Gyms in Fort Worth

The Texas Health Spa Act covers most membership gyms: any business selling memberships for instruction in, or use of facilities for, physical exercise. It excludes tax-exempt nonprofits, member-owned private clubs, studios that only teach dance or aerobics, rehab providers and school programs. A covered gym needs a certificate of registration from the Secretary of State for each location, at $100 a year, posted where members can see it. The registration number must appear in your contract.

The SOS health spa search shows whether a gym is registered and whether it has posted security. The SOS also publishes a PDF list of registered locations, updated every Wednesday.

Security behind a Fort Worth gym

Unless exempt, a gym posts $20,000 to $50,000 of security per location with the Secretary of State, as a surety bond or certificate of deposit, rising with how much members have prepaid. Gyms that never require contracts or prepayment over 31 days, financing, bank drafts or initiation fees can be exempt, as can established gyms that swear every three years to over $50,000 in assets per location, five years under the same ownership and no closure complaints. If a month-to-month gym shows no security, that may be why.

• Three business days to cancel. Mail written notice and proof of payment by certified mail to the gym's home office before midnight of the third business day after the contract date, and the full refund is due within 30 days. The contract must state this in conspicuous 10-point type.
• Length limits. A contract can't run longer than three years, and financed contracts can't require payments for more than five.
• Closure or a move. If the gym closes without offering facilities within 10 miles, moves more than 10 miles, or drops advertised services, you can cancel for a partial refund. It must post notice at each entrance at least 30 days before it closes or relocates (the notice isn't required when fire, flood or an act of God forces the closing).
• Storm closures. If the gym is unusable for 30 days or more because of something beyond the owner's control, such as a natural disaster, it must extend your contract by the same time. Tarrant County's hail and tornado record makes this clause worth knowing.
• Death or disability. A member who dies or becomes totally and permanently disabled, or the estate, can cancel and get unearned payments back.

Some gyms sell memberships before the doors open. A Texas gym that sells memberships before it opens must hold the prepayments in an FDIC-insured escrow account until 30 days after opening, unless exempt. If it doesn't open within 180 days of first selling memberships, or doesn't stay open 30 days, prepaying members are generally owed a full refund.

Watch the sales pitch too. Texas gyms can't advertise that they are "bonded by the state" or misrepresent staff qualifications or likely results. A violation of the Act is a deceptive trade practice, and members can't waive its protections.

Ask each Fort Worth gym for its monthly rate in writing, since the figures below are national. Fixr (January 2025) puts a basic membership at $15 to $40 a month and gyms with more advanced equipment at $50 to $100. Forbes Health, citing Statista, gave a 2021 national average of $28.58 a month. Ask about initiation and annual fees, which often decide the real cost. The Texas gym guide covers the Act in full.

If a Fort Worth gym won't honor these rules, the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division takes the complaint at (800) 621-0508, since the SOS only files registrations. For more options, compare Burleson gyms or Arlington gyms, and see the Fort Worth guide for other local services.