I am just wondering, have any of you used Curves or known anyone who has? I have always failed misserably with excersize, but now I feel that I have my food intake under control, after 3 months of making a new life style for myself. I believe I am ready to under take a new excersize routine and be sucessful at it! :biggrin: I would love to try Curves, but wonder if you get a good work out from it... Thanks for any advice you all may have!

A LONG LONG time ago, I tried curves. I actually liked it, but the man I was married to didn't like me going, so, I stopped going.

I had my sugery August of last year and up until about a month ago, I had been going to a place called Main Street Fittness. I have finally realized that this place is basically just for men who want to work out to get big muscles and for women who want to use a tanning bed. So, I gave up my membership to this place.

I just got off the phone with Curves down where I live and I am going to start going there. They are open 6 days a week and for a 3 month membership it is only $100.00. I was paying $35.00 a month where I was going and found myself going less and less cause I didn't like going in when it was filled with nothing but men working out. 3 months at curves, $100.00 vs 3 months at mainstreet at $35.00 a month times 3 months is $105.00.

Curves seems like a better choice for me. Not only is it all women but they actually have someone there to help you with the equipment which the other place had only 1 person there and I could never seem to get there while he was there. So, who knows if I was actually ever using the equipment right or not.

Curves is a good place to go, so if you are thinking of getting a membership there, go head and do it.

IF you have the brand name Lap Band lap band, go to www. lapbandjourney.com and sign up for their program and you can get a discount on Curves.

I love CURVES. I lost inches while not even adjusting my eating habits--pre-band. Very low impact, and only 20 minutes 3 times a week. It does work! Hey...maybe I should go back... :biggrin:

IF you have the brand name Lap Band lap band, go to www. lapbandjourney.com and sign up for their program and you can get a discount on Curves.

brand name lap band lap band? What is the brand name lapband? :biggrin:

I go to Curve and love it, love it, love it. The exercise is not too strenuous but yet I still feel like I've worked out none the less. As for the discount with the lapband if you have the Allergan Lap Band and not the Realize band you can go to lapband.com and find out about a discount for new Curves members. I didn't qualify since I was a member pre-surgery but it looks like a pretty good deal for those who are new to Curves.

Good luck with your exercise whatever you decide to do.

Well, I guess that leaves me out. I have the realize band. I'm still going to join curves again though.

SlimCity...there are two manufacturers of lap bands. One is Johnson & Johnson, who makes the Realize Band. Realize is a trademark/brand name. The other is Allergan/Inamed and they make the Lap Band. That, too is actually a trademark/brand name. Your surgeon's office can tell you which one you have.

I joined Curves last week and have been there twice so far. I think it is an interesting program and I think it will work for me. For one thing, it is planned activity, I don't have to wonder what I am to do as I do in the gym. I paid for a two year membership at the gym and went maybe 10 times as I was confused on what to do. I hope that this works for me as my walking just isn't cutting it by itself anymore. Keep us informed on how you do with Curves and I will do the same. Another thing about Curves is that I can try it for a month without a contract to see if I like it before I join.

I am not banded yet (one week from today, AHHH!) but I wanted to jump in and say that I was a member of Curves for a year and a half until my local one closed.

One of the things I liked about it is that it is not intimidating like other regular gyms. There are people there to help you with the equipment, and the women that are there are very normal people. You don't see (at least, at mine) super competitive very atheletic body builder type: just regular average women that want to work out in a group-type setting. They usually make it fun for everyone by having stuff like weekly trivia questions with prizes, themed days, you get shirts for every 100 work outs you get, they put your name up a lot of times if you lose the most weight or inches that month, etc.

Another really cool thing that most Curves have now is Smart equipment. They give you a little wrist band that has a plastic "key" type thing. You are registered in their computers with your height, weight, and cardio/strength "norm" (they set you up with that so it's customized for YOU and YOUR strengths and cardio norm and not just a standardized number given your info). You put your little key into each machine as you go around the circuit, and it tells you if you are doing the machine fast/hard enough or not. When you finish your circuit you can check their computer and it will tell you what areas you didn't do too well on that day, how many calories you burned, etc.

Now, the bad part..... Sometimes I REALLY dreaded having to chat it up with the people there. Not that they weren't all lovely ladies but sometimes I just want to work out without having to talk about the weather or what my weekend plans were or whatever. If you are very social, or go with a friend or co-worker, or you're just super quiet and don't care if everyone else thinks you're a B... then I wouldn't worry about this part.

I loved it because it was close enough to where I work that I could go on my lunch hour, and I didn't get too sweaty not to be able to go back to work afterwards.

Go in and ask for a free week - I know at mine the manager gave people free weeks all of the time just to try it out.

Good luck!! I bet you will like it. :biggrin:

I did Curves for a year or two prior to banding and went regularly. It was perfect for many women new to exercising or looking for something lower impact. It is easy to get started, people are always there to help and I saw every body shape/type or BMI range there. If you are shy about exercising in front of other people or don't feel confident because you carry extra weight, it is a great start.

That being said, I outgrew curves and got bored with it. I found that I could no longer get much of a workout there no matter how fast I used the machines. I cancelled my membership and started at my local YMCA when they had a beginning of the year discounted membership drive over 2 years ago. I found that once I got used to exercising and my fitness level improved, I needed something more vigourous and I like the options to do step aerobics, zumba classes, weight training, spinning classes, swimming, etc.

Even with that, I can't recommend a better way to get started with exercise if it is new to you or if you are shy about it than by starting with Curves. I highly recommend it.

Thanks for all of your advice- I got a 2 week free trial, so I will test it out. If I decide to go with it.. it is only $37 a month. I will let you all know how it goes.

Well I did curves before I had the lap band. I think it was kinda boring to be honest but then again I get bored pretty easily. After going for a few months I hated going! It was like same story every day. The best part about Curves is the people you meet while you are there, which in my case I was the young one dancing around the circle with a bunch of elderly women. So I have mixed emotions about Curves. I probably would never join again!

I think Curves is a great place to start out as it is the perfect environment for women who find mainstream gyms intimidating - and many overweight or older women fall into that category.

its a good solid circuit style workout that will have great results for most peple if followed consistently.

However, I have a couple of real concerns with their system, enough that I did decline a job I was offered there as I just dont agree with it.

First is their heart rate/fat burning zone theories that they base everything on - this is completely outdated and pretty much disproven information. Now its absolutely FINE to keep your workout to your fat burning zone but it is complete bollocks that if you work harder you wont be burning fat and losing weight. Yet they are sticklers for it, if they notice you red faced and sweating you get a telling off. I learned to just lie about what my heart rate was. The wrist tag system however makes it difficult to do this.

As you get fit (and I had 3 years of running behind me when I started) you WANT to work harder. A work out that lasts 31 minutes with a heart rate of 130 or so feels like NOTHING. It's very unsatisfying and not the least bit difficult and it was definitely doing nothing for my already considerable fitness. Yet I was not allowed to work harder. I also dont find 31 minutes a satisfying time, Ilike to do about 50 to an hour. But I was not allowed to do more rounds of the stations.

For this reason, if you put consistent effort in at Curves, you WILL outgrow it pretty quickly, despite their claims that you wont. For that reason, my advice would be dont sign up for long term memberships.

If only they would be more flexible on intensity and length of workout they would be better. And I really think that treadmills, ellipticals and bikes so you could get half an hour's cardio in before or after your circuit would be brilliant.

We actually have another women's gym chain here called Contours that works more on this pricniple and their machines are pin loaded so you adjust the weight, not hydraulic, and I feel this is a MUCH better set up. Again, despite Curves' claims, there is only so fast you can work those hydraulic machines to intensify your workout before you lose form. Its much more effective to be able to simply increase the weight.

I sound a bit negative, but honestly, I think its BRILLIANT for those less fit starting out, I just do not believe it will meet many people's fitness needs for an extended period of time, unless they just enjoy the activity and arent looking to keep improving, which again, is just fine but probably not the goals of a 20 or 30 something year old woman. My mum loves it and has gone for years but she's 67.

I go to Curves and love it and have seen results. The Curves I go to has the SMART program. You are weighed and measured. Then you are tested on the machines to see what your range of motion and how hard you should be working on the machine. The machines have indicators as to how many reps, how hard you are working and your range of motion. It has a heart rate monitor on a step machine and my heart is always 160-165 and I am sweating heavily. Not only it is a great place to start but if you work hard you will see results. I don't get bored and I enjoy the workout.

I am going to join when my doc clears me on 5/15/09 already went and did the tour and it looks great- and because of the lap band I get a discount- YIPPEE!!!! it works out to like 1 dollar a day and is right near my house.... Not crazy about the hours they have but I will manage...

I am looking forward to it... right now- Walking is boring...