It’s nice to take a break from unpacking boxes, placing furniture, and trying to find the cat among all the chaos. You need a trip to the gym. However, you don’t know your way around your new city, and you’re not sure what the gyms around here offer. How about some tips for finding a gym in your new town?

1. A Speedy Discovery

Anyone who works out knows that the least little thing can prevent you from exercising. Moving is a great excuse not to work out. There are all those boxes to unpack, you see, and it takes time to acclimate yourself to your new job, and you’ve gotten lost going to the grocery store. Again.

Anyone who exercises knows that not working out is the easiest thing to do. Unfortunately, the body soon returns to the state in which you first declared “this will not stand!” (thanks, Jane Lynch.) The sooner you locate and attend your new gym, the sooner you can hold the excuses at bay. The sooner you can de-stress, the better.

2. It’s About Location

Folks who’ve just moved to a new town aren’t aware just yet of what is further away from your new home and what isn’t. Google maps aren’t any help, because you don’t know your new city that well just yet. You’re in danger of signing up for a gym on the other side of the county.

When a gym is too far away to attend, you tend not to go. Contracts being what they are, you might be locked into that far away place for a year. That means a year of doing what workouts you can at home without the machinery that challenges you. Not good.

Ask your new neighbors, your new friends at work, and anyone on social media who might know where the nearest gym is located. Give yourself a chance to get it right the first time, before you get it wrong due to shyness or reluctance to ask what you fear might be a silly question.

3. The Price Of Health

The cost of something is usually the first consideration we explore. When it comes to fitness, however, that consideration narrows down our choices. Most folks decide which gym to join by considering what they each charge.

Almost all gyms are alike in the machines they use, the classes they offer, the personal trainers, and so on. Some gyms have pools and saunas, others don’t. Some are open 24/7, others aren’t. Can you can pay for membership month to month, instead of signing a contract? Most importantly, make sure you study any contract carefully for well hidden clauses. Sometimes, it also pays off to look at the features beyond the previously mentioned ones. See if the new gym has gym tracking software in place. This is usually a good sign that all their services are of the best quality.

4. Check It Out Personally

Don’t just take the word of a virtual tour for the fitness, pardon the pun, of the facility you’re considering joining. Go the facility yourself to look around. You need to see how clean they keep the facility, if you can come to the gym only to use one machine or join one class, if the price reflects this desire, and more. You should know if the staff are helpful and friendly as well as those who attend the gym. After all, friendships are made at the gym. Since you’re the new kid in town, make some new friends.