Ronny Terry is a Swindon-based personal trainer and fitness writer.
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FINDING the right gym is as important a decision as buying a house, selecting a new car, or wearing heels or flats (so I am told).

Your chances of success in search of fitness related goals can be enhanced or diminished depending on whether your gym is the right fit for you.

If you’re serious about fitness, you will spend a bare minimum of three hours a week there, so it is important to choose an environment you think you can enjoy or, at least, tolerate for this time.

Whatever you do, do not sign up for a gym membership without looking around the place first.

Visit at the time you think you are most likely to go on a regular basis and get a feel for the general ambience. It’s not important exactly how many treadmills a gym has, but it does matter how many are usually free during the times you want to run on one. This is also your opportunity to ask staff specific questions based on what you want to get out of your time there.

All gyms have strengths and weaknesses. If your long-term goal is to be a professional bodybuilder, you are obviously more suited to an iron-dense bodybuilding gym, than a hotel with a few neoprene dumbbells scattered around one of its old conference rooms.

Some facilities have comprehensive timetables of branded fitness classes, while others put on a few chaotic circuit classes. Both technically ‘do classes’. But the disparity in seemingly identical commercial gyms may only be visible upon a closer inspection so, once again, it’s important to go in and see things for yourself.

The location of your gym may also be important. If it’s on the way to work or local to home, you’ll find fewer excuses not to go. If your friends are also members, this may increase your adherence – but ensure you’re not just going in for a chat.

Equipment maintenance, cleanliness, wi-fi, and music policy are other details that may make or break your fitness regime and can only be experienced first-hand.

You’re never more than a few miles from a gym in Swindon, so make sure you choose the right one for you by going in and looking around.