Curves

I have rheumatoid arthritis and all the miseries that come with it: swollen joints, sudden shooting pains and fatigue. I used to be in pretty good shape, but I’ve been on a downhill slide for the last four or five years. I wanted to join a gym but knew I’d never make it through a traditional workout, and there were no yoga classes nearby. No less than six of my coworkers told me they belonged to Curves and loved it, so I decided to give it a try. I was upfront about my condition when I signed up, and I was assured this program would be safe and helpful for me.
After I joined, I noticed that the canned music was often overtly Christian. I later learned Curves is owned by fundamentalist Christians. I don’t subscribe to that belief system so I wouldn’t have joined if I’d known they were going to push their religion that way. The music was a problem for some other members, too, and I know complaints were made about it to no avail.
Curves is all about circuit training: use a machine for 30 seconds, run in place on a springboard for thirty seconds, then move to the next machine, etc. Two circuits takes half an hour, then there’s an optional warm-​down on a mat in the corner. The machines are hydraulic, so they resist in proportion to the strength of the user — a big consideration for me. Many of the patrons were women who’d had — or were planning to have — hip or knee replacements. It seemed like a gentle way for us brittle old farts to stay in shape.
Unfortunately it didn’t work for me. I have to give props to the staff, who photocopied articles about joint and bone health for me, and to the manager, who scheduled a private meeting with me to discuss my goals and abilities, but Arthur Itis didn’t want me to do circuit training — and Curves offers nothing else.
After giving it my best effort for a full year, I knew it was pointless to renew my membership. I’d heard horror stories of memberships that could not be cancelled so I followed the instructions in the contract exactly, sending a certified letter a full month before my membership was due for renewal. The letter was never picked up from the post office. I then hand-​delivered a copy of the letter, but it mysteriously disappeared. Finally, a friendly staff member took another copy and signed and dated my copy as proof of delivery. I was never charged the monthly fee after that, but it was a major pain to force them to accept my cancellation.
I’m giving Curves two stars because 1) it serves a purpose for some women who cannot handle a regular gym and 2) the staff are considerate and encouraging. But I found the repetitive workout routine boring, the music intolerable and the program too limited to accommodate special needs.