can just walk away with nothing more ever to pay.

You may have been putting off working out because you simply lack the time. However, with 24/7 access, Snap Fitness makes it possible for anyone, even you, to find a half hour or more to get in a quick workout. No matter what your hours are, if you can find the time, Snap Fitness will be there. If you are done with the excuses, then you may want to look into Snap Fitness for yourself and see if they can help reach your fitness goals.

When you are looking to get into the best shape of your life, it sometimes help to have a professional atmosphere that is filled with everything you need in order to succeed and that’s exactly what many professional gyms, like Crunch Fitness, offer. Crunch Fitness is a gym that is jam packed with all the equipment, classes, and personal trainers you could ever want and no matter what your style of working out may be Crunch Fitness has you more than covered.

Crunch Fitness is currently only in a handful of major metropolitan areas, but they are growing at a rapid pace. Currently, Crunch Fitness centers can be found in:

•    Los Angeles, California
•    New York City, New York
•    Miami, Florida
•    Orange County, California
•    Portland, Oregon
•    Sacramento, California
•    San Diego, California
•    Washington DC

As far as classes go, Crunch Fitness offers a wide variety of specialized classes all designed to make working out both effective and fun. Forget regular spinning classes and boring step aerobics because Crunch Fitness takes fitness to the next level with classes such as:

•    Body Web: Work out while hanging part, or all, of your body. This workout pushes anyone to the limit and burns massive amounts of calories in the process.
•    Turning Tricks: This class is for the ladies. Get fit while executing many of the moves that the ladies at the gentlemen’s clubs pull off. With a club-like atmosphere and many poles for dancing, cardio has never been so thrilling.
•    Parkour Evolution: The practice and development of some of the craziest flips and tricks that you will ever push your body to do. Learn while you burn.

These classes only scratch the surface of what Crunch Fitness offers and they are constantly pushing the fitness envelope to bring out new and exciting ways to exercise.

Crunch Fitness even has a number of highly trained and certified personal trainers for those who are just starting out in their workout lives. These trainers are available to work with anyone on a one on one basis and will help you develop your fitness at any pace you desire.

If all this sounds like it is too much to take in simply in one sitting, there is good news. Crunch Fitness offers a free trial guest pass for anyone to use. This all-access pass allows you to give the gym a whirl and see for yourself all of the innovative and exciting ways that they have in order to help you shed the unwanted pounds that you may have been stuck with for many years now.

Sometimes, the biggest problem with getting into shape is the fact that it may be a boring endeavor. While you may start out strong for a few weeks, you may also quickly fizzle out. With a constant changing of the fitness guard though, you too can achieve the level of fitness you have always longed for. If variety and results are what you want, then you may just find what you are looking for with Crunch Fitness.

Working out at any gym these days usually means that you have to do so on their terms and only when they are available, but this has all changed with the advent of gyms, like 24 Hour Fitness, that are opened around the clock. 24 Hour Fitness’s name says it all, they are opened on a 24 hour a day, seven day a week basis which means that you can get in a quality workout no matter what hours you keep.

Unlike many gyms these days, with 24 Hour Fitness, there is no need to make a commitment for a year, half a year, or even there months. That’s because 24 Hour Fitness allows its members to sign up on a month to month basis. This way, you only pay when you want to utilize their facilities and you are not stuck paying if you are not going to use them for an extended period of time. This is all designed to allow you to work out no your terms.

Best of all, 24 Hour Fitness is by no means a stripped down version of a larger gym and they include:

•    Personal Training: Personal trainers are available on a 24/7 basis if you need them. This allows you to take all of the guess work out of your fitness and will leave you with stunning results.
•    Child Care: Free to members, 24 Hour Fitness offers a ‘kid’s club’ where kids can play in a supervised environment and you can go off and get your workout in.
•    Weights: 24 Hour Fitness offers free weights and weight machines all designed to help you build massive amounts of muscle. No matter which way you prefer to lift the iron, they have what you are after.
•    Cardio: Get your fill of cardio in with the various cardio machines that 24 Hour Fitness offers. All cardio machines are designed to help you burn calories at a rapid pace, helping you complete your total workout.
•    Classes: Most classes are free with your membership to 24 Hour Fitness and with the wide variety that they have, you can literally do a different class every day of the week. This keeps working out fresh and exciting and makes it far less likely that you will have workout burnout.

In addition, some 24 Hour Fitness offers some amazing amenities. Indoor swimming, basketball, and saunas are offered at many of the 24 Hour Fitness centers for even more fitness bang for your buck.

In order to see for sure if 24 Hour Fitness is for you or not, you can take advantage of their free seven day pass when you visit their website. This pass will allow you to have full access to their facilities and help you to decide if 24 Hour Fitness if for you or not.

You don’t have to make excuses anymore because 24 Hour Fitness will simply not accept them. With flexibility and affordability, you may be able to reach, and exceed, all of your fitness goals when you visit a 24 Hour Fitness center near you.

Try 24 Hour Fitness FREE for 14 days.