Gyms in Amarillo

Under the Texas Health Spa Act, a business that sells memberships for exercise instruction or facilities is a health spa. It can't operate or sell memberships without a certificate of registration from the Secretary of State, one per location, which costs $100 and lasts a year. The certificate must be posted where you can see it, and the registration number must appear in your contract.

Search the gym on the Secretary of State's health spa search, which also shows whether it has posted security. The Act doesn't cover nonprofits, member-owned private clubs, dance-only or aerobics-only studios, rehab providers or school programs, so not every Amarillo fitness business will appear.

Gym security deposits and bonds

Unless exempt, a gym posts security of $20,000 to $50,000 per location with the Secretary of State, rising with its prepaid memberships, as a surety bond or certificate of deposit. That money is for members who lose out if it closes. Gyms that never require contracts or prepayment over 31 days, financing, automatic drafts or initiation fees can be exempt, as can established gyms with over $50,000 in assets per location, five years under the same ownership and no closure complaints. A gym may not advertise that it is "bonded by the state".

• Three business days to cancel: a full refund is yours if your written notice, with proof of payment, goes by certified mail to the gym's home office before midnight of the third business day after the contract date. Your contract must state this in conspicuous 10-point type.
• Closure or move: you can cancel for a partial refund if the gym closes without a substitute within 10 miles, moves more than 10 miles, or doesn't provide advertised services. A gym must post notice at least 30 days before closing or relocating, except after a fire, flood or act of God.
• Length: contracts can't run longer than three years, and financed contracts can't require payments for more than five.
• Death or disability: a member who becomes totally and permanently disabled, or the estate, can cancel and get unearned payments back.
• Unusable gym: if a natural disaster or similar event closes the gym for 30 days or more, it must extend your contract by that time.

You can't waive these rights, and a contract is void if the seller wasn't registered when you signed.

Fixr's national figures, from January 2025, put a basic membership at $15 to $40 a month and gyms with more advanced equipment at $50 to $100. Forbes Health, citing Statista, gave the 2021 U.S. average as $28.58 a month, with a range of about $10 to $300. Ask each Amarillo gym for the full monthly price plus any initiation or annual fee in writing. If a gym asks for an automatic bank draft or a long prepayment, check that its security is posted on the state search. The Texas gyms guide has more on contracts.

A new gym selling memberships before it opens must hold prepayments in an FDIC-insured escrow account until 30 days after opening, unless exempt. If it doesn't open within 180 days of first sales, or doesn't stay open 30 days, prepaying members are generally owed a full refund. If a gym closes, members can claim against its security by mailing their contract and proof of payment to the Secretary of State within 90 days of the closure notice appearing on its site.

The Secretary of State registers gyms but doesn't police business practices. For a complaint about an Amarillo gym, call the Attorney General's consumer protection line, (800) 621-0508; a Health Spa Act violation counts as a deceptive trade practice. For more on the city, see the Amarillo city guide, or compare gyms in Lubbock and Amarillo dentists for other health services.