Gyms in Waco

The Texas Health Spa Act covers any business selling memberships for instruction in, or use of facilities for, a physical exercise program. It doesn't cover tax-exempt nonprofits, member-owned private clubs, studios that teach only dance or aerobics, rehab providers, school programs and a few others. A covered gym can't operate or sell memberships without a certificate of registration for each location. Registration costs $100 and lasts one year.

The certificate has to be posted conspicuously at the gym, and your contract must show the registration number. Look the gym up with the Secretary of State's online health spa search, which also says whether security is posted. The SOS publishes a PDF list of registered locations every Wednesday as well. A contract is void if the seller wasn't registered when you signed it.

Security and what it protects in Waco

Security rises with a location's prepaid memberships, from $20,000 for up to $20,000 prepaid to $50,000 for more than $45,000, posted as a surety bond or certificate of deposit. A gym can be exempt if it never requires contracts or prepayment over 31 days, financing, automatic bank drafts or initiation fees, or if it's established: it swears every three years to assets over $50,000 per location, five years under substantially the same ownership and no closure complaints. If a Waco gym tells you it's "bonded by the state," that's a claim Texas law bars it from making.

• Three-day cancellation. Mail a written cancellation with proof of payment, certified, to the gym's home office before midnight of the third business day, and the full refund is due within 30 days. The contract must state that right in conspicuous 10-point type.
• Term limits. A contract can't run longer than three years, and financed contracts can't require payments for more than five.
• Death or disability. A member who dies or becomes totally and permanently disabled, or the estate, can cancel and get unearned payments back.
• Closure or a move. If the gym closes without offering facilities within 10 miles, moves more than 10 miles, or fails to provide advertised services, you can cancel and recover unearned payments.
• Disasters. If the gym is unusable for 30 days or more for reasons beyond the owner's control, it must extend your contract by the same time.

These protections can't be waived in the contract, and a violation counts as a deceptive trade practice. A gym also may not misrepresent its staff's qualifications, its facilities or the results you're likely to get.

A Texas gym selling 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 its first sale, or doesn't stay open 30 days, prepaying members are generally entitled to a full refund.

If a Waco gym closes

A gym must post notice inside and outside each entrance at least 30 days before it closes or relocates, and notify the Secretary of State, except after a fire, flood or act of God. Members can claim against its security by mailing their contract and proof of payment to the SOS within 90 days of the closure notice appearing on the SOS website. Keep your contract and payment records for that reason.

For a sales or billing dispute with a Waco gym, the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division takes calls at (800) 621-0508, since the SOS only files registrations and security.

Nationally, Statista put the average monthly membership at $28.58 in 2021, as cited by Forbes Health, with prices from about $10 to $300 a month. Fixr puts a basic gym at $15 to $40 a month and one with more advanced equipment at $50 to $100 (national, January 2025). Ask whether the price includes an initiation fee or an automatic bank draft, since those affect the security exemption.

The Texas gyms guide covers the Health Spa Act in full. See the Waco hub for other local services, or compare gyms in Killeen.