This past January I joined a gym! In the past I firmly believed that I would never ever get involved in a gym membership. The reasons are many: dislike contracts, no interest in body building, can't stand the gym culture that glamorizes the perfect body, not sure I would stay committed. Nope! Not for me.
And yet ... this year I joined a gym.
After the effort of moving had died down, I noticed that my personal strength was dying down too. Condo living definitely takes less effort - 55+ communities are specifically designed to make life easier. Great and yet, not great! 'Easier' doesn't keep you strong. And walking alone was not going to be enough.
About 10 minutes from the condo is a new Y. I was curious.
In January I took a tour of this facility! I found only good things there. First off, no contracts, just a monthly fee. Because it was a new year the 'joining fee' was waived. The offerings were many: swimming, basketball courts, cycling studios, martial arts classes, flexibility sessions, yoga studios, rock/wall climbing, circuit weight training - something for every interest. The population, however, was the biggest draw for me: all ages, abilities, and body types. Many seniors, people with disabilities, and family groups. I saw only a few serious body builders. The rest were regular folks looking to improve health. I felt totally comfortable. I joined.
My own focus is strength training. I need to maintain the muscles I have - and maybe build them back to a normal level. I began with circuit weights - the machines.
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| Easy equipment to use. |
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| Thankfully all the cardio equipment has TV. |
The center provided 4 free sessions with a personal trainer to orient you to the equipment and to set the base line. They set my base line fairly low at my request. I needed only one orientation session - the equipment is easy to understand, adjust and use. I never feel sore afterwards - only tired.
The center offers various cardio equipment - treadmills, stationery bikes, recumbent bikes, step climbers, etc. Although my preference is to walk outside, my neighborhood is not walker friendly. Having use of this cardio equipment has been helpful.
It has been 3 1/2 months since I started this membership and I can feel a difference already. I have increased my lift weight slowly. Small but steady progress. I sometimes struggled with finding the time to go, but I always feel great after the workout.
Guess this is a successful start. Best outcome?? Still doing this in April 2018!
3 comments:
You are off to a great start, I felt the same as you about gyms but had to join after an on the job injury in 1989, and I grew to love attending and have ever since. Way to go girl.
Wow, YAY YOU! That is fantastic and I am thrilled that you are doing this for you!
That's fantastic! I wish we had a gym or Y near me. I agree with you that condo or apartment living is so much easier than having a home to care for. I have already started to think about what I can do to replace the exercise I get restoring this old house of mine.
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