First it was juice bars, now this: a new pot-friendly gym in San Francisco will allow members to get high on the premises. [More]
gym’s
Woman Claims Lucille Roberts Gym Accused Her Of “Trespassing” For Working Out In A Skirt
By 10.2.15
Should you be able to wear whatever you want when you exercise? A New York City woman says that employees of the Lucille Roberts gym chain were so upset about her insistence on wearing a skirt while working out that they harassed her and even threatened to call the cops on her. [More]
Guy Gets Locked In L.A. Fitness When It Closes For The Night… At 5 P.M.
By 8.24.15
While you might have certain expectations about when a business should and shouldn’t be open, it’s always good to double check those hours, lest you accidentally get stuck inside when everyone locks up and goes home for the day. One gymgoer learned that the hard way last week, when he was locked in an L.A. Fitness location at closing time — 5 p.m., when you might expect people to be getting off work and well, heading to the gym. [More]
NYC Commission: Apartment Building’s Policy Barring Lower-Paying Tenants From Gym May Be Discriminatory
By 4.3.15
Rent-regulated tenants living in an apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side have complained that its policy of only allowing market-rate tenants — who pay higher rents — to use the on-premises gym. The practice of keeping out those rent-stabilized tenants, who are mostly over 65, may constitute age discrimination, according to New York City Commission on Human Rights. [More]
Gym Business Models Depend On You Being Too Lazy To Work Out
By 12.18.14
Generally, there are two different kinds of gyms: the kind that actually expect their members to show up regularly and work out, and the kind that depend on most of their members to not show up on a regular basis. How do you get someone comfortable enough with a gym to pay up, even if they’re too busy or too lazy to show up? Sounds weird, but that’s their entire business model. [More]
Planet Fitness Kicked This Woman Out For Being Too Fit, Or Breaking The Rules
By 3.20.14
A California woman made headlines nationwide when she went to a local TV station, claiming that a local Planet Fitness kicked her out for distracting other customers by being too fit. Wait: what happened to the whole “no judgement zone” marketing campaign? [More]
Tell Me How To… Join A Gym
By 11.7.13
Our own expertise is limited, but the knowledge and experience of the Consumerist community is unlimited. That’s why we’re turning to you, the Consumerist Hivemind, to provide guidance and help solve readers’ problems. Today’s question: how does the wise consumer choose and join a gym while getting the best deal and avoiding shady practices? [More]
Gym Payment Processor Forgets Decimal Point, Terrifies Members
By 7.26.13
Like many gyms, Fitness Connection in North Carolina charges members an annual fee for “maintenance.” Unlike most gyms, they had something go terribly wrong this year when they charged that fee. It seemed to lack a decimal point, so members saw $2,990 charged to their cards instead of $29.99. [More]
Gym Staff Member Bullies Couple For Being Fat, So They Want Out Of Their Contract
By 2.5.13
It’s hard enough some days to motivate oneself to get off the couch and head to the gym: what if you had to worry about being bullied and harassed by one of the staff personal trainers whenever you’re inside the facility? That’s what’s happening to Shayla and her husband. Now they want to be released from their contract, presumably so they can go to a different gym with fewer jerks on staff. [More]
Forget Food Trucks And Rolling Retailers; This Guy Operates His Gym From The Back Of His Pickup
By 7.25.12
Yesterday we told you about retailers who were following the food truck model of taking their wares to customers on the city streets. But that’s nothing compared to the guy who decided the best way to get customers to his gym was to bring his gym to the public — in the back of his pickup truck. [More]
Bally Total Fitness Will Never Release Me From Its Finely Toned Clutches
By 6.20.12
Bally Total Fitness teased Jonathan with an introductory rate, drawing him in. Once that special rate was over, he canceled his membership. Or so he thought. He received a bill for his $29 “annual fee” and learned that he had somehow racked up a $400 balance after he thought the membership was already canceled. [More]
If You Want To Work Out To A Video, Just Stay Home
By 2.8.12
Vikram has been pretty happy with his gym, Life Time Fitness. Until an employee caught him working out to a P90X video on his laptop. He was asked to stop. Vikram says that the first employee explained claimed that electronic devices were banned because they might have cameras–a weak argument when smartphones and camera-toting iPods rule the gym. A manager explained that it’s about “competing services.” Presumably the choices are: take a class or hire a trainer at the gym, or follow your workout video at home. [More]
Gold's Closes Your Gym, Traps You In Contract Anyway
By 9.23.11
There happens to be a Gold’s Gym right inside the building where Cynthia works. How convenient! She took her employer up on an offer to subsidize part of her membership, and was happy with the arrangement. Three months later, the building Gold’s announced that it was closing. Not to worry, though: Memberships limited to only that location would change so members could visit any local corporate-owned Gold’s club. That’s pretty standard when a branch of a chain gyms closes, but Cynthia is annoyed that she joined so close to the change and has to pay for a membership she’s unlikely to use. Someone must have known that branch was doomed, but would the front-line and sales employees have known? [More]
Exercise In The Urban Jungle For Free
By 7.8.11
If you’re looking to cut expenses, here’s an argument for cancelling that gym membership. NYT profiles one guy who does all of his exercising outside, at no cost, in the middle of Manhattan. The jungle gyms, trails, and tracks of East River Park give him all the workout he needs, five days a week, in all weather. His hands are calloused from doing pushups on the sidewalk and at 48, 5 ft 8, and 185 pounds, he’s in top shape. So why bother dealing with early termination fees and snooty mirror gazers when you can enjoy being outside, for free? [More]
Get Cash In LA Fitness Class Action Settlement
By 6.9.11
Gyms are notorious for not letting people get out of their membership contract and making it difficult to cancel. Now a settlement has been proposed in the class action lawsuit against LA Fitness for making customers pay a fee to end their contracts before the contract term was up. [More]
Gym Makes Navy Family With Moving Orders Pay Cancellation Fee
By 5.6.11
A Navy family with government orders to move from California to Virginia was surprised when their gym wanted to charge them a $200 early termination fee. [More]
New Gym Business Model: Work Out More, Pay Less
By 1.28.11
At traditional gyms, you pay the same dues whether you visit the facility twice a day or twice a year. This makes a lot of sense for gyms, but doesn’t give you a financial incentive to actually go. But what if you had one? [More]
Get A Carved Body With This 15-Minute No-Equipment Workout Craze From 1904
By 1.27.11
Who needs a Craigslist gym or any kind of gym at all? They certainly didn’t have the list of Craig back in 1904 when Danish fitness master J.P. Müller invented his 15-minute workout called “My System.” It requires no equipment at all, took Europe by storm, and is still effective to this day, reports Slate. [More]
