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Mr. Marketeer !H5nbtYBA4A
Hey /fit/.

Curious of your opinions on gym memberships.
Considering getting one at lifetime, I've heard a lot of praise, and it seems to me that paying for a membership would help me keep on track with a workout routine cause I'd be paying a substantial amount.

Only motivation I can really think of, plus it's 24/7 so I can go in after work at 10:00 every other night.
>> Anonymous
>>366473
Unless they all look exactly the same, and have the same orientation that's the gym I go to.
>> Anonymous
ya gym memberships are alright, I like that they are expensive because then you feel you have to go or else your just being a dumbass fucking pussy asshole thats just giving the gym free money.
>> Anonymous
whatever you do don't join Ballyfitness in California. was talking to a girl who goes there.

They lock you in a three year contract.

They have a seperate room where they lock the freeweights up. You have to go find a manager to get a key and unlock the door for you to work with free weights. wtf? like a nigga goin be walking out with a 50lbs dumbbell stuffed down his pants or something.
>> Anonymous
The nicest thing about the gym is - once you're there, you work out. Usually it doesn't matter how crappy you feel, if you can just drag yourself in the door you'll get shit done.
>> Anonymous
>>366473
Fuck, is that the Lifetime fitness in Centreville, Virginia? I used to live like three minutes away from there. That is, until the subprime mortgage crisis decided to fuck my family over.
>> Anonymous
>>366490
so true
>> Anonymous
I used to sell memberships for a disreputable gym chain. Here are some notes and fun stories:

- The membership terms were complete bullshit. Nothing that mattered was factored in -- running costs, attendance, upgrades. Instead, the fees were based on the median income for people living in the immediate area. Like the eastside gym would cost $25/month and the northside location would charge $45/month. We'd say it was because the northside loc was newer, had better equipment, etc. but that was all bullshit.
- Getting out of a membership was a huge PITA. Basically you could only get out of it if you moved to an area that didn't have another of this gym chain within 50 miles, and the burden of proof was on you. This was a nationwide chain with reciprocity agreements between franchises, so unless you moved to the middle of the desert or something, you were locked in.
- The sign up fees were complete bullshit. We had a ludicrously high sign up fee, which we would quickly offer to drop only so that you felt like you were getting a special deal. Fact is, we never expected to get a sign up fee from anyone, and if you paid one, you were a complete sucker.
- We were instructed and trained put the hard sell on people, every time, regardless. Chances are than 90% of people who leave the gym without joining will never be back. We took shots at peoples' physiques, their lifestyles, their self esteem -- anything to get them to sign a contract.
>> Anonymous
- Typically we did the 'escalation' trick, like car salesmen, where the basic salesperson gets a hook into you, like a check for $50 or something ("Would you be willing to show your commitment to this change by writing a check for $50, which I will then show to my manager? Then he'll know you're serious about this, and will offer you a good deal."), then takes that to their boss while you sit in a cubby and stew for a while. We'd bullshit about titties or motorcycles or something for 5-10 minutes, then come back to the cube with a manager in tow. The manager would exert even more pressure on you to sign up.
- We had to sell people on a two year contract, paying by the month. Once you accepted the terms of the the two year contract, we'd immediately go into a rehearsed routine to sell you on a "better" deal -- the 1 year contract. It was less money per month, and a shorter term, but you did have to pay up front for the whole year. Fact is, it really WAS the better deal all around, for you (lower cost over the whole term) and for us (sales people got a bigger commission for a 1 year contract). But you did have to pay up front, and most people balked at that. As if they thought they could escape from the 2-year monthly plan [see above].
- Any contract signed, be it 1 year, 2 years or whatever, was great for us because statistics showed that most people who sign up for a gym stop going after about a month. Our goal was to sell as many gym memberships as possible because we knew the gym would never actually get overcrowded. If it did, so what?
>> Anonymous
- Whenever I wasn't selling contracts, I was either being a personal trainer or a janitor. One night, a retarded guy visited the gym with a family member. He went into the bathroom, backed up to a urinal, and took a shit in it. I had to clean that mess up; but the whole time I was thinking, "this is better than selling memberships."
- Being a trainer, most people didn't need instruction, really. Most people needed emotional support and encouragement. I didn't care much for that aspect of PT. Sorry, but if you have self esteem issues, go cry into a pillow with your therapist. When you're ready to bust your ass and improve yourself by improving your body, come to me.
- We had a cheapo computer system with a webcam to make member badges. We totally used the system to look through peoples' photographs, looking for hotties to date.
- On some weekends, the guys who worked there would go in at nights after hours and do heavy workouts while taking hits off oxygen tanks. We had oxygen tanks in the gym supposedly for first aid, but the real reason was so those guys could inhale it, do squats and bench presses and stuff, and get huge pumps.

I am still a firm believer in lifting weights, whether for strength, power, size, endurance or longevity. But I think you should know how to work these types of people, because they will try to work you.
>> Anonymous
Gym memberships are great. Once you get through the sign up fees most places are what, a buck a day? A buck fifity? Totally worth it. Shower there instead of at home and you will already have gotten your money's worth.
>> Anonymous
Our school gym costs 60 for the year. It has its perks especially if you're an athlete because we get the gym to ourselves at certain times. At home my membership was something outrageous like 500 for the summer.
>> Anonymous
I love college gyms. They're huge, cheap, usually have very nice stuff, heated pools ect. I live like 1/2 a mile from one and that's the one I go to.
>> Mr. Marketeer !H5nbtYBA4A
>>366553
>>366552
>>366549

Yeah, unfortunately for salespeople like you (like my title) I'm a salesman myself, and a marketing major.

Can't sell shit to a good salesman.
>> Mr. Marketeer !H5nbtYBA4A
>>366600
Yeah, Lifetime is 59.99 a month, includes everything.
So 3 days a week, is 12 days a month, runs about 5 bucks a day.

Workout, swim some laps, chill in the spa, do some school work.

Sounded like a great deal to me, pretty affordable for such a nice place though.
They tried to sell me on personal training "hey man, you could hurt yourself." but at 69 dollars a session, 3 days a week, hell no. Now that's a ripoff.

>>366490
Exactly why I signed up.
>> Anonymous
>>366684

yeah instead of joining a gym I just signed up for weightlifting at my local community college... it is like 15 bucks a unit. and i signed up for a half unit. My normal university just built a huge gym which I hear is pretty nice but it isn't something i can make it to 3 times a week.
>> Anonymous
>>366694
actually, hows that work out for you?

who runs it?
is it open gym?
is it like a 'guided weightlifting course,' similar to a HS gym class unit?

tell us, interesting minds want to know
>> Anonymous
>>366761
Not OP of that, but I'm going through my second round of taking two weightlifting classes back-to-back. I have to wake up at the asscrack of dawn though, so I skip breakfast until afterwards.

Overall, it depends on the teacher and the size of the gym; I like teachers who don't baby us (my first teacher was like that) and I love it when the semester progresses and fewer students are at the gym; it's too small of a place, we're getting a new gym in a couple of years).
>> Anonymous
>>366761

It is pretty much open, the college's coaches usually run it. Though they started requiring people fill out lifting charts showing what you did for the week (but that only matters if you want credit). The hours are decent too, 8am-11am then... I think they pick up from like 1-8pm.

It works pretty well for me actually. They have three racks (and a four that is assisted), four benches, area for dead lifts/cleans, dumb bells, and then a ton of machines, a circuit course, cardio equipment and even an area to do stretches/medicine balls stuff.

You do have to be a student though, but it still like 25 bucks to register and I believe there are ways to cut registration fees... it ends up costing me 40 bucks or so a semester.
>> Anonymous
>>366850
and if you are a student..why again to do you want to register for this and pay more??

are you in need of guidance?