Do due diligence before signing on the dotted line

In even the smallest of towns, you're sure to find a health club, personal training facility, or gym. Many bigger cities even offer fitness centers that are open 24 hours. Hell, you can even get a gym workout in at some airports these days!! But, knowing which is the best place for you to start doling out your hard earned cash involve some steps.

• First, be honest with yourself about your level of commitment. If you're a first-time exerciser and not quite sure if a gym workout is really for you, seek out the most inexpensive fitness center you can find (but make sure they still provide you with more than enough fitness options -- i.e. weights, cardio machines, classes, etc.). There's no sense in spending a fortune on a gym membership you never use.

• Second, find a comfort level and go from there. If you walk into a gym for the first time, only to find that everyone in it appears to be a direct descendant of Adonis, you may feel somewhat insecure. Being a newbie to the fitness scene may cause you to skip your workout.. Prevent this from happening entirely by being comfortable in a gym before you sign anything.

• Third, find out about a gym's payment structure. Is it monthly? Bi-monthly? Weekly? Yearly? Also, do they use EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) or are you required to make regular payments by cash or check? Also, find out if the place is even solvent. You don't want to be all psyched about starting a new, positive life for yourself by joining a gym, only to have the gym close down a week later because they went bankrupt (and took your 6-month membership payment with them).

Other questions you can ask are whether or not they offer personal training services (and if so, are any of the sessions included for free with your membership), what their hours of operation are, if they offer childcare (to watch your kids while you workout), how busy they get during certain hours of the day, how long they've been in operation, and what group classes they offer. Do due diligence before singing on the dotted line and you should be just fine.