I was a member of Curves for one year and I liked it quite a bit. It can be a good solution for some women and offers many benefits. I enjoyed the 30 minute circuit and did like the fact that it gives you a full body workout, with a combination of cardio and muscle toning. I liked that you switched stations every 30 seconds so you never had time to get bored doing one thing for too long. The music in the background and the constant change seemed to help me stay focused on the task instead of counting the minutes until I was done.I also liked that they took a full body analysis instead of just looking at the scale for the end of the month results. You not only knew if you were losing weight, but how much fat and and how many inches you lost as well. They had plenty of contests and other incentives to keep you motivated.
Of course some people do not like that you have to do the circuit as they line it out and some people do not like, or are not able, to switch stations that quickly. My main problem with my local Curves was their hours of operation. I am a stay at home, homeschooling mom, so I am not free to get to the gym during the hours my husband is at work. That means I have to run to the gym the moment he gets home, or sometime after dinner, yet I needed time for my food to settle before going. Because of that, it was difficult for me to make it through the week. I needed more time on the weekend. However, my gym was only open on Saturdays from 8am until noon and they were closed on Sunday. I was getting up each morning and getting there at 8 each Saturday. Sometimes I was standing there waiting up to a half an hour before the staff showed up. Eventually they started closing on Saturday and Sunday. To make matters worse, they stopped being open until 8 and started closing at 7 (the hour I would sometimes make it after my dinner had settled). They were also closed from 1-3 each day which is my favorite time of the day to workout. If I did perhaps have a sitter at that time (hubby off of work or grandma over) I still couldn't do it at that time. They just did not operate at hours that were convenient for me, so when my contract was up, I stopped going. I am sure in larger cities the hours are more flexible but the hours here made it almost impossible for me to make it just 3 times a week, and I longed to workout more than that.
I quit Curves and went to a 24 hour gym, but found that boring simply running on a treadmill and things like that. It was also not as "female" friendly. So, when we got our taxes that year we bought us our own treadmill and now I use that once a week or so to break up my exercise video workouts. At least by owning the treadmill I don't have the expense of a monthly gym fee. However, if their schedule had allowed for it, I might have enjoyed staying a member of Curves.
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