My Golden Experience with Gold's Gym
Written: Dec 23 '03 (Updated Jan 16 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Friendly, informative staff; trend toward improving current locations; numerous locations to use, good equipment selection
Cons: Individual locations vary widely in quality; automatic credit card payment MUST be used
The Bottom Line: A great place for all people of all fitness levels; buyer beware, however. Check out YOUR local Gold's Gym before signing a thing.
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| meesh41's Full Review: Gold's Gym |
I have read numerous reviews about Gold's Gyms and can hardly believe these are the same gyms I have gone to -- and loved -- for going on three years. I highly recommend Gold's Gym, with a caveat ... so read this Epinion all the way through.
I belong to Gold's Gym in the North Virginia area. My membership allows me to utilize any Gold's Gym within a 50 mile of my "home" gym. I say "home" gym because I have only actually used that particular one once, it is nowhere near my geographical circle. If I ask for a free travel pass before taking a vacation, I can use out-of-area Gold's Gyms. I have taken advantage of this to use a Las Vegas Gold's and one on Long Island.
In March 2001 a manager of the Gold's Gym in Arlington, Va. came to my place of employment with an offer to wave the initiation fee of $40 and charge us $40 a month if 10 employees would join (I since found out that at the time, with CareFirst BlueChoice, my HMO, the fee would have been waived).
He gave us each a one-week pass to try the facilities and came back the following week. I toured the Gold's in Bailey's Crossroads (Falls Church) Virginia, which is very handy to my office. I was impressed, and learned my membership came with three sessions with a personal trainer to show me how to use the equipment. As far as I know, this has since been changed to one session, which is really too bad.
After the trial week, where I tried lunchtime workouts, before-work trips to the gym and post-work trips to the gym to check it out at all possible times I may want to go, I signed up. Only three people were interested, but he gave us the deal anyway, and threw in several T-shirts apiece as well!
I had to give a credit card and the $40 was billed to my account monthly. I did not like this and would have preferred to be billed and pay the bill, but had no choice. I must say, however, that this process went very smoothly and has not had a glitch in more than two years. After the first year I wanted to switch from my credit card to my debit card; the switch was easily accomplished.
I cannot comment on something I have seen in other reviews: the difficulty of getting out of a Gold's contract. I have been extremely happy with my membership and have no plans to leave. The other thing I cannot comment much on is the child care as I have no small children and do not use it. The child care area appears to be well maintained; the kids seem happy and I never hear any of them screaming for a parent. They have a climbing structure and other things for the kids to play with. When I see parents and kids heading toward the room the kids seem pretty excited and happy about going.
So, having signed up, I was now entitled to three sessions with a trainer. The first session was an assessment which had me doing some exercises to determine fitness level and having a body fat reading and answering questions to determine what I was hoping to achieve.
I had been on Weight Watchers for a while (see http://www.epinions.com/content_121304616580) but had gotten "stuck" and knew I needed to add some excercise to the mix. I had joined several gyms over the years that I had not used. I was hesitant to sign an agreement that I was afraid I'd be stuck with, but felt I was "ready" this time. My trainer was perfect for me, she showed me photos of herself at 250+ pounds. She went from being a fatty to being a personal trainer in less than two years! Highly motivating.
The second session I was shown how to use various machines, shown some floor exercises. I was asked if there was anything else I wanted to learn at this time. I wanted to also work with free weights a bit, and was shown a few exercises to start. The third session I demonstrated that I was able to use the equipment as shown previously. This made me feel a lot more confident when I hit the floor on my own.
I have read that Gold's is not for gym "newbies" but I was a 39 year old woman who's main fitness experiences in the past had been flunking the President's Fitness Test, being picked last for Dodge Ball and other negative PE experiences. And I have to say I had a really positive experience with Gold's Gym.
Some Gold's locations are more newbie friendly and female friendly than others. The Merrifield, Va. gym, for example, has a private, closed off area, Lady Gold's, right off the womens' locker room. Lady Gold's has a small but adequate selection of weight machines, hand weights, mats, treadmills, elliptical trainers and bikes. It's a great place for the gym-averse woman to get started.
I find the gym staff very helpful and friendly; when I was slogging through a lunchtime workout on the treadmill, the aerobics instructor came over and to tell me that a class was about to start and asked if I wanted to join in.
The cardio machines (treadmills, bikes, elliptical trainers) all have TV sets positioned in front of them. You can listen through radio and headphones (bring your own); the frequencies are listed on the TVs. People recycle their magazines by dropping them off at the gym, so you can usually find something to read. In this area I have stumbled across some pretty interesting trade publications, lots of magazines aimed at various branches of the military, federal workers, homemaking magazines, lots of health & fitness magazines (obviously), and gossip rags like US, People, Entertainment Weekly.
Numerous GGX (Gold's Group Exercise) Classes are offered at various times. The gyms have monthly schedules available at the counter on your way or out. They also keep schedules for the nearby Gold's Gyms.
All classes are included with membership; you can take any class for no additional cost. I currently take the BodyPump classes three days a week. This is a one-hour class working with weights. It is led by an instructor who runs us through 10 music tracks working all muscle groups (warm up, squats, chest, back & hamstring, triceps, biceps, lunges, shoulders, abs and cooldown). Good form is stressed. You use as much or as little weights as you want so the class is good and challenging for all levels of fitness.
Some classes, such as Spin (stationary bikes, led by an instructor to music, who provides motivation) require advance sign-up; others are first-come.
Other classes include Step Aeorobics, various Boot Camps, Body Flow (yoga/pilates type floor exercises set to music); Body Combat (a kick boxing-type class, very high impact). Really too many to list.
I find the Saturday 10 am class in Merrifield gets extremely crowded, the 11 am in Annandale is less so; if you find a particular class you want is full or too crowded, try other times/locations.
Locker rooms all tend to be clean, but spartan. Hair & Body Shampoo is provided in the showers. There a a few wall mounted blow dryers for hair. The Merrifield locker rooms are great, spa like. Merrifield has curtained changing areas for the "shy." The showers are less open and visible than the glass enclosed style at Annandale and Baily's Crossroads. The Annandale locker rooms are on par with a high school's. Baily's is small, but they keep cotton swabs in containers on the counters and the dry sauna tends to work more often than not; not always the case at the Annandale location.
The equipment is currently in good repair at all the locations I attend regularly. About a year ago there was a stretch of a few months when things were breaking and not being promptly attended to. Whatever the problem was seems to have been resolved.
Gold's locations tend to not have pools or jacuzzi's; the price of membership reflects that, being much less expensive than health clubs that have those.
What I like best about belonging to a gym is the variety of equipment and classes available. If I get bored with a particular routine I can easily try something else. When I felt I was in a slump after a year, I purchased a block of sessions with a personal trainer who helped me learn some new techniques and routines.
Sports massages and other physical therapies are available and they accept many insurance policies, mostly offering discounts. I have not taken advances of any of these, although I am tempted. Massage specials are frequently posted around the gym. One current special is three 60-minute massages for $180. For this area I think that is a good price.
My fellow members are friendly; I have made a few friends with whom I socialize now outside of the gym. There are a few characters around who add to the reputation Gold's has as a "meat market" but perhaps at 41 I am too old to be bothered? I see it happening, but none of them has bothered me. I have seen staff members speaking to men who get too annoying to some of the women and putting an end to it, so if you are hassled, speak up.
On the downside, the quality of individual Gold's Gyms varies significantly. I regularly use three gyms in my area, one near the office (Baily's Crossroads, Va.), one on my way home from work (Annandale, Va.), and one that is a hike to get to but is relatively new and VERY well equipped (Merrifield, Va.) ... my weekend treat. The Baily's Crossroads Gold's underwent a complete renovation and is now comparable to the newer one. I am hoping the Annandale location gets revamped soon. The area could also use a location in Springfield, Va.
I certainly feel I am getting my money's worth. I spoke to other members and prices vary depending what special was being offered when they joined. It costs slightly less to just join one location ($35 a month to use the Annandale location only, for example, versus $40 a month for any gym in the area). Better deals are available toward the end of the month if they are not close to their quota of new members. You may get them to wave the initiation fee. Ask if your health insurance card will get you any discount. Price tends to be at a premium around New Years as the gym gets lots of "New Year Resolution" members. The gym also tends to be more crowded in January, but gets back to normal by February.
If you think you want to join Gold's Gym -- or any health club for that matter -- check out the one nearest your home or workplace and see what the facilities are. Check the gym out a the times you are likely to use it. If you want to go after work and enjoy using a treadmill, check to make sure they are not all taken at 5:30 pm. If you prefer using elliptical trainers, make sure the location has plenty.
Don't be afraid to negotiate price; it's best to wait until after the New Year rush and as a rule, toward the end of the month they are more open to negotiation. If they only offer one session with an personal trainer, negotiate for at least two. Don't let the first one be an assessment ... insist on being shown how to properly use a variety of machines or how to lift free weights.
Take promises with a grain of salt. I was told there were plans to open a Gold's Gym in Springfield, Va. two years ago when we moved from Annandale (2 miles from the gym). Still no word on that nor any sign of it becoming a reality. If you need to travel more than 10-15 minutes to use your gym, you are less likely to go. Geography is very important in selecting your health club.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
meesh41
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Location: Springfield, Va.
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Enjoy cooking, decorating, going to museums, working out and a healthful lifestyle.
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