How far would you drive to the gym? High gas price

[mommymatriarch]

Before my husband and I got married, (4 years ago) my way of exercise was teaching 10 dance classes a week. In fact I never really thought about making a "point" to exercise because each day was active enough. But then my husband got a job 300 miles away, we were married and then moved. I realized how much I missed my active lifestyle and took up running in our small town. I fell in love with running. But some months later, a new friend of mine invited me to go to a class with her at her gym that was in a bigger city about 25 miles away. That class was life changing for me. I had never been in one room before where there was so much energy and you could feel that all of us were in there for a common purpose. I must say that this gym is not a franchise, has 3 total branches in the one city and it so awesome and unique on it's own. So I decided to join. It was my chance to go to a top of the line gym, make some "workout buddies," learn so much about health and fitness, and also do whatever else I wanted while I was in town. Now 4 years later, I still love the gym just as much, if not more, but man, gas prices are insane. Our county has the 3rd highest gas prices in the state. My husband and I each have a vehicle, and both don't get the best mpg. We're holding off a little longer to get a GMC Terrain that gets great mpg for an SUV. Anyway, point is, I now just go to the 3 times a week for my favorite classes. Two of them are circuit training which is led by my friend who is a personal trainer. That class is packed out because it's so awesome. And once a week I go to a high impact dance aerobics type class to fill the dancer in me. So one round trip to the gym is almost 50 miles. I do try to kill two birds with one stone by doing some other errands, but man, gas prices are eating up our money!! To be honest, I don't plan to quit going to the gym anytime soon, I love it too much. But tell me, how far would you be willing to drive to a gym that you absolutely love and see results from? What are your gas prices right now? We're sitting at $3.39 Which amazingly enough sounds pretty cheap to me compared to what we've been at lately.

[Deleted]

About two years ago a friend opened a gym and I signed up for a 6 week boot camp. From my work to the gym was 23 miles.

Fell in love with the gym - instructors, and the friends I made and continued going for about 18 months. My office moved, which cut the distance to 17 miles. My usual schedule was 2x during the week plus Saturday.

Even with the travel time, I never had to "force" myself to go and was getting great results - so I knew it was the right place for me and truly worth it. Unfortunately they closed otherwise I'd still be doing it :-)

Also I live in RI and typically people think you're crazy for doing anything not in the same town you live in - HA!

[MrsE]

I drive less than 2 miles to my gym, and on Thursdays I actually prefer to run to the gym and back because it actually saves me time. Honestly, I would not drive more than 5 miles to get to the gym during the week days. That said, I live in the DC suburbs, and traffic is insane so 5 miles often means 25 minutes of driving (on a good day). Time is money. How long does it take you to drive those 25 miles? Is it closer to 25 minutes or is it upwards of an hour like it would be here? On the weekends, I'll go with DH to a newer branch of our gym that has some pretty sweet upgrades, but it's 10 miles away and luckily there isn't as much traffic so we can get there in about 15 minutes. I would definitely maximize errands on your way to/from the gym if you're driving that far because it will definitely eat up your gas. Is it worth it to you in gas money and time to get a great workout and attend a class you enjoy? If so, it sounds worth the investment.

[audette]

I'm on the opposite side of things. I have free access to several gyms not too far away.

But, I have since found a gym that is _very_ close to home (I telecommute, so this is close to work, too), and the monthly membership is less than I was spending in gas to go to the other gyms I had free access to.

I also save 50-60 minutes a day in the car by going to the gym closer to home.


All of that being said, I am not particularly attached to classes, or to any particular element at either gym. I do cardio and some weights, and both gyms would work equally well for me. If it means not having to push yourself to go because you _want_ to go to the gym that is a bit of a drive from home, and it's not breaking the gas money budget, then I don't see a problem driving to the gym you mentioned.

[mommymatriarch]

Oh yea it's definitely worth it to me. Like I said, I don't plan on quitting the gym anytime soon, I was just curious to see what other people think. But you bring up a good point. Depending on traffic and where you live, sometimes just 10 miles can take 30 minutes. Luckily I can hop on the interstate to get to my gym. It takes me about 22-25 minutes to there on the norm. It just sucks that the gas gets sucked up so quickly. But hey, that's more incentive for me to talk H into getting me a newer SUV with better gas mileage.

[ckinla]

Our gas prices are almost 4 dollars (Los Angeles), but gym is halfway between work and home (and on the same route, so I don't even go out of my way) and is about 2 miles to get there from either direction. Honestly, I wouldn't want to go much further than that… it's literally a 5 minute drive on the weekends, but during the week with traffic it takes up to 45 minutes. But, if you love it and it doesn't bother you (and you can afford it), I say keep doing it! I would cut out extra money from someplace else in your budget to make it work.

[mrshandy]

I would never drive that far to get to a gym, but I live in the DC area and 25 miles could easily take an hour or much more.

Kudos to you! I dropped my membership to Gold's Gym since I was too lazy to drive the 2 miles or so. I prefer running outdoors and joined our city fitness center which is a quarter mile or so from our place.

[ebeth]

if 25 mi=25 min that doesn't seem so bad. I wouldn't commit to a 25 mi drive each way multiple times/week but it takes me like 45 min to drive the 10 mi between my house and work (when I drive).

and 50 mi @ $3.40/gal is ~$10/RT (depending on your gas mileage). that's what some people spend on cigarettes daily. plus it sounds important to you and if it's important you can find a way to afford it.

[hjohnson050711]

i would drive up to 30 miles round trip but that would be my limit. right now our avg gas is about $3.12

[sullie7173]

My gym is about 20 miles away and it takes me anywhere from 20-30 minutes to get there. I love this gym and am so motivated to go that it doesnt matter to me time, distance or gas price... it has been worth it. I have been going there for over a year and a half and go 5 times a week. It is about halfway between my house and work (i work about 40 miles away) so once or twice a week I go right from work.. however since it is a classes only gym this usually involves me hanging around for a bit or working late so i dont do that every night. In the end yes it is a lot of driving but it has always been worth it to me

[carilyn]

I can't imagine spending that much time in a car just to work out. My gym is about 15 min away...and apparently that is too far because I never go. I prefer to run outside instead. Our gas prices are at $3.80 right now, which is down from $3.99 a few weeks ago. $3.39 sounds heavenly . We have some of the cheaper gas in our state...we have a lot of taxes on our gas for road improvements, etc. I guess I'm really cheap. It wouldn't matter how much I loved the gym, classes, etc, that is just too much driving, even if gas prices were 0.99 a gallon!

[dakotadangerdog]

Hard to say. I love love love my box, but I don't know how good I'd be about going if it was too far away. I don't care about the gas mileage, more the time. I don't want to spend half my free time in the afternoon driving that far.

[goldfish]

I just filled up for $3.53 today.

I would not drive 25 miles to a gym even if it only took 25 minutes because I WAH and have everything I need within 5 min. If it were my only option or I really, really loved it - maybe. But it's hard enough to get me to the gym .5 miles away so really my opinion is jaded!

[Brie]

It sounds like you really love this despite the downfalls, and people spend their money and time on far dumber crap every day. This sounds like a great social outlet, and it's keeping you healthy.

Really, it winds up being the cost of probably a Starbucks drink or breakfast every day. If you can afford it, I don't see the problem!

[2doxies]

Jun 26, 2012 17:59:45 GMT -5 Brie said:

It sounds like you really love this despite the downfalls, and people spend their money and time on far dumber crap every day. This sounds like a great social outlet, and it's keeping you healthy.

Really, it winds up being the cost of probably a Starbucks drink or breakfast every day. If you can afford it, I don't see the problem!

I agree with this - if I loved it as much as it sounds like you do and I had the time, I would do it. I'm kind of bummed right now because my schedule doesn't allow me to try different classes and I think that mixing it up would really keep me motivated and excited.

[mommainthesouth]

Hmm. Hard to say. I have a 30 mile commute to work. So if my gym was 30 miles away, it would probably be close to work. I certainly wouldn't go ANOTHER 25/30 miles to a gym, on top of my commute. But then again- I am going to boot camp right now at night and that's 15 miles the OPPOSITE direction from my home...so I go to work and back and then go the opposite way to boot camp and back. It's a bit of a unique situation for right now (too long to explain) and I don't think I would do it long term. Like others have mentioned, the additional time in the car would mean way more to me than the cost of gas. I'm just sick of driving by the end of the day and need to be with my family.

[sadlebred]

To the gym, no more than 5 miles from home or work. For a bike ride, uh, maybe a few hours for a good one.

[BNL2]

I currently only have to travel about a mile to my gym. I still don't go very often, but I used to go 4-5 times a week and it was nice to have it so close. When I was younger, I lived in an itty bitty town that basically just had a post office and a liquor store. The closest bigger town was 13 miles away. I use to travel there just to go to a Curves. That was the only "gym" the town had. They eventually built a Y there and I would go to the Y too. The thing was, we basically had to go to that town for everything so the commute didn't seem that big of a deal. Whether I worked out or not, I would have traveled the same 26 mi round trip 3-5 times a week. It was better to get some health benefit from it.

[shorty20]

My gym is a 3 min. drive from work, but a 20 min. drive from home, so I normally only go during my lunch hour during the week. I have to drive to work anyway, so I'm already in the area.

The exception is for my Saturday morning boot camp. It kicks ass, so I'm willing to drive for it. If I didn't take that class though, I wouldn't go on the weekends due to the drive time.