?? $10 for a visit seems pretty fair. Have you ever paid for a movie? What’d that run you?
How would you feel as a paying member if you knew someone was training for free?
Man up and pay
Another way is to call ahead and say you’re in the process of moving to the area for work so looking for a new gym and they’ll give you a free trial day, sometimes up to a week. Some gyms even have a form on the main page where you just type in your details and get a free day pass. I’ve done this a few times.
Also, to save money when you’re joining, I always go in on the last day of the month, when they will waive joining/ admin/ other fees to get you to sign up so they hit target, maybe even join you on a discounted student membership.
Every time I’m home on leave I go to train at my old gym. Monthly membership is relatively cheap, but the price of a single session is 200 NOK which equals about 37 US dollars. Since I had a membership there for about three years I know a lot of the staff there. Sometimes they let me in for free after some small talk, or they let me inn for less than the standard price.
If the new staff are at work, I tell them that I used to be a member for a long while and that I’m home on vacation and see how they react. Sometimes I tell them that I’m moving back to town, and want a trial for free since they have refurbished and bought lots of new equipment.
The gym is open 24/7, but it’s not manned at night, so sometimes my mates let me in. During the summer months the amount of people that frequent the gym is lower than usual, so they actually run a “Bring a friend for free” policy which I use a lot.
Am I stealing when I sneak in with my mates card? Yes, I would say so, and I admit that I feel a little guilty because I like the guys who I know that work there. I have paid the 37 USD just as many times as I have sneaked in though, and I have no problems with paying the steep price when I have to, again, because I like the staff.
In the end, if I need to deadlift, I don’t care how much it’s gonna cost me.
Edit - fun story: I actually joined that gym by sneaking. When I was 16 I moved to a city, and my mom moved out, so I got her membership card since she wouldn’t be using it anymore. The first time I went to train I registered the card in the reader and walked on. Half way up the stairs a guy shouts “You’re not Natalie!”
I told him why I had someone else’s card, he called my mom, and in the end he agreed to switch the owner of the membership, although this was against their policy. And then I had my first gym membership.
whenever i’m on a business trip and the hotel doesn’t have a gym i go to the nearest “fitness centre” and ask for a free one day pass. i usually say i know what i’m doing and don’t need to waste the trainer’s time with a walk-around, i’d rather use the equipemnt to get a feel for the place. they let me in as long as i sign in. hasn’t failed yet.
if it’s a “proper” weights gym i’ll always pay as it’s usually somebody’s small business.
[quote]jp_dubya wrote:
?? $10 for a visit seems pretty fair. Have you ever paid for a movie? What’d that run you?
How would you feel as a paying member if you knew someone was training for free?
Man up and pay[/quote]
I’m not sure where you get off using ‘the movies’ as a comparison considered that those are incredibly overpriced as well. I personally think that this is part of a bigger picture than just paying a gym fee. Think of how many other things are at a ridiculous price, and ask yourself why you should have to pay for such a thing.
Also, if I was a paying member and someone I knew was training for free, I’d congratulate them on beating the system, and then join them in their awesomeness.
Next, finding a way to not pay taxes or my water bill.
its only $10 so pay the money you free loading phucks.
[quote]GluteusGigantis wrote:
Having done this many times, I would say it works best when the staff are male (don’t give a shit), young females (don’t know what they’re doing and don’t give a shit). Older females especially seem to be the ones who will call you out.
Some gyms with those turnstile barriers don’t need your card to work, you can still just walk through but then it comes down to pulling everything off in the OP. [/quote]
This. The only other thing I add is it much easier to be successful if at strategies outlined in the OP if done at a peak time. At 9 am they are way more likely to call you out then if you walk in with a big pack members at 5 pm.
[quote]cyberwar wrote:
Every time I’m home on leave I go to train at my old gym. Monthly membership is relatively cheap, but the price of a single session is 200 NOK which equals about 37 US dollars. Since I had a membership there for about three years I know a lot of the staff there. Sometimes they let me in for free after some small talk, or they let me inn for less than the standard price.
If the new staff are at work, I tell them that I used to be a member for a long while and that I’m home on vacation and see how they react. Sometimes I tell them that I’m moving back to town, and want a trial for free since they have refurbished and bought lots of new equipment.
The gym is open 24/7, but it’s not manned at night, so sometimes my mates let me in. During the summer months the amount of people that frequent the gym is lower than usual, so they actually run a “Bring a friend for free” policy which I use a lot.
Am I stealing when I sneak in with my mates card? Yes, I would say so, and I admit that I feel a little guilty because I like the guys who I know that work there. I have paid the 37 USD just as many times as I have sneaked in though, and I have no problems with paying the steep price when I have to, again, because I like the staff.
In the end, if I need to deadlift, I don’t care how much it’s gonna cost me.
Edit - fun story: I actually joined that gym by sneaking. When I was 16 I moved to a city, and my mom moved out, so I got her membership card since she wouldn’t be using it anymore. The first time I went to train I registered the card in the reader and walked on. Half way up the stairs a guy shouts “You’re not Natalie!”
I told him why I had someone else’s card, he called my mom, and in the end he agreed to switch the owner of the membership, although this was against their policy. And then I had my first gym membership.
[/quote]
O: 200kr pr session is insane, I pay 255kr pr month.
what is the name of this ridicoulus gym?
It’s Friskhuset, which has gyms all over Nordland. They used to charge 50 NOK, then raised it to 150 and now 200. Somewhere between 50 and 100 NOK is a reasonable price for a single session, in my opinion.
They charged about 350 NOK/month at the time I trained there, which is a lot cheaper than many others.
[quote]cyberwar wrote:
It’s Friskhuset, which has gyms all over Nordland. They used to charge 50 NOK, then raised it to 150 and now 200. Somewhere between 50 and 100 NOK is a reasonable price for a single session, in my opinion.
They charged about 350 NOK/month at the time I trained there, which is a lot cheaper than many others. [/quote]
350 is ok pr month. I think sats and elexia is way more expensive.
the studentsenter gym in bergen costs 55kr pr session for students and roughly
700kr a semester, that aint to bad.
Most gyms I go to, you need to swipe a card to get through the gate. If you say you forgot your card they will sign you in on the computer where your profile has a picture of your face … which was taken when you signed up.
Get past THAT?
I just love the everybody owes me a free lunch generation. I guess we should just steal everything when we don’t agree on the price.
[quote]NoWheyOut wrote:
whenever i’m on a business trip and the hotel doesn’t have a gym i go to the nearest “fitness centre” and ask for a free one day pass. i usually say i know what i’m doing and don’t need to waste the trainer’s time with a walk-around, i’d rather use the equipemnt to get a feel for the place. they let me in as long as i sign in. hasn’t failed yet.
if it’s a “proper” weights gym i’ll always pay as it’s usually somebody’s small business.[/quote]
This for sure, if it’s small “weights gym” ironically the desk will often be unstaffed or extremely easy to walk past because 2-3 people may be rotating at the desk while spotting/helping in the gym itself… however if this is a proper gym in England your unlikely to be charged more then £4 or so (at least in the north). It’s reasonable and better still these places almost always have very reasonable week and month prices.
However, if it’s a fitness gym I see no harm in getting free sessions in whenever you can, a lot of “Technogyms” require a key fob to enter, which is impossible to get around unless they have the barrier down randomly.
I have a feeling I’ll be using some of these tips when travelling in order to train often, in my experience a lot of european gyms are very laid back and don’t have the crazy security and checks of big fitness chains, but often the one off prices are ridiculous. I remember paying the equivalent of well over 20USD in Greece for one session, albeit it was the only gym on the whole island as far as i know
[quote]STFD23 wrote:
I just love the everybody owes me a free lunch generation. I guess we should just steal everything when we don’t agree on the price. [/quote]
errm…I forgot my wallet…so do you mind errm…
[quote]jp_dubya wrote:
Man up and pay[/quote]
This. I don’t understand the people bitching about having to pay for a service.
If you train hard and put things away (do a little organizing if things are out of place), you can get pretty cool with the owner. I’ve paid twice in the past 18 months and the owner is cool with it, probably because im a student. But yeah, little things like unloading bars that people leave and organizing plates goes a long ways.
This just struck me as immature. I used to work at a gym back home right at the front desk, and I assure you this shit NEVER happened, no matter how savvy the kids were. And yes, I even followed a handful a immature grown men pretending not to hear me into the locker room where they had nowhere else to run. To be honest, though, it was usually young 15-somethings. My only thought after reading through this is, “seriously, dude?”
I really don’t understand how this is any different than swiping food from the grocery store that you think is overpriced. Or maybe you do that, too. Egocentric generation I live in…
[quote]STFD23 wrote:
I just love the everybody owes me a free lunch generation. I guess we should just steal everything when we don’t agree on the price. [/quote]
Look at this fucking guy. Member since 2002 and only level 1. You’ve taken all the free information provided by tnation for years yet you don’t feel the need to support the company or give anything back. And you have the balls to talk shit about others wanting “free lunch” and “stealing” lolol
[quote]jskrabac wrote:
This just struck me as immature. I used to work at a gym back home right at the front desk, and I assure you this shit NEVER happened, no matter how savvy the kids were. And yes, I even followed a handful a immature grown men pretending not to hear me into the locker room where they had nowhere else to run. To be honest, though, it was usually young 15-somethings. My only thought after reading through this is, “seriously, dude?”
I really don’t understand how this is any different than swiping food from the grocery store that you think is overpriced. Or maybe you do that, too. Egocentric generation I live in… [/quote]
Look, to me it’s no different than if you’re in the desert dying of thirst and I roll up in my car. I have some water, but I say you have to sign over all your assets to me (lets say $100,000) and I’ll let you have it. Otherwise, you can just fucking die. Hey it’s my water I can charge whatever price the market dictates. You can pay it or go fuck yourself (ie die).
Gyms know that they have traveling lifters by the throat, especially serious lifters. They charge ridiculous fees and you can either pay it or go fuck yourself. The situation is a difference in degree, not in kind, from being in the desert without water.
The difference is that food in the supermarket isn’t 10 times the cost of other food and your only choice for eating. With a gym membership, you pay about $1 per day. To charge an inordinate amount ($10) to people who have no other choice where to train is totally different. It’s exploiting someone based on their circumstances.
OP should’ve wrote “inb4 moral”