Gyms in McAllen

Most membership gyms are "health spas" under the Texas Health Spa Act, which covers any business selling memberships for exercise instruction or facilities. Before you sign, check the contract for these:

• The gym's state registration number, which every contract must include.
• Your three-day cancellation right and your rights if the gym closes or moves more than 10 miles, printed in conspicuous 10-point type.
• A term of three years or less; financed contracts may not require payments for more than five years.
• Every fee: initiation, monthly dues, annual fees, and how a bank draft is stopped.

A gym may not claim to be "bonded by the state" or misrepresent its staff, facilities or likely results. A contract is void if the gym wasn't registered when you signed it, or if you relied on willfully false information.

No covered gym may operate or sell memberships without a health spa operator's certificate from the Secretary of State, and each location needs its own. Registration costs $100 and lasts a year, and the certificate must be posted where members can see it.

The SOS health spa search shows whether a McAllen location is registered and whether it has posted security, and a PDF list of registered locations is updated every Wednesday. Security rises with prepaid memberships, from $20,000 for up to $20,000 prepaid to $50,000 above $45,000, as a surety bond or certificate of deposit. Established gyms with over $50,000 in assets per location, five years under the same ownership and no closure complaints can also be exempt.

McAllen studios the Act doesn't cover

Tax-exempt nonprofits, member-owned clubs, dance-only or aerobics-only studios, rehab providers, school programs and state-licensed activities fall outside the Act. The Act's registration, security and cancellation rules don't apply to them, so read their cancellation terms with extra care.

Fixr's national January 2025 figures stand in for McAllen prices: they put basic memberships 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, within a range of about $10 to $300.

Add a year of dues to the initiation and annual fees before comparing gyms; a low monthly rate with a large sign-up fee can cost more over twelve months. Ask for a trial pass so you see the gym at the hours you'd use it. The Texas gyms guide has more on prices and the Act.

You can cancel for a full refund by certified mail sent by midnight of the third business day after the contract date. A member who dies or becomes totally and permanently disabled, or their estate, can cancel and recover unearned payments. If the gym closes without offering facilities within 10 miles, moves more than 10 miles or fails to deliver advertised services, you can cancel for a refund of unearned payments. You can't waive these rights, and a violation counts as a deceptive trade practice.

If a storm or other event outside the owner's control shuts the gym for 30 days or more, it must extend your contract by the same time. A closing gym must post notice at every entrance at least 30 days ahead, except after a fire, flood or act of God; mail your contract and proof of payment to the SOS within 90 days of the closure notice appearing on its website to claim against the security. A gym that presells must hold the money in an FDIC-insured escrow until 30 days after opening, unless exempt, and if it doesn't open within 180 days you are generally owed a full refund.

For a dispute over billing or sales tactics, call the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division at (800) 621-0508, since the SOS only files registrations and security. See the McAllen guide, or compare gyms in Harlingen and gyms in Brownsville.