Home Gym or Gym Home? Part II
November 21st 2006 15:55
Follow Me on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/KennaMcHugh
In the last installment I made a case for home training. Let me reiterate. If you can't stand the thought of a gym, get on the net or make a voyage to the local sporting goods store,get yourself going on a machine or a video and get into better shape. This is something you and only you can do for yourself.
Nevertheless, in my opinion it is better to get yourself a gym and get in there than to try the home gambit. Let's face it: you are probably not going to train at home. I'll admit it. "I'll just workout at home" is a myth. You won't. Joining a gym is the very best way to get in shape. Let's talk about it.
There are all kinds of gyms. Ladies, in my neck of the woods there are women only gyms. If being around a bunch of sweaty men who you are convinced are leering at you is more than you can take, seek out a women's gym in your neighborhood. They usually have all the fitness equipment you need- weights, elliptical steppers, treadmills, and bikes- and a whole panoply of aerobics classes. They may offer yoga and martial arts too. You can go there and get fit in a kind of privacy. They will probably have a trainer who is a woman and she can teach you weight training in a way that an insensitive male can't.
As coed gyms go (most are) there are some things to look for. If a gym isn't open 24 hours, look elsewhere. You can really profit from an early morning Saturday or Sunday workout-the very time other gyms aren't open. If you are a little intimidated by the gym experience you can find a time when the place is empty to work out and feel comfortable.
Your gym has to have alot of treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, and stair-steppers. If it doesn't you won't be able to get one when you want one. One of the metaphysical rules of the gym is that somebody is always on the equipment you want. Look for a gym with what seems like an insane number of treadmills and so forth.
Your gym has to have lots of weight machines.This is where you start your experience with weights-machines. If the gym has a few over in the corner, you are in the wrong gym. Some idiot will be making a cell call while sitting on the one you want, if there aren't plenty. Free weights are ultimately better than machines for most things, but not for beginners or the out of shape.
Again, look for machines.Otherwise look at everything a gym offers. Free introduction training? You need it. Stretching Classes? I recommend it. Lots of aerobics at the time you might try it? A cycling class? Martial Arts?...See, here't the deal. If the gym offers alot of stuff you don't care about now, you will want to do some of these activities some time and there they will be. Get as much as you can. Go for steam bath and sauna or pool. Not every gym has everything,but a gym which has alot to offer is simply a better value. (I know. That is a no brainer).
One of these days I am going to go off on one of my "back in the day old school" rants about how we didn't have fancy gyms in the sixties and seventies, but for now I've got to be frank. Get your flabby self into a gym and seriously improve your fitness. This is about a better you. No cliche, just fact. The gym is your friend, and it wants you to use it.
Nevertheless, in my opinion it is better to get yourself a gym and get in there than to try the home gambit. Let's face it: you are probably not going to train at home. I'll admit it. "I'll just workout at home" is a myth. You won't. Joining a gym is the very best way to get in shape. Let's talk about it.
There are all kinds of gyms. Ladies, in my neck of the woods there are women only gyms. If being around a bunch of sweaty men who you are convinced are leering at you is more than you can take, seek out a women's gym in your neighborhood. They usually have all the fitness equipment you need- weights, elliptical steppers, treadmills, and bikes- and a whole panoply of aerobics classes. They may offer yoga and martial arts too. You can go there and get fit in a kind of privacy. They will probably have a trainer who is a woman and she can teach you weight training in a way that an insensitive male can't.
As coed gyms go (most are) there are some things to look for. If a gym isn't open 24 hours, look elsewhere. You can really profit from an early morning Saturday or Sunday workout-the very time other gyms aren't open. If you are a little intimidated by the gym experience you can find a time when the place is empty to work out and feel comfortable.
Your gym has to have alot of treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, and stair-steppers. If it doesn't you won't be able to get one when you want one. One of the metaphysical rules of the gym is that somebody is always on the equipment you want. Look for a gym with what seems like an insane number of treadmills and so forth.
Your gym has to have lots of weight machines.This is where you start your experience with weights-machines. If the gym has a few over in the corner, you are in the wrong gym. Some idiot will be making a cell call while sitting on the one you want, if there aren't plenty. Free weights are ultimately better than machines for most things, but not for beginners or the out of shape.
Again, look for machines.Otherwise look at everything a gym offers. Free introduction training? You need it. Stretching Classes? I recommend it. Lots of aerobics at the time you might try it? A cycling class? Martial Arts?...See, here't the deal. If the gym offers alot of stuff you don't care about now, you will want to do some of these activities some time and there they will be. Get as much as you can. Go for steam bath and sauna or pool. Not every gym has everything,but a gym which has alot to offer is simply a better value. (I know. That is a no brainer).
One of these days I am going to go off on one of my "back in the day old school" rants about how we didn't have fancy gyms in the sixties and seventies, but for now I've got to be frank. Get your flabby self into a gym and seriously improve your fitness. This is about a better you. No cliche, just fact. The gym is your friend, and it wants you to use it.
| 58 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog