As a Team Beachbody Coach, I have offered what I believe to be a superior opportunity to having a gym membership. But like religions, you don’t say my religion is better than yours and I have not said that Team Beachbody is better than paying to go to a gym.
Today that changed to the tune of -$147.95. I had maintained a family membership for years at Del Norte Sports & Wellness and they are part of the Wellbridge family of athletic clubs, spas and fitness centers but never once worked out there. The only thing that we did was swim once a week in the winter and then swim almost every day in the summer. Even with that minimum usage of the facility, I was still charged full price for the family membership.
At home, I can work out at any time of the day or night doing P90X, ChaLEAN Extreme, Insanity – in fact, I own every Team Beachbody workout DVD except Brazil Butt Lift. No matter what the weather was outside, no matter how pressed for time I was, I had the ultimate excuse busters. But swimming at the gym was an expense that I justified.
On March 1st, 2010, my then wife went to the gym and paid for the next month’s membership on her card because I was a little short of money. My understanding was that my ex-wife to be (of course I didn’t know that at the time – that was my Facebook April Fools joke) would then be paying for the membership on her card.
April 1st came and I was not billed for the membership and, of course, I had other things on my mind as my wife of almost 9 years moved out that day. But low and behold, on April 20th, the membership fee was billed to an account which was slated to be closed and had a zero balance in it and now, with the $35.00 overdraft fee, there is a -$147.95 in that account. Two calls to Wellbridge proved fruitless, because as I was told, you are billed for membership and not for usage (we no longer go swimming there as a family) and there was no hint of compassion or understanding.
So, the gloves come off and now I will speak freely and openly about the clear advantages of a Team Beachbody Club membership over a gym membership and why there are so many more reasons to do in home workouts like P90X, Power 90, Turbo Jam, Hip Hop Abs, etc. instead of paying that expensive gym fee each month, which oftentimes means that you are paying when you don’t even go. In fact, for the price of one of those workouts – about the price of a one month individual gym membership – you get 60 to 90 days of complete workouts with the equivalent of having a nationally known trainer, and a full nutrition plan. The choice is yours, but I paid the price of having a “luxury” gym membership and I have learned an expensive lesson in the process.
