It’s never been more expensive to hit the gym as it is today. Sure, going to the gym has its merits. It gets you out of the house for you “work-at-home” types and who knows who you might meet for you “I’ll shower before I workout, looking to mingle” types. Economists, DellaVigna and Malmendier theorized that people that buy a membership to a health club or gym overestimate how much they’ll use it by 70%. Have you ever thought of the true cost of using a personal trainer at the gym? Clearly we have and we thought it might be helpful to see.

The direct costs

The gym and the trainer.  With the national average at around $70 per month and with the average number of workout sessions at 4.3, that means each time you are entering the door of that overly air conditioned “sweatemporium”, you are shelling out more than $17. With the hourly rate of personal trainers averaging $65 /hour, your final bill for just direct costs for that one workout is $82

The drive and the parking. The average travel time people commute from their home to the gym is 10 minutes (~2.5 miles each way). Couple that with the national gas average of $3.68 and you’re spending $1 on gas alone for each trip to the gym. Let’s add parking at an average of $3 per session and we won’t even factor in the occasional traffic violation or wear-and-tear on your car. Total car related expenses per workout = $4

Total direct costs per workout= $86

The opportunity costs

How many times have you been working out with a trainer when you look up from your exercise only to see he or she talking with another client or prospective client? Or how about those times when you get to the gym thinking you’ll be in “in and out of there in45 minutes” only to see a line of people waiting to use the equipment? Making a commitment to going to the gym is more than just the direct cost. It’s also dealing with the extra time you’ll need to spend before you even start to invest in your body.

The net result?

Well, clearly your time is valuable and if you are not maximizing the investment you are making, both in time and money at the gym, you’ll be losing more money than weight.