I read often about the intimidating gym. Average, ordinary Joe/Jane makes a resolution to get fit and signs up. AO J/J visits the gym with a mix of trepidation and excitement. AO J/J does not expect to be the best in the gym. J/J is average and ordinary and has not exercised in a while, after all. But what greets AO J/J is beyond every imagined scenario. The world inside the gym is made up exclusively of very buff bodies who perform amazing feats with ease. Nobody is either ordinary or average. In fitness. Or looks. Or style. AO J/J attempts to exercise seem to draw everyone’s attention because of the contrast. AO J/J feels pathetically inadequate. In fitness. And looks. And style. Traumatized, self-image in shreds, AO J/J leaves the gym, never to return.
I was fitness minded since my teens. My exercise routine consisted of cardio and gentle “toning”. In my early thirties I slipped into a very unhealthy lifesyle. I spent a couple of years eating badly and not working out. I gained 12 kg. When I returned to my exercise routine it did not help. Taebo, aerobics and “toning” were not doing much for me. My husband suggested I should weight train. My sister did too. I read about how women lose muscle as they age and this slows down metabolism. Weight training could build me some lean muscle mass and help me get back in shape.
Yet, I was worried about the gym. Would it be as intimidating as the gyms that I read about? Would I like hauling weights?
My husband hired a personal trainer and dragged me kicking and screaming to the gym. I let him pay for just one trial session.
This gym, I found, was like the rest of the world. There were buff-people and un-buff-people and everything in between. Being in the gym was no different from being anywhere else.
Moreover, I loved the weight training.
I was hooked that day. I became a gym addict. I even turned a few of my friends and my sis into gym addicts.
I started using cardio equipment too. It was convenient to complete my cardio at the gym rather than plan another session for aerobics with videos at home. But it was rather repetitive and boring.
I read at the fitness forum that I frequent a post by a person called Ooty raving about Cardio Coach. I tried it. I fell in love with running on the treadmill. (Then I fell in love with Ooty. But that is another story and one that I have told before at 43T). My cardio fitness improved by leaps and bounds. I had one more reason to go to the gym. Cardio! Pretty soon, cardio-wise, I was one of the buff ones at the gym. I could run on and on and on. Me! Fancy that!
The first time I traveled on business since I turned into a gym addict, it was to the United States. I thought my gym was “different” and was quite prepared to meet an intimidating gym. Instead I found a gym quite like mine. The people there were representative of every type of buffness, shape and size. On some trips, the hotel had no gym, but had arrangements with “real” gyms in the neighborhood. These were not intimidating either. I went to other countries. I did not find them there either.
The only differences in gyms according to me:
a. Eastern gyms have an abundance of helpers. Staff are available to ask “Is my form right?” or “How do I use this machine?” US gyms have no staff. They seem to think people are born with the knowledge of how to exercise and use gym equipment. Surprisingly, they seem to be right since people manage just fine.
b. Hotel gyms tend to suck. The equipment is usually never as nice as in “real gyms” barring a few exceptions. Reading the website to check out the exercise facilities at the hotel before making a reservation is a good idea.
That was something I needed to get off my chest. So I did it here even though this is a space to write about weekly cardio sessions. I cardioed yesterday with iCycle and today with iTrain’s Boot Camp. As always, I had a blast.
