The gym: hell for many, a haven for the true believers.

The gym is an interesting environment, a subculture to anyone from Stay at home moms to jacked monsters. At any given time you can find someone grunting at the top of their lungs from max lift and at the other end of the gym someone barely pedaling the bike while talking about Game of Thrones. With this in mind, you have to ask yourself, what do I want out of a gym? With so many gym lifestyles out there how do you know what to chose? Well, as any good buddhist monk will tell you, the answer is within yourself. Here are the top 5 questions you should ask yourself before joining a gym.

#1 Goals

What are your goals? Do you just want to be generally fit and look good in a t-shirt? Do you want to be strong and athletic but not too bulky? Are you training for a specific sport? Are you trying to bodybuild?

Depending on your goals you’ve got to figure out which gym is best for you. For general fitness, maybe a Planet Fitness. For Strong and athletic, a NY Sports club, and for bodybuilding a Gold’s gym. Depending on what you’re going for, there’s the right gym out there.

#2 Price range

What’s in your wallet? No, really. While most patrons want the gym with the sauna and hot towels, the real question is can you afford it and more importantly do you really need it? Sure Equinox looks awesome but for general fitness a decent amounts of weights and machines will suffice, that’s it. You want to keep your workout consistent and that probably won’t happen if you can’t pay your membership every couple of months. Be smart, go somewhere you can comfortably afford and stick with it.