6 Cheap Alternatives to Having a Gym Membership

Vitamin G, Glamour Magazine

by Lexi Petronis

CN Digital Archive
CN Digital Archive

Is this nuts or is this nuts? According to a study by the University of California at Berkeley, the average gymgoer uses her membership about four times a month. I'm no mathematician, but, considering that the average annual price of a gym membership is $800, it seems like this may not be the most cost-effective thing in the world.


But! If you're one of those people who finds herself paying for the privilege of not going to the gym, there are some alternatives. (Interestingly, the same UC Berkeley study found that people who paid month-to-month to go to the gym were 17 percent more likely to actually stick with their memberships longer than those who paid annually!)

Fit Daypass: With this, you buy single-visit passes to at least 14 membership-only gyms in New York City, with prices as low as $10 per.

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ClassPass: This other NYC-based site lets you hit 10 classes a month at any of its 50 gyms for less than $80 a month. (As someone who once shelled out close to $180 a month--it could have been more, but I think I blocked it out--at her New York City gym, I guarantee I would have tried this.)

Amazon Local: I swear, every morning I have an email from Amazon featuring health classes in my area at ridiculously reduced prices. (Today, it was a five-pack for Barre, Pilates, and spin classes at BodyLanguage, where I try to go anyway, for $35.)

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Gilt: You may think Gilt is all about style-but that's far from the case! You can actually snap up cool deals for things like Exhale core fusion classes in Los Angeles (which come replete with BluePrint juices)...normally $117, but just $25 via Gilt.

Groupon: A quick survey (of my own) found that you can get 20 yoga classes for $21 and 30-day gym packages for $29.

Fitmob: Remember this? Fitmob MobTribes are small-group personal training sessions with up to six people for $35 a month (eight sessions a month).

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