Buyer Beware: How to Pick a Gym

Are you a Winnipeg student looking to join a gym, but you're not sure where to start? Don't worry, we've done all the work for you and have come up with a recommendation.

Our group, Hannah Pratt, Paul Lagimodiere, Lizzy Symons, Dylan Hughes and I, chose to do gyms for our Buyer Beware project and conducted a lot of research to eventually come up with the "best" gym choice. We were going to target all potential gym-goers but narrowed it down to focus on students after research was done.We didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into but I think it's safe to say we're happy with our results.

We picked the four biggest gyms in Winnipeg to research. GoodLife Fitness, Shapes Fitness Centres, YMCA-YWCA and Anytime Fitness. Our research methods were both primary and secondary.

Our primary research consisted of calling all the gyms and then visiting them as prospective members, getting tours and getting information. We also conducted interviews and a survey to get a better idea of who the "student gym-goer" really is. We found that the student gym-goer is most worried about cost and location of the gym they're going to join. Also, students who go to the gym are there for more than just the work out, but for the social experience.

Here is a chart of prices of membership the different gyms:

Secondary research was conducted by studying each gym's website, consulting past articles on the subject and searching videos on the topic. It backed up our findings with each gym and strengthened the reliability of our information.

We found an article from Mar. 16 in the Manitoban called Making a Good Impression: How Finding a Gym is the First Hurdle by Ben Poggemiller that was almost exactly what our experiences were when researching the facilities. We also found a video on CBC that displays a woman who wasn't been treated well at her gym and was continued to be charged after she cancelled her membership.

Judging by price, location, hours, additional services and staff we finally came to a conclusion. We found that because it has the best price, the most locations, reasonable hours, all additional services (there are a lot of them!) are including in the membership fee and the staff was the friendliest and most helpful the YMCA-YWCA is the winner of this competition. Though some of the other gyms have longer hours on weekdays, options of tanning and massage at an extra cost and a more focused fitness client base, the YMCA-YWCA was ultimately the best choice for students. They focus more on community, which makes it easy for students to socialize which is a huge part of their gym culture.

Now that you know where you're going it's time to learn what to do when you're there!



Check out my other team mate's blogs to see their views!
Dylan Hughes
Hannah Pratt
Lizzy Symons
Paul Lagimodiere