Joining a gym

I have a confession to make.

After over a decade of insistently telling people I'd never join a gym, I did the unthinkable. I parted with hard-earned money to join a fancy shmancy gym.

Yes, that's right, those with long lines of sophisticated treadmills, cycling machines and stairmasters equipped with their own individual screens to watch your favourite channel or browse on Facebook. And yes, those with lighting more suitable for the clubbing scene and loud, motivational music booming incessantly.

The questions is...why???

I honestly don't know. It was impulsive and spontaneous, and I still don't know if it was the right decision. One day, I was just rather frustrated with the traffic during 'puasa' season, and thought I'd save a lot more time if I exercised during the peak period of traffic, then go home once the roads were as smooth as my baby's bottom.

I went downstairs to the gym in my office block and asked for a one month membership in line with how long the fasting period would last. And VOILA! I walked out of the gym having signed up for a ONE YEAR membership. I don't know how that happened but hey, they offered to waive the registration fee and provide towel service. I mean, come on, towel service!

So I've been going now for almost 1.5 months, trying to justify the 'purchase'. So far, I've been able to maintain an average of twice a week and considering how busy my schedule is, I'd be happy if I were able to maintain it at this level for the rest of the membership period.

How am I finding it?

The pros:

• Compared to what I hear my friends paying, it's a decent price for a well-equipped gym
• It's situated directly in the same block as my office which is very convenient
• The members and staff are quite friendly
• It's not too crowded and I don't need to wait for my turn on any machines, etc
• I found a crossfit style program that suits me

The cons:

• Even though the price is reasonable, I'm still spending significant moolah on it
• I actually have a gym in my apartment which I can use for free
• My targets this year are more focused on running and I enjoy training at the park far more than on a treadmill
• I only get home at 7:30pm instead of 6:30pm meaning less family time (especially those requiring the sun)
• I haven't attended a single class and I don't intend to because it's not my style

Whether it was the right decision remains to be seen. I think I'd only consider it worth it if I started to see visible changes in my body by the end of this year. As it stands, there hasn't really been much change at all. I think that part of the reason is that I tend to have less self control over my food intake when I work out, so I've been regularly going for those chocolates, soft drinks and ice creams.

It's very true that you can't out-exercise a bad diet. I think that the tyre around my waist has actually gotten bigger ever since I started working out more!

I think I'm going to have to start making some short-term goals if I am to have a more focused fitness approach in my life. I had completely forgotten about the 'Fitness Goals' I set at the beginning of this year. This is definitely something I can work towards now that I have access to more tools in the gym to reach them.

Just to do a quick review:

• 10 proper pull ups: Currently stuck on 6
• 50 proper push-ups: Currently stuck on 30
• 2 minute plank: Currently stuck on 45 seconds
• To be able to deadlift my own weight (58kg): Recently did 10 reps of 50kg and will work my way up
• 5km run in 25 minutes: Hit 18.5 minutes!
• Finish 21km in an official run event: Done with Brooks. Doing another 21 for SCMKL. And targeting 42 for SCMSG.

Less than 4 months to go!

Categories: Health, Life