7 Tips for Finding the Right Gym
Congratulations! You’ve decided to go for it and to turn fat into muscle…just in time for summer. Now you have to find the right gym. Before you spend your hard earned money, take a look at this list of things to look for in a gym.
The first thing you want to consider is location. Are you planning on working out right after work? If so, choose a location on the way home, maybe half way between your office and home. It’ll be harder to blow off going to the gym if you have to drive right by it anyway! Step one to turning fat into muscle, check!
The second thing to look for is how much will your membership cost? Also does that cost include group classes or just access to the cardio and weights? Do you have to sign a long term contract, and if so, what happens if you have to quit the gym because of a job transfer?
Working out in a gym can also be a nice way to meet like minded individuals. So the third thing to look for in the gym you are considering is the makeup of the clientele. Are they older, younger, your age? What gender? These factors may not be important to you if you just want to go in and do your thing, but if you are a social butterfly you might want to know this information ahead of time.
Fourth, operating hours. If you have an unusual schedule, will you be able to come in and workout? Most gyms will have a flexible enough schedule to accommodate just about anyone. But, it’s good to ask anyway.
The fifth tip to check out before signing on the dotted line is how many and how qualified are the personal trainers? You don’t want to trust your health to someone who isn’t fully qualified. Make sure to find out what level of education and experience the training staff has. If they are qualified they can really help you turn fat into muscle in no time, it’s always better to get a friendly little push. Also ask as to what their rates are.
Number six, and this is very important, how clean is the place? Are there dust bunnies in the corners? Can you see a visible sweat film (yuck!) on the equipment? When you visit do you actually see people cleaning? How clean are the locker rooms and shower areas? Ask them how often these areas are cleaned.
And the 10th thing to look for in choosing a gym is: the type and condition of the equipment. Is the equipment in good repair or are there 3 treadmills that don’t work? Are the free weights all there, or are they missing the 10lb weight?
You also want to make sure that there is enough equipment to go around. If this is a small local gym with just a few dozen members, only having 5 or 10 cardio machines may be enough. But if it is a bigger gym you want to make sure that you have enough machines and equipment to go around. There is nothing worse than trying to get your workout in and having to constantly wait for a machine to open up!
I hope this has helped you. If the gym you are considering doesn’t live up to one of these points don’t talk yourself out of joining. Think about the situation and decide how important it is for you and your workout and if it isn’t a saftey issue you might still decide to join. If the problem is serious enought to be a deal killer, just find another gym. They are all over. Bottem line: summer is coming, now is the time to turn fat into muscle, and a good gym is a good place to start. Good luck!
Health Benefits of Fitness and Weight Training
Many people who weight train are doing so primarily to look better, more toned, sleek and sexy. Which is fine. But you shouldn’t forget about the health benefits of fitness and weight training. This is just an added bonus to the results you can see in the mirror!
Probably one of the most well known benefits of fitness and weight training is strengthening your bones. Weight lifting can help increase your bone density and help prevent osteoporosis in the future.
There is a common mis-perception that running helps increase bone density, but this isn’t true. The reality is that running can actually cause muscle breakdown but weight lifting can help promote tissue growth. So the reality is that you can get more benefits of fitness and weight training than with the jarring impact of running.
Another benefit of fitness and weight training is that as you build your muscles your tendons and ligaments,that are connecting bones, muscles and other tissues will also get stronger, thus potentially reducing the chance of injury while engaging in physical activity.
In almost all cases an injury is the direct result of a tendon, ligament or muscle not strong enough to hold up to the stress of a physical activity. So to help prevent injury always try to reap the benefits of fitness and weight training.
More and more studies are showing the positive health benefits of fitness and weight training. The rate of such common diseases as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer have been showed to be positively impacted by regular weight training activities. Couple a complete fitness and weight training routine with good nutrition and you’ll have a much better chance of avoiding these common, and potentially deadly, diseases.
One of the most common and well known benefits of fitness and weight training is losing body fat. This might go deeper than many people realize though. When you lift weights and grow your muscles you are actually increasing your metabolism, not just during the exercise, but for hours after ward. That means that if you you to the gym and workout your body will be burning more calories for the rest of the night, even if you’re just sitting on the couch watching TV., than it would if you hadn’t lifted weights. Thus, the fitness and weight training benefits, far outlast the actual activity!
One of the biggest misconceptions about weight training, especially with women, is that if you life weights you will get big and bulky. This simply is not true, and here’s why.
To get big and bulky with weight training, which of course some people want to do, isn’t just about the amount of weight you lift or how often you work out. It’s also about your diet. Your weight training must go hand in hand with your diet.
Many weight lifters who are trying to bulk up will load up on proteins and carbohydrates. They would eat much more than the average person will ever consume. That way the bodybuilders will have all the ‘building blocks’ their bodies need to bulk up, while the average person simply isn’t providing their body with enough ‘building blocks’ to get really big.
The bottom line is this, the benefits of fitness and weight training can have a long term positive impact on your life. The sooner you incorporate them into your workouts the sooner you will look sleeker, sexier and will be healthier.
