New Year's resolutions are synonymous with getting back in shape, but it might cost you a few more bucks if you wait until early next year to join a gym.

Most gyms in the area are currently running last-minute deals Thursday and Friday by waiving initiation fees to entice new members to join immediately. Waiting until New Year's Day on Saturday could cost prospective gym-goers hundreds of dollars in added fees or increased rates.

LA Fitness in Great Southern Shopping Center is offering a basic membership that would cost one person just under $10 per week. Members have to join by 8 p.m. Friday to waive an initiation fee, or they can sign up online.

Curves in Portmans off Washington Pike keeps the rates at $34 per month, but a one-time service fee of $99 will be slashed in half if members join by the end of this week. The women's fitness center also offers a two-month membership for $99 that waives the service fee.

In some cases, it pays off to wait a little longer to join a gym.

The Jewish Community Center, across from Kane Hospital, is offering a special on Jan. 30 to celebrate the building's 12-year anniversary. New members will only pay an $11 processing fee (rather than the usual $99) and the first month also costs only $11. Subsequent months are $49 for people under the age of 30.

It won't matter if you join now or later for Extreme Fitness in the Scott Towne Center, which offers month-to-month memberships or long-term deals that you can temporarily put on hold. And Amerifit Fitness Club off Cochran Road offers year-long memberships that equal about $44 per month. There is no initiation fee unless a member decides to join on a month-to-month basis.

But gym memberships will only take you so far according to Josh Bobrowsky, part-owner of Integrated Fitness in Bethel Park. Bobrowsky said most people make the mistake of joining without a regimented routine, and then soon lose interest. He suggested signing up for classes or working with a personal trainer.

"Then you meet friends in this class and then you have accountability," Bobrowsky said. "I would also recommend that they find a knowledgeable trainer because they might not know what they're doing. That could put them at a higher risk for injury if they're casual."

Bobrowsky's center on Library Road is a cross fit gym that incorporates a multitude of workout routines that include Olympic-style weight lifting, gymnastics and cardiovascular exercises. The classes are engineered so participants are able to excel at different activities.

"You should be well-trained to do pretty much any sport from tennis to ultimate fighting," he said. "It's actually a sport, rather than just working out."