I have been faffing about looking for a gym for several years now. After some back trouble following our move and evaluating my horrible posture sitting in a desk at work all day, I thought I should start taking fitness more seriously.

The truth is, I am terribly out of shape. I may be on the low end of the BMI scale, but I have no muscle mass, my flexibility is awful and my endurance is pitiful.

I have many excuses why I should not join a gym. There are none in the town I work in, so going during lunch like Kay isn’t an option. I’m worried that going in the morning is impossible and going after work will ruin my already pitiful social life. I like life right now.

I’m worried that if I gain more muscles I will start eating more and it will increase my grocery bill. Or I’ll lose weight and have to buy new clothes. I’m worried that whenever we move and have kids or whatever happens, I’ll just stop exercising and it will all have been for nothing… except a drain on my bank account.

If I start going to a gym, I’ll have to organize showering, changing clothes, and doing my hair and makeup before work outside the home. I’ll also have to organize how to keep my pack lunches cold because I normally just stick them in my purse for the ride to work. I’d have to organize a gym bag and shoes and workout clothes.

That sounds like a lot of BS. But I realize that I do need to start taking my health more seriously and that I am too much of a wimp to run every day or swim, especially when the weather is awful so much of the year. If am I going to commit to exercising regularly, I’m positive that I need access to a gym or it won’t happen.

TMLSS: I’m lazy and gyms are expensive. Here are my options:

Migros Fitness Park

Annual Membership:  1200CHF ($1341)
Opening Hours:
Weekdays: 8:00 – 22:00
Weekends: 9:00 – 20:00
Locations: Zürich city center, old town

None of the Fitness parks are in very convenient locations to public transportation. They are in good spots if you would live by them, but for people coming through Zürich they would be difficult to walk or take a tram to quickly. The best part about them is that they are open so late on the weekend. 24H gyms do not exist in this country.

 

Activ Fitness

Annual Membership:
1Y – 740CHF ($827)
2Y – 1280CHF ($1430 or $715 a year)
Opening Hours:
MWF: 09.00 – 22.00
TR:  6.30 – 22.00
Weekends and Holidays: 09.00 – 18.00
Locations: Zürich Central, Tiefenbrunnen and from Jan 31, Oerlikon

Activ fitness would be an all right option, but they are only open early two days a week. 9:00am is a bit too late to go to in the morning, even for locations that are closer to my workplace. I mean… I have to be at work at 9:00!

The central location is not that convenient for me in Zürich because it is not quick to get to from the main train stations. Really, every minute counts in the morning and a 5 minute walk vs a 15 minute walk is a huge difference, especially if it is a raining. Walking through the busiest part of the city with trams, buses, cars and people on the roads among the elements does not make the gym sound more attractive…

But Active is opening a new gym in Oerlikon at the end of this month. Shame is just that it is also going to have the same hours as the other gyms.

Intercity Card: Migros Fitness Park and Activ together

Annual Membership:  1420CHF ($1587)
Opening Hours:
MWF: 8:00 – 22:00
TR:  6.30 – 22.00
Weekends and Holidays: 9:00 – 20:00
Locations: Zürich Central, Tiefenbrunnen and from Jan 31, Oerlikon

The intercity card offers many gyms in the price of one, but the only ones around Zürich are Migros and Activ, so it’s like having a combined offer for those gyms. It’s such an expensive card though and it doesn’t really help you out on the early morning timings, so for me, it’s not worth the crazy price.

Kieser Training

Annual Membership:
1Y – 990CHF ($1106)
2Y – 1690CHF ($1889 or $945 a year)
2Y – 2290CHF ($2560 or $853 a year)
Opening Hours:
Weekdays: 6.30 – 21.00
Weekends and Holidays: 09.00 – 18.00
Locations: Zürich Enge, Hardbrücke, Oerlikon

Kieser is pricey but they have great hours and good locations. The gym is open early enough that I could go at either location before work easily. It maybe closes a little early, but I honestly don’t think you would catch me staying at the gym until 10pm during the week and the weekend hours are decent.

I’m not sure if it is worth signing on for a 3 year membership to get the lower price though. That is a huge commitment!

Silhouette

Annual Membership:  699CHF ($781) plus a one time registration fee of 59CHF ($66)
Opening Hours: (depending on location)
Weekdays: 06:30 – 22:00
Weekends: 9:00 – 18:00
Locations: Zürich Bellevue, Wipkingen, Langstrasse, Badenerstrasse

I believe annual fee for Silhouette is usually around 1000CHF. They are having a special right now for an 899CHF introductory membership, but I can get a discount through Kay to have a membership for 699CHF. I’m strongly considering it because it is a great price compared to the others, but I am hesitating a little.

The Bellevue location has great hours, but the Wipkingen location is only open 9:00am – 9:30pm.  It doesn’t make a huge difference, but it’s nice to have options since Wipkingen is a bit more convenient to get to from home than Bellevue.

Update Fitness

Annual Membership:  690CHF ($771)
Opening Hours:
Weekdays:  08.00 – 9:30pm
Saturday: 09.00 – 17.00
Sundays and holidays: 09.00 – 14.00
Locations: None in Zürich

Yes, I know it’s not in Zürich, but this gym is so cheap! It also has a handy “stop card” for 90CHF that lets you pause your membership while you are away on holidays, which could be handy for people who want to switch to running and swimming outdoors in the summertime.

However it’s not really in the direction of work and it’s not open early enough to go to before work, so it’s out of the running. The weekend hours, especially Sunday, kind of stink though. It closes at 14:00? I would always be stressed to get up and get ready to go before it closed.

Exersuisse

Annual Membership:
1Y – 1040CHF ($1162)
2Y – 1750CHF ($1956 or $978 a year)
3Y 2250CHF ($2515 or $838 a year)
Opening Hours:
Weekdays: 07:00–22:00
Weekends: 09:00–18:00
Locations: Zürich downtown, Zürich Oerlikon

The Zürich downtown location is sort of close to the main train station, but would probably be a time hog to walk and from in the morning on the way to work. The Oerlikon location is closer to the train station, but it opens slightly too late for me to go for an hour, shower and then get to work on time. It is also a bit too expensive for my taste.

I think Exersuisse is a gym I might have joined in Luzern if I worked there longer because it would have been convenient to have access to the Exersuisse locations outside of the Zürich region. For people commuting longer distances, it is worth looking up gyms with widespread locations included in the membership package. Not all gyms are cross-cantonal and not all gyms include membership access in the different cities.

My problem in deciding which gym to go to is that I cannot decide where it should be in relation to work and home.

If the gym could be close enough to work that I could go there during lunch, that would be perfect. But a gym like this does not exist, so if the gym is close to work, but not home… I would probably never go on the weekends.

I am guessing that it would probably work best to go to a gym that is closer to home so that I have the weekend option, but if the gym does not open up early enough then I cannot go before work, which also cuts down on how often I can go and for how long.

I thought of joining one vaguely close to work, but it was over $1500 a year, which I thought was a bit excessive since I still wouldn’t be able to go at lunchtime with the distance.

With all the options, I keep procrastinating on choosing!

How much do gyms in your area cost?