Feeling trapped in a gym membership that no longer fits your lifestyle? You're not alone!
Look, our lives are complicated, and situations change. You might find that a gym membership just isn’t right for you anymore, and that’s ok. This realization can sometimes be surprisingly emotional, because it may mean that a certain season or phase of our life is ending, or, alternatively, is just beginning.
Whether you’re moving to a new city, have had a career change, or just want to save some money, we’re here to help.
So how do you actually go about breaking up with your gym? Read on to find out why it might make sense to cancel your gym membership, how to actually do that, and what to watch out for.
There are lots of reasons you might need to cancel your gym membership before your contract is up.
Some of the most common reasons for canceling a gym membership early are:
Maybe you were recently laid off and you need to cut back on expenses for a little while. Gym memberships can be expensive, and when your financial situation changes, it might make sense to cancel your membership. Even the most accessible gym memberships have begun increasing in price, and these kinds of rising fees or unexpected costs can add up.
Maybe your childcare situation has changed and you don’t have as much available time to go work out at a gym. Or you got a new job (congratulations!) and the hours are more demanding. Or you’ve gone back to school and have homework to do in the evenings now. During some seasons of our lives, we have less time to spend driving to and working out at a gym. That’s ok. If you’re in one of these seasons, it might make sense to cancel your gym membership.
Other times, cancellation makes sense because of logistics. For example, if you’re moving to a new city or state. While some large gym chains allow for members to access any location, you might not be a member of one of those large gyms, and your local gym doesn’t necessarily have a location in your new city. Canceling your gym membership might be the answer.
Finally, you may want to cancel your gym membership because you’re unhappy with the services provided. That’s ok, too. Sometimes we go into a gym membership with certain expectations about what our membership will provide, only to be dissatisfied or disappointed. It’s ok to realize this gym membership just isn’t a good fit for you.
So, what do you do if you decide to cancel your gym membership?
First, it’s important that you understand what exactly your gym’s cancellation policy is.
Every gym membership is different, so take a look at your contract and find out the details.
Things to look for include:
Once you understand under what circumstances your gym allows you to cancel, and what they require of you in order to do so, you’re ready to move forward.
When you’re ready to cancel your gym membership early, there are a few concrete steps you can take to make sure everything runs smoothly (but we also have tips below for how to handle it when they don’t!)
Ready to cancel your membership? Ok! Here’s what you need to do:
Even if you follow the steps above to cancel your gym membership, there’s still the chance you’ll run into some obstacles.
For example, your gym may refuse to let you cancel early, or may refuse to give you a refund. If this happens, you may need to escalate. What does that look like?
Depending on your situation, you might seek guidance from your gym management or customer service team. Some gyms have customer service representatives or management in an office in the gym, so you might stop by to follow-up in person.
Leave public reviews or social media posts explaining the situation. The goal here is not to be vindictive. Instead, be matter-of-fact and objective in your posts or comments, explaining the situation without getting heated. Ideally, your gym will let you end your membership early or provide a refund as a way of responding to these negative reviews.
Some places you might leave reviews or tag the gym in your comments include:
You might also file a complaint with your State Attorney General’s Consumer Complaint/Protection agency. Some cities also have Consumer Complaint/Protection agencies, so check and see if your city has one.
Another issue you may run into is concerns about your credit score. In some cases, any remaining balances on your gym membership can be sent to collections agencies. In other cases, some people may try to dispute credit card charges from their gym. Depending on how these situations play out, you may find that your credit score is impacted.
Be sure to read your contract closely and understand exactly what your responsibilities are (when and how you need to cancel) to ensure you avoid these kinds of situations.
As a last resort, you might need to consider legal options. Legal expenses can be costly, both in terms of the money you’ll need to spend on legal fees but also in terms of how much time legal proceedings can take. But if you paid a very large sum of money for your gym membership (such as for a year in advance), or find yourself with a large amount of cancellation fees, it might be worth pursuing legal options, or at least threatening to do so.
These situations can all be stressful, but they do happen sometimes. If you find yourself needing to navigate one of these obstacles in canceling your gym membership, remember to stay calm and confident.
You’ve got this!
Gym memberships can be great, but they don’t work for everyone, and they certainly don’t work for everyone all the time.
We all go through different seasons in our lives, and even if a gym membership once worked well for you, it may not anymore. That’s ok! Recognizing that it’s time for a change and doing something about it can be incredibly empowering. If it feels like a gym membership isn’t working for you right now, there are some concrete steps you can take to cancel your membership.
You likely aren’t canceling your gym membership because you don’t care about your health and fitness. Of course you do. It just might be time to find a fitness routine that’s a better fit for where you’re currently at.
As you’re thinking about what’s next, consider what might be a better fit for you than your gym membership was. Do you need something more cost-effective? Something that allows you to work out from home, or while you’re traveling? Something more personalized than a big box gym can provide? Or something else?
Trainwell provides consistent, personalized, flexible long-term support with the ideal combination of real human trainers and advanced fitness technology. And best of all, all of trainwell’s plans can be canceled at any time to prevent renewal, avoiding all the hassle you might have just experienced with canceling your gym membership.
Ready to get started? Great! Trainwell offers a free 14-day trial so you can see if this fitness experience provides everything you’re looking for. Explore trainwell’s 14-day free trial to find your next personal trainer: https://join.trainwell.net/
Written by Ella Browning.
