September is the month when the town's gyms fill up. November is the month when they empty. We see it every year, and it almost never has to do with a lack of willpower: it has to do with people who chose the wrong place for what they wanted.
Choosing where to train seems simple. You visit two or three places, compare the monthly fee and go for the cheapest or the closest to home. But price and distance are just the two easiest things to compare, and they're not the two that decide whether you'll still be going in January.
This article won't tell you Revolution is the right choice for everyone, because it isn't. It will tell you what to compare, what to ask and the signs that you're about to sign up for something you'll regret.
Before you look at gyms, answer three questions about yourself
Most people go about the search backwards. They look at the spaces first and only then think about what they want. Do it the other way round: it saves time.
What do you really want? To lose weight, get stronger, stop having back pain, start moving again after years of inactivity, prepare for a race. These are different goals and they call for different places. Someone who wants independence and less pain at 60 doesn't need the same as someone who wants to bring down their 5 km time.
How many times a week can you actually be there? Note the word “can”. Not how many you'd like, but how many fit into your real week, with work, the kids and the traffic. If the honest answer is two, an unlimited plan is money down the drain, and there's a frequency that works better than you think.
What time? This is the question most people ignore and the one behind most drop-outs. A great gym with classes at 19h00, when you can only get away at 07h00, is a bad gym for you. Before you compare anything, check the class timetable and make sure there's something at a time you can actually make.
The most common mistake: choosing by the space instead of by what actually happens there
A big room with new equipment impresses on a visit, but it doesn't train you. What trains you is what happens during the 60 minutes you're there.
The question that really sets gyms apart isn't how many machines they have. It's this: when you're there, is anyone watching you? If you've been training for years, know what to do and like training alone with headphones on, an open-access gym is probably the best value for what you pay. If the reason you stopped last time was not knowing what to do or not having anyone to correct you, then the equipment is the part that matters least.
The seven things actually worth comparing
| What to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Is there a coach in the class, or just someone at the front desk? | It determines whether your technique gets corrected before you get injured, or after. |
| How many people are in the class at the time you train? | A packed class with just one coach means nobody is watching you. |
| Is the training adapted for complete beginners? | If the answer is “do what you can”, there's no adaptation at all. |
| What's the real timetable, not the one on the website? | Timetables that exist on paper but don't run in winter are more common than they should be. |
| What happens if you miss two weeks? | If nobody notices, it's a sign they won't notice when you leave either. |
| How do I cancel, and how much notice is needed? | Find this out before you sign, never after. |
| How much does it cost in total in the first month? | The monthly fee is only part of the bill. |
Take these seven questions with you on your visit. A gym that answers them all without hesitating is a good sign. One that changes the subject on the fifth and sixth is also telling you something.
The cost of a gym isn't the monthly fee
This is where most people get caught out. You compare two monthly fees, pick the lower one, and by the end of the first month you have paid more than you would have elsewhere. A gym cost almost always has these parts:
| What it costs | What to ask before you sign |
|---|---|
| Monthly fee | Does it change depending on the payment method? Does it change if you pay several months at once? |
| Registration fee | Is it a one-off? Is there any way to reduce it? Is it charged again if you leave and come back? |
| Insurance | Is it annual or monthly? Is it included or extra? |
| Contract | Is there a minimum period? How much does it cost to leave early? |
| Notice period | How many days' notice do you have to give to avoid paying another month? |
| Extras | Are assessments, classes outside your plan and personal training included, or do they cost extra? |
None of these charges is outrageous in itself. What's bad is finding out about them after you sign. Ask for the price list in writing, and read the cancellation section before you read the price section.
In our case, you'll find all of this on a single page, with no small print: the plans, what each one includes, the registration fee and the insurance are on plans and prices. We're not the cheapest in town and we don't pretend to be.
Budget gym, class studio or box: what changes in practice
In Figueira da Foz you'll basically find three models. None is better in absolute terms, they're better for different people.
| Model | How it works | It suits you if… |
|---|---|---|
| Open-access gym | You pay for access to the space and the equipment. Group classes are separate, with a floor coach available on request. | You already know how to train, you like going at your own pace and price weighs heavily in your decision. |
| Class studio | Scheduled classes, closed groups, focus on one discipline. | You need a booking to show up and you like always doing the same kind of training. |
| Functional training box | Coached class from start to finish, small group, different workout every day, load adjusted to each person. | You don't know where to start, or you've tried on your own and stopped. |
The third column is the one that matters. If you recognise yourself in the first row, find the best open-access gym you can and don't pay for coaching you won't use. If you recognise yourself in the last, a cheap gym with nobody watching you will end up costing you more, because two months from now you'll be paying for something you no longer go to.
How to really test a gym
A guided tour shows you the gym empty and clean, at whatever time suits whoever is showing you round. That's not what it's really like.
- Go at the time you plan to train. If you'll be training at 19h00, turn up at 19h00 and see how busy it really is and whether you can hear the coach.
- Do a class, not a tour. Almost all of them let you try. If one doesn't, ask yourself why.
- Check the changing rooms. They tell you more about how a place is run than any brochure.
- Talk to people who train there. Ask how long they've been going and what they'd change. Nobody's going to lie to you in the changing room.
- Read the reviews and, above all, read the replies to the reviews. How they respond to criticism tells you how they'll handle your problem when you have one.
Five signs it's better to keep looking
- They don't let you try before you decide.
- They push you to sign today, with a promotion that ends tomorrow.
- They can't tell you off the top of their head what happens if you want to cancel.
- In class, nobody corrects anybody.
- You ask for the total price of the first month and the answer takes three sentences to arrive.
None of these signs is rare. All five together are the complete recipe for paying a monthly fee in February for a place you have not set foot in since October.
And what does this mean in Figueira da Foz?
The city has its own seasonality and it's worth taking into account. In summer there are more people and more going on. From October to March, the right question is a different one: does this place keep the same offer in January? Some places cut their hours out of season, and if the slot they cut is yours, the gym stops working for you in exactly the month you need it most.
It is also worth checking whether there is something for everyone at home. If you are looking for an activity for the kids at the start of the school year, or low-intensity training to gain independence and strength after 50, those classes either exist with their own timetable or do not exist at all. A machine room solves neither.
How we do it, so you can see if it fits
We're a functional training gym in Buarcos, and the way we work is easy to sum up: there's always a coach in the class, from the warm-up to the final stretch. Someone walking in for the first time does the same workout as someone who's been here for three years, with different weights and adapted movements.
No contract. You stay with us for as long as you're happy with what we offer. The day that changes, you're free to leave.
If you want a better idea of what we do, the gym in Figueira da Foz page explains the classes and the space, and CrossFit is where most people who join us start. If you've never done anything like this, this beginner's guide answers the usual questions, and the reason people who train in a group give up less explains a good part of what happens here.
The best way to decide is the simplest
No table replaces an hour in the room. Pick two or three places that pass the seven-question test, book a class at each one at the time you will actually train, and decide afterwards.
Your first class at Revolution is free, needs no experience at all and doesn't make you decide anything that day. Bring workout clothes and a water bottle, and we'll take care of the rest. Book your class and come and see what it's like.
If you've been putting this off for months, maybe the problem was never choosing the gym. That's a different article, and it's probably the one you need to read next.
If what's holding you back is the idea that CrossFit is only for people who are already fit, it's worth reading what changes from person to person in CrossFit before you rule it out.
