Please help me decide!
 

Curves or Planet Fitness? I have Chronic Myofascial Pain Syndrome so going to a "regular" gym scares me. I worry about injuring myself so Curves is the safe choice but on the other hand I am concerned I will not get a workout that is worth the time and effort. I am 37 yo and am beyond out of shape. All input is welcome!!! :lifter: :ebike: :tread:

I don't know what to tell you to help you decide....I like Curves since it is all women and I wouldn't feel self conscious...however, they have limited hours in the area where I live (they close for lunch appr. 2 hrs every day and they are closed on sundays). I have never heard of Planet Fitness :( sorry.

With your condition, it may not be a bad idea to "play it safe". At curves, you get out of it what you put into it! Though, at other gyms, they have similar equipment that will serve the same purpose. That means you could 'push it' on other equipment those days that you are feeling up to it. Not to mention the classes you could participate in, like Yoga or Pilates. Just some thoughts!

I'm not familiar with your condition but I think you'd be better off with Planet Fitness. You can't really add any variety to a Curves workout, unless you're doing other exercising outside of the gym. Planet Fitness will give you more options and there are probably machines and classes that can accommodate your condition.

Curves for me was a good place to start when I decided to get in shape.

Curves is a good place to start then switch over to the regular gym or start slowly in a regular gym. You can hire a personal trainer for a couple of sessions and go from there...

Find out if your local Curves has Curves Smart. If it does, then sign up for it because believe me it makes you work out harder than if you didn't have it. It's basically like having a personal trainer. I go to Curves because it's not even a half mile from my house and I like that it is only women. I did curves many many years ago and when I started again in August I signed up for the Curves Smart and it is way more work than before. I usually leave there dripping in sweat!

I like Curves and did for quite awhile until I broke my shoulder (not at Curves !)That eliminated a lot of the things I could do at Curves. I would go back if I could use my shoulder again.

PLANET FITNESS!

I actually work at Planet Fitness in Michigan and honestly, best gym I have ever been to...and I am not saying that just because I work there. I have belonged to every gym you could think of including Curves. The problem with curves is that you are limited to a 30 minute circuit workout, and nothing else.

Now, the best part about Planet Fitness is that it is COMFORTABLE. It is based on the "Judgement Free Zone" which means there are no body builders....most of the people that go there are people that are trying to lose weight or just get healthy so you will definitly not feel out of place.

The best part is that they offer free fitness classes. The first one is "Design your own program", which is where you sit down with the personal trainer and they design a program for you based on your goals, and you can ask them for whatever advice. The rest of the classes teach you how to use all of the equipment properly including the cardio and strength machines. So learning how to use all of the machines is a given!

They also have a thing called the PF Express which is a 30 minute circuit workout....which is the same thing that Curves offers.

I hope that this was helpful, if you have any questions feel free to ask.

OK my decision isssss......Planet Fitness! YAY!! While Curves is closer to work, it is closed on the weekends and is a bit out of my price range. Thanks to skirsten for her advice which really helped me choose.

Great choice :bravo:

A finess center closed on the weekends? What are they thinking????

Yeah I thought it was very strange too but it is downtown in the Capitol area so I guess they figure no one is going to go there unless they are also going to work. :dunno: