[Liliann]

Hello Ladies,

I am curious if anyone on here is a member of Curves? I have one near my home and am strongly thinking about joining it. I need that exercise and social commitment. Doing at home exercise is no fun, which I do a day or 2 and give up. Next month I will see my medical doctor if he gives me the go to do the Curves workout. My main concern of my joints when doing machine exercise. I have heard great things about Curves.. Thank you for any feedbacks..

[Penney]

Hi! For me Curves has been great.... everyone's experience is a little bit different - because Curves are franchised - some of them do things a little bit different than other places. Some have different rules (like no talking while on the circuit - weird I know - thank goodness it is not mine). My Curves is really fantastic - very energetic and very supportive.

I highly recommend going and checking it out -most Curves will give you one week free to see if you like going there.

Someone on another thread mentioned that she did not enjoy Curves as much as she has enjoyed going to Bally fitness. So - if you don't like Curves - that's another option for you.

But - as far as your joints go - I have had absolutely no problem there - there is no impact with the equipment at Curves - the only place where there is impact is on the recovery boards, in between pieces of equipment - you walk/jog/step/dance whatever you want to do - so that is as high or as low impact as you want.

Good luck and whichever you choose - I hope you really enjoy it!

[Xena2005]

I used to be a Curves member and while I went I enjoyed it. It was nice to know I could get a workout in in 30 minutes and I enjoyed the comraderie. For me a drawback was my height that made a few of the machines (leg extensions being the one I remember most) not really fitting me. The machines are not adjustable to height. Even if they were, there isn't time to adjust for each individual person as you switch stations every 1 or 2 minutes. Eventually I got bored with the Curves workout and switched to a regular gym.

All that being said, I credit Curves with getting me back into the swing of exercising. I think you should give it a try. There are many members who happily work out there for years and do lose weight.

[Christine in CA]

I went to Curves regularly for about a year (about a year ago), and I went into it with lower back problems (including sciatica), thinking that if I could lose some weight and strengthen my muscles, it would help my back. Because of this, I had to skip about 3 machines each time around the circuit (especially the twisting one) because they just didn’t feel right on my back. Anyway, at the end of the first year I decided it was hurting my back more than helping it, and cancelled my membership. It was definitely fun, quick and it made me lose several inches fast, however, I didn’t really lose weight because I wasn’t ready to change my diet just yet. I would definitely do what Penney suggested and try it out for a week. If your joints just aren't "feeling right" while using the machines, it may not be the thing for you right now. I hope it works out for you though!

[Liliann]

Thank you ladies for the great input on this. I will check it out next month and take it from there!