Get In Shape For Women

I wish I could give Get in Shape, Summit more than 5 stars! It has truly changed my life. I have tried many gyms; from Curves to large designer gyms. I have only been successful with the model created at Get in Shape. The owner, manager, and trainers have been very flexible, accommodating, and inspirational. I have a hectic life, and they have bent over backwards to get me time slots that work and have even squeezed me in when I couldn’t make it at any other time. The downside to the model used at Get in Shape is also a contributing factor to their high success rate. Having to sign up for a time slot isn’t always convenient, but it’s what keeps you on track and held accountable. It’s easy to change times, but someone is expecting you to show up when you sign up for a time. This leads to great levels of success!
I had surgery a few months ago on my hand and all of the trainers have been able to tailor exercises so I do not injure my hand. They know which exercises to give me, and which to avoid. They are very good at remembering bad backs, injured knees, or any other areas that are troublesome for their clients.
In addition, the trainers provide excellent nutrition training and seminars. They offer meal and snack tips, recipes, and other suggestions to help you meet your weight goals. My body has never looked better and I am so grateful for their help!

I never want to go back to a traditional gym. From day one, I knew this was the place for me. My goal was to lose weight… well I have reached my goal and then some. It was always a struggle for me to get myself to the gym. At GISFW, I have an assigned time 3 days a week for one hour each visit, with a trainer. Having an appointment keeps me committed. And the owner, manager and trainers are as committed to me today as they were from the beginning. Those days when I need a little push or extra moral support to keep up the proper eating plan, they are there. Even my husband (who goes to a traditional gym) has asked a number of times why don’t they have GISFM. I am 40 something and was able to wear a bikini this summer for the first time in my entire life. I would say this gym is doing something right!

I came here because a friend who I really respect recommended it to me. She is a fit person who looks especially good lately. I was optimistic.
I made an appointment to check this place out a week in advance. I had a hard time getting it touch with anyone there. It took weeks to get anyone to return calls or emails. I was on time for my appointment and I waited half an hour. The young trainer who was working there came over to me many times to tell me that she had tried to get in touch with the person I was supposed to meet. I could have started the sample workout before the person showed up, but it seemed to confound this poor girl what to do about having me there waiting.
Finally after sitting there a long time she told me to start working out. There were four other women doing exercises assigned by this young trainer. The workout I did was challenging without being too hard. The other women there were all different sizes.
The lady I was supposed to meet with finally showed up, and she walked me through a set of planks. The workouts have 2 parts, a strength session for half an hour and cardio on a machine for half an hour. After planks, I had a protein shake sweetened with stevia to help my muscles recover.
I went into the little dark office with the woman and she went through a spiel with me. She weighed me and showed me categories depending on percentage of body fat. Of course I am morbidly obese. This was clearly meant to scare me into signing up. I know I am not in perfect shape, that is why I tried to join here, but I hate fear tactics and underhanded manipulation so I resented this.
Then she went through a nutrition speech about what I needed to eat in order for the program to work. I was open to the plan, but it seemed restrictive as far as when fruit was allowed to be eaten and with what. I love fruit and I am always circumspect when it is restricted on a diet plan — no one gets fat from apples, know what I mean?
After that, I asked about the cost.
You have to pay up front. It is $ 1800 for the first 6 months. You go 3 times a week in a group of four. You arrange your times ahead of time, but you can change your times based on the availability of the times you want to switch to. It seemed pretty complicated how these times worked.
Now for what I found disturbing — I was told that if, in the first 30 days, I showed that I was working hard enough to achieve results, they would approach me and offer me an opportunity to extend my contract to a year for only $ 1000 additional. I was told explicitly that I would have to earn this, and that not everyone is offered that opportunity.
This does not work for me on a bunch of levels. 1) 30 days is too short a time to observe results. 2) I don’t think it is appropriate to tell people that they have to prove themselves in order to participate in a gym. 3) Asking people to plunk down $ 3000 within the space of a month without allowing them the time to really gauge whether it is working for them is manipulative.
I bet some people spend that money and give up. I also bet that after they get your three grand their interest in you and your progress wanes. I am sure that this program works for some, but I am confident that it does not work for everyone.
The reason I did not join was because I have specific time constraints and I thought that having the ability to schedule my workouts instead of having to conform my schedule to the times for classes in a gym would be good and worth the extra money.
What I found out was that most of the times I was interested in were filled and I would basically have pot luck as far as getting into time slots. $ 1800 is too much money to spend on anything that is not exactly what I need. I went through my schedule and she explained that a few of the time slots I was interested in would be free temporarily due to one woman who had cancer and another woman’s surgery, but those women were eventually planning to return the availability of those time slots was temporary.
This made me feel terrible — I would be able to use the slot that was being vacated because of another woman’s cancer? Why would she tell me that?
I emailed her the next day giving her an exact account of what time slots would work for me and would she please let me know if they became available. I have not gotten a response, and it is almost a week later.
My opinion here is that this is a place with a good model for helping people get into shape, but that the tactics used to get people to part with their money are unethical. Also, they have been around a while and the times they have available are limited (they are not open much) and the place can only accommodate 4 women every half hour. I thought it was wrong to plunge me in with those women who had already paid for a group of four not five!!! In sum this place has gotten very lazy about working to earn people’s money and they expect you to hand it over without really accommodating you.

GISFW in Ridgewood is the best! Mike and Brad foster a sense of community at the gym and I’ve felt well-​supported by them and by the other women at the gym. It’s a great atmosphere. The members support each other to get more fit and to lose weight — I’ve lost 20 pounds so far. If you’re ready to make a healthy lifestyle change and are looking for folks to support you in making that change, then come to GISFW. I can’t recommend it highly enough.