We've been members at our local big chain gym since it first opened, shortly after we moved down to Worthing. We signed up in a portacabin in the car park with only the plans and drawings to justify the expenditure. I was so excited that I went for my first visit on the very day that it opened, even though my husband was away for work and I had to go on my own. For the first few years we were regular gym bunnies. We were there three or four times a week, using the gym, the swimming pool and trying out some of the classes. 9.15am on a Saturday morning would find me poised, weights in hand, ready to start my BodyPump class which I loved.
Then a baby came along, and the visits reduced somewhat in frequency. They recovered slightly as he got older and began to sleep a little bit more, but the second baby pretty much put a stop to our impeccable, regular attendance. Add to that the fact that even though Harry had been free until he was 2 they suddenly wanted money for Mia to join from when she was just 3 months old. Finally we were honest with ourselves and came to the realisation that we weren't visiting nearly enough to justify the large amount of cash that we were sending over to them each month.
I feel quite sad about the fact that our membership has ended. We've not been regular visitors over the past few months by any means, but it's always been there. We've also started taking Harry swimming, which he loves, and it's a shame that we won't be able to take him there any more.
On the plus side we are making an effort to stay fit for much less money. We both have a new pair of running shoes and we've been managing to get out for reasonably regular runs around our estate. Hopefully with summer on its way, and with lighter evenings and mornings, we'll be able to continue and we'll see how we get on. There is always the option to join up again in the winter, or perhaps we can put the money that we will have saved towards a treadmill for home exercising. I just hope that we can keep going without the financial motivation!
It is so frustrating that gym memberships are so expensive. Especially for families. I was gutted that there are no gyms in our area that have creche facilities, either, as it means that only one of us can go at a time, and it has to be either early morning or late evening, which limits us hugely. So we now have a lovely DVD collection of exercise programs and we work out at home. :)
ReplyDeleteHope you stay motivated! :)
Our gym had a creche, but it was an additional cost so like you we had to go separately, not so bad when we lived across the road but we recently moved a bit further away. It's only 10 minutes in the car, but it seemed further. Also like you it had to be early morning or more usually evening, meaning that we never spent an evening together. You've reminded me I have a couple of DVDs, I can dig those out for when it's raining!
DeleteI really think that children should be free. Especially babies - all they can do is use the swimming pool!
Keeping motivated will be the difficult bit. And it is time to find the local swimming pools for the little ones.
ReplyDeleteI know, we might sign up for a 10k run or something to give us some motivation. We definitely need to investigate the local pools, Mia has only been swimming a couple of times on holiday.
DeleteI find doing the housework and having to walk/cycle everywhere much cheaper than the gym and just as effective. Mind you at the moment I could just about start swimming the school run it's so wet here!
ReplyDeleteIt's true that walking is really good exercise, I've never had too much problem with the immediate baby weight due to all the walking about trying to get baby to sleep in the pram!
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