Seasonal guide · 6 min read
The January joiner's guide: how to still be going in April
January is the cheapest month to join and the most expensive month to quit. Here is how to take the offers without becoming the statistic.
Updated for January 2027 · Prices checked September 2026
The offers, and which to take
- Joining fee waived: the commonest budget-gym offer. Worth £10 to £20. Take it, it costs you nothing.
- First month free on a 12-month term: premium chains. Worth one month, costs you eleven more. Only take it if you would have signed for 12 months anyway.
- "Fixed price for life": good if you will stay years; irrelevant if you won’t. Most don’t.
- Buy 12 months upfront: typically 15 to 20% off. Only if you have been a member somewhere before and know you go.
The traps
Joining the club you aspire to rather than the one you will reach at 6:45am in the dark. Choosing 12 months because the monthly number is smaller. Buying kit before you have been three times. Booking the 6pm slot in January, when everyone else has too.
A plan that survives February
- Join no-contract for the first three months, even if it costs £5 more. Convert to a term in April if you are still going.
- Pick a club within 10 minutes of where you already are at your chosen time. Not home, not work: wherever you are at that time.
- Go twice a week, not five. Twice a week for three months beats five a week for three weeks.
- Book classes for the first month. A booking is a commitment; "I’ll go later" is not.
- Avoid 5:30pm to 7:30pm in January. Every gym is at its worst.
The best January membership is the one you are still paying for, happily, in June.