The fitness and health industry is forever growing and changing. I live in an area that has had several gyms disappear and several in the last years have popped up – it’s steady in both ways, we actually are getting more gyms now than before. 

And if you are like me and my husband, you may wonder if you are a big box gym person or a boutique gym person, and it took a long time for my husband and I to decide, so with research, personal experience (working and being a customer) and the help of my husband I was able to come up with the pros and cons of both. And yes, we have done both big box gyms and boutique gyms.

Let’s begin with the big box gyms, in the United States these gyms are consider (but not limited too) the following franchises-

• 24 Hour Fitness.
• Anytime Fitness.
• Crunch Fitness.
• Equinox Fitness.
• Gold’s Gym.
• LA Fitness.

These gyms are considered any gym that offers a gym area with free weights or cardio equipment, as well as group fitness classes and training. So when making your decision of a place to join, if you think you are a big box gym person, consider the following:

If you still are not sure, here are the facts of a boutique gym. Boutique gyms are consider small gyms that focuses on group exercise and specializes in one or two fitness area.

Now for various types of boutique gyms, here are just a few types to name a few

• [solidcore] (Pilates)
• Barre Code (Barre)
• Row House (Rowing)
• Cyclebar (Cylce)
• Stride (Treadmill)
• Volofit (HIIT)
• Mayweather Boxing + Fitness (Boxing)

Now when making your decision of a place to a boutique gym, if there is one that you are considering joining, consider the following:

We are not here to sway a decision either way, which to join if you are looking to join a gym, just consider the above before making you decision. We have done both and never regretted each decision we made with each gym we have joined. We are essentially both a big box AND boutique people, with a home gym, and I of course run. So we were not influenced by anyone with this article, it’s all our opinion.

Therefore the bigger question now is, ARE YOU A BIG BOX PERSON, BOUTIQUE PERSON, OR BOTH?