I have had people tell me this. I have read about it. Seen interviews about it. Someone is overweight and self conscious about how they look. Lets say it might even have been you. You decide to join one of the “big chain store gyms” gym to get rid of fat, tighten up and get into shape. You arrive at the gym and feel even MORE self conscious. Lots of people there already in shape.  Slimmer, and in better condition. You think……”They might be watching me. Judging me.  Do I look like I know what I am doing?” You hire one of the trainers there. They stand there and count the reps of the same old exercises that you see in all the magazines. You are laying there, sitting there, pushing weights around on some machine. Plodding along on a treadmill or an elliptical. Mirrors are everywhere. Nothing is happening. After a little while you stop going. That’s it. You are done.

This may sound familiar or it may not, but there is definitely something to learn from this. First you don’t have to join a gym to get into the kind of shape you want. Second, the gym can often work against you. The gym can be distracting, expensive, and very time inefficient. Especially the big “chain store gyms.”

As far as the big “chain store gyms” go—-here is my personal take. There is way too much land wasted on building these things. I personally haven’t belonged to any gym in over 15 years. You especially wouldn’t catch me dead in one of the big name ones. You may think me a little bit of an outsider or oddball but, exercise should be free flowing. Waiting around to use a piece of equipment is a waste of my time. Then there are restrictions on the footwear. I exercise barefoot whenever possible and the “big chain store gyms” gyms don’t allow it. (This is for another post but, the benefits are many). Then there are the nasty locker rooms and, the who knows where they have been towels. MORE—– Everything is indoors, under crummy lighting. No fresh air, no sunshine and the BS. What BS you ask? I was a guest at a gym this winter and did a workout there. The atmosphere was anything but positive. People doing a set of an exercise, then sitting there (looking totally bored…their minds on anything but what they were doing), or standing around chatting with each other. Others running or bobbing up and down on a piece of “cardio” equipment like a hamster on a wheel. I-pods blasting away, TVs on, some even reading magazines! Totally disconnected from the mind/body experience that is the magic of exercise. Oh yeah, did I mention that its also expensive.  Now, meld all this with the fact that you may be someone who is going to the gym for the first time (already feeling self conscious) and it can be pretty miserable, discouraging and who wouldn’t want to quit?

What if you could exercise on your own without having to think about all that stuff? What if you could feel your mind/body connection as you whipped yourself into shape? Felt your own strength as you worked at the pace you needed to. With your own body or your own equipment? In your house, garage or (when you feel ready) out in a park or your own backyard? It also wouldn’t cost much. In my view you would need your own body weight, a thin mat, a jungle gym (costs about $30), a kettlebell (costs between $50-100) then “maybe” a power wheel (cost $50) and stretch bands (cost about $30).  Of course some good instruction(personal, or a DVD series of some kind) on the what’s and how’s is the most critical of all. Exercising with even your own body weight you could melt fat, harden up, increase your energy and strength, improve your digestion and become more flexible. Your self confidence would skyrocket, especially if you had your mind/body connection going. Constantly telling yourself how strong you feel. How great you look. I used this self talk to help me through my own exercise sessions during my divorce and it helped me a great deal. So to answer the question. Do you really have to join a gym? You should be able to answer that for yourself now. At least you may better know the questions to ask yourself.

Best,

Robert