Health & Fitness
Can Belonging to a Big Box Gym Impede Your Physical Fitness?
Too often, people become trapped into thinking that in order to workout, they need to do it in a gym.
Belonging to a gym is a great way for most people to have access to a wide variety of training opportunities, both cardio and resistance, with a minimal upfront investment. Too often however, people become trapped into thinking that in order to workout, they need to do it in a gym.
With the hectic modern day schedules that most of us keep, it often becomes difficult to find gym time. With the average gym member traveling anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes each way to their gym, it is easy to see why many make the choice of, I will go tomorrow. Add in the tme it takes to look gym appropriate, and you can carve out almost an hour for travel and preparation. This often is a deal breaker for many on whether they workout or not.
Compounding the problem is the low cost of many big box gyms, and their use of automatic electronic payment. People forget about the $10.00 per month charge because they never see it. This also applies to the usual annual fee of $30.00-$50.00, that people only remember after their account or credit card has been charged. This is the business model for most big box gyms, selling memberships, not fitness. If all of a big box gyms members showed up on a regular basis, they never could accomodate them all.
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In addition to the traveling and preparation times and the automatic billing, the help in training at most big box gyms is problematic and virtually nonexistent. Usually if they do have certified trainers, the cost on top of the gym membership is out of reach for many over time. This leads many exercisers to using the large weight machines, elliptical trainers, and treadmills, instead of learning how to use free weights, doing bodyweight exercises, learning proper running form, and using other types of equipment such as kettlebells. Since most people can't afford to have the large machines at home, they only can do their workout at the gym. The personal trainers employed at these gyms are compensated on sales volume. They want customers to buy a big package for alot of training sessions, so they usually tailor your workout so that you are dependent upon them being there, and it taking place on equipment only found at the gym.
A good personal trainer will teach you how to stay fit no matter where you are. If you are traveling, want to workout at a park, at home, incorporate a workout with your daily activities, or go the gym, your personal trainer should teach you how and why. The old saying of "give a person a fish, and you feed them for a day, teach them how to fish and you feed them for a lifetime", applies here.
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Having a good personal trainer who is working for you, can help you stay on track and teach you how to get and stay fit for life. From good nutrition habits and motivational techniques to cardio, strength, balance and flexibility training, your trainer should be able to teach you in a fairly short time.
Stephen Stern
Common Sense Fitness - Personal Training
