The Quest For A Fitness Club

2015…ah the start of a new year, the time to reinvent ourselves, to create better versions of what we use to be! The start of a new year is also the time to get down and dirty and sweat a little holiday weight off, get some endorphins going, but more importantly create healthy habits. I love working out so I have never made a New Year's Resolution to workout. Last year I actually promised myself to scale down on my workouts as I was being too harsh on my body. I am not an Olympian so I need not to pretend that I am. I am however, along with many of my readers, a frequent guest at gyms/fitness clubs/yoga studios anytime of the year. I can honestly say I don’t remember a time when I did not belong to one of the previously mentioned establishments. Now I stand solo. It’s a very strange feeling, I feel lost without it. I even functioned as a torturer…ehhh personal trainer…back in the US from time to time and now I am like a ship without a captain. A train without a locomotive. A priest without a church…alright, point is, I need to find a place to workout at. After leaving the US and Club Fitness, I have been a bit of a wild card, working out here and there, but mostly at my dad’s fitness club in Laholm. Friskis and Svettis in Laholm is great, but I now live in a different city and the quest begins for a new place of worship. If you are in the same situation, here are a few pointers I have been going off in my search:

To get an overall feel for the place, ask if you can workout for free one time or at least at a reduced price. Is the staff ready to let you do that? Does it have the vibe you are looking for? Try to workout at the time you normally would, let’s say 7 pm. That way you will hopefully get an idea of what kind of trolls and Barbies are there too. Because oh dear, there are lots of characters at gyms. If you do get to try out a fitness place one time, is it clean? Floor? Bathrooms? I am not a clean freak, but seriously, sometimes you are on the floor doing sit ups and I don’t know about you, but having dust balls swirling around my body is not my thing. People obviously also sweat a lot at gyms, but if the establishment is good, there is no need for odor. Ventilation is not a sexy thing to talk about, but oh so necessary. Also, see if there are many machines with an "out of order" sign on it…always a bad omen. Check opening times for the fitness club. Will it suit your current schedule? You may not need a gym which is open 24/7, but you know what you need. Are you the type of person who jumps out of bed early in the morning with a bright smile on your lips ready to spend an hour at the fitness club at day break? Then you obviously need a place which is open at that godforsaken time. If the place offers classes, check out the availability and offerings. If you are more into yoga and a more gentler kind of working out (still super effective though), you may not need a gym which puts a lot of effort into bringing its clients “Ultra Mega Hard Core Workout Boot Camp Style So Intense You Will Puke Your Insides Out” several times per week.

Is the establishment close to where you live/work/study or will you have to take two buses, a boat and a train to get there? Unless you are 120 percent dead set on that this is the gym which will mold you into the next Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Arnie’s body is your goal, this may not be the place for you. You also need to consider if the fitness club have what you need. Classes, machines, free weights? Because I LOVE skipping leg day and only focus on bulking up my arms…not…but I do like to workout with free weights. I have found it that many girls are afraid of this section of the gym, but seriously, it’s not the dark hole you may think it is. Yes sometimes I have gotten some stares from the guys there, but after a while I earned a nod here and there and everything was fine. Free weights are great to build up some muscles which obviously helps your body to get strong. If weight loss is your goal, strong muscles burn fat even when you don’t workout. I don’t ever encourage people to workout just for the purpose of weight loss, but you know what I mean. Also, does the place have a large selection of those energy drinks which are filled with sugar? Huge turn off for me as I feel they have no place at a gym. Yes some caffeine or even a little sugar before a workout is okay and even welcomed by personal trainers, but I hate to see energy drinks for sale in the lobby. Don’t get me started on those gym goers who have a liquefied cooked chicken breast and raw eggs in a zippy cup with them on the gym floor. Oh yes, seen plenty of those.

Ask for recommendations from people you know, or friends to friends. I currently have a lead on a yoga studio from a friend to my sister which I am dying to check out. If a person has used a fitness club for years, there must be something good with it. Or worst case scenario it’s like the “Friends” episode where Chandler wishes to quit the gym and just can’t. The gym staff intimidates him so much he brings Ross with him to be able to muster up the courage to quit the gym. Not only does Chandler stay on as a member, Ross ends up getting signed up after a beautiful female staff member appears. Okay, usually, if a person has been loyal to a place for years, there should be a reason for it. We all have options of where to go. Even in my small hometown of Laholm there are several fitness clubs to choose from. (But of course my dad’s club, Friskis and Svettis is the best. I have no shame in doing PR hahahaha). I would also say try to calculate how dedicated you are. If you are just starting out, maybe you don’t need to belong to the most exclusive gym in town which has its own spa department attached to the place. Unless there is a plethora of attractive people working out there. Then of course it’s totally worth spending the money as anyone knows the probability of you going there increases with the percentage of attractive people attending said club. (KIDDING!) Check if you can buy a pass for 3 months or 6 months first and not sign up for a yearlong contract. Some fitness clubs in Sweden even offer a 10 time pass. They are also great, but can however offer you a loophole in your fitness routine which can backfire. Maybe you are not feeling up for going to the gym (I almost always do, but I am weird) and you think you should not waste one of those 10 times on going when you are not 100 percent pumped. That’s why I think buying a 3 months unlimited pass that will allow you to workout as much as you want is better.

But ultimately, it’s the people that makes a place good or bad. Especially when it comes to instructors of fitness classes. Take yoga for example. I have attended yoga classes in many different countries, in some amazing and exclusive yoga studios. I have also had multiple instructors over the years, some better than others. My two all-time ABSOLUTE favorite yoga teachers did not, at the time, teach at incredibly fancy places. My first ever yoga teacher Cat (now living and teaching in Bali) taught on a stage at the local YMCA in Chesterfield, USA. We were practicing on a stage because there were no rooms available for us anywhere else. Cat was, and still is, an incredible teacher! She could have charged some ridiculous sum for her expertise. She was and is that good! But back then she taught at a fairly modest (although I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED my time there) YMCA. My other favorite yoga rock star teaches at the Dogtown location of Club Fitness in St. Louis, USA. Her name is Gloria and again, her yoga classes are out of this world good! This is just to show that you can find gems at places not dedicated to a certain ting. So my advice on finding a fitness place is keeping an open mind and to try it out. Make it work for you. As for me, I am excited to see where I will end up going. This yogini needs a place to put her mat down at.