okay i am back on low carbing. I would like to know if curves is as good as i hear! if you go and like it . what do you like about it and what dislikes about it if you have some. sue

i am wanting to join. they have a good special i think my be this coming week. sue

I called my nearest Curves last Friday. What I learned is that unless I am willing to have my payments automatically deducted from my checking account, they will charge me $10 more to pay by any other means. I've heard from three people now about the grief they've had with their Curves (3 different ones) when they ended their membership. It seems that each Curves franchise took at least three months to stop making the automatic checking account withdrawals. Because of how quickly they outgrew Curves and the ensuing problems with their quitting it, all three said they'd never do it again.

I did not clarify my above post. That is $10 more per month to pay by any other means than automatic checking withdrawal.

That 'over' draft issue is common with everyone that uses auto-checking-withdrawal.

Since I'm a male, I don't get to workout at curves, but I have a friend that owns one and from what I've seen, my opinion is that it's biggest drawback is that most, if not all women that use it like they should, will outgrow it pretty quickly. I suppose it would always be a good place to go burn some calories, but real muscle tone and strength will decline at some point.

On the other hand, I joined Curves about a month ago, and I really enjoy it.

While I agree that I will probably 'out grow' it eventually, I'm more likely to keep going and add in something else.

Why do I like it? It was easy to learn how everything works, it's women only so there is no meat market aspect, I know exactly how long it will take, and I enjoy it. I can definitely tell I'm losing inches, and I believe I'm adding muscle, although at my size it's hard to say for certain. If you work the machines properly you do get a good resistance work out.


Any place you sign a contract will be sticky about letting you out of it. Yes, they did want a year contract. If you sign up for a year and do automatic withdrawal it is $10 cheaper than if you go month to month.

When speaking to my local Curves person over the phone last week, I found her to be most helpful and courteous. I told her that I had special considerations. I must have sclerotherapy done on both legs sometime in the near future. The phlebologist told me there would be no cardio work with the legs several weeks post op. I wanted to know what else I could do during that time. I was told that if I can't do the circuit as it is, I must bring in a new written doctor's excuse for each month that I was unable to participate on the treadmill, etc. I would also have to do what I can on the other equipment and stand in place and "pretend" to be doing the moves on the machines that required the pounding of the feet. I think I'd get more out of a regular gym that required no doctor's excuse, no "pretend" and can offer alternate body workouts during my recover time.

There is a great Curves thread here:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...9&page=62&pp=15

This is my third week at Curves. Although I had a first initial bad experience (re: scheduling my first appointment to learn the machines), I really enjoy it. Everyone is very nice, it is all women, and it is a good work out. How much of a work out you get depends on how much resistance you use with each machine and whether you walk or jog on the pads. I also enjoy being on each machine for no more than 30 seconds and the fact that I don't have to wait around for someone to get off of a machine because there are only a select few. I give it two thumbs up.