You’ve heard it before: Regular exercise increases your energy and metabolism, improves strength and flexibility, decreases stress, brightens your mood and helps fight disease as you age. With all those fantastic benefits, why would you ever skip a workout? Alas, fitting it in can be difficult as your life gets busier. What you need is a place where you’ll have fun working out and a plan that makes doing so as second nature as brushing your teeth.

Joining a fitness or sports club carries many benefits. Some join for the chance to meet other like-minded people. Others join such clubs for the convenience of being able to play and socialize on their own schedules.

But as with any other activity, the benefits of joining a club can be enhanced and bad experiences can be avoided with some thought and planning.