Joining a Gym

Joining a Gym

Health clubs and gyms provide not only equipment but also on-staff experts to get you working out and to keep you coming back. In an increasing number of communities, Ys and public recreation centers offer similar facilities and programs. A typical gym offers locker rooms, at least one aerobics room, an array of aerobic apparatus, and a weight room with multifunction weight machines and free weights. Many also have studios for dance, martial arts, or yoga, a swimming pool, and perhaps hot tubs, saunas, or steam rooms. For details about what to expect at a gym, see Chapter 21, “A Primer on Gyms.”
This is a good time to remind you that gyms are not just buildings made of brick and mortar and filled with fitness toys. They are places where exercising feels right. In addition to equipment and atmosphere, they offer expertise. Someone usually is on duty to teach you how to use free weights, weight machines, and aerobic apparatus such as fitness riders, treadmills, stairsteppers, and so on. These people can show you how to use a specific apparatus and can help you use each device properly. Such basic assistance and advice is part of the fee you pay to use the facility. If you need more guidance, you can book time with the gym’s staff of personal trainers, either for an ongoing program or just to help get you started.
Gyms also offer an array of group classes from aerobics to yoga and often at various levels from “fit over 50″ to “high-energy steppers” or some comparable range. Some classes are offered for a specific number of weeks and you need to sign up; others are drop-in classes you can take at your convenience. Instructors lead classes with cheerleader-like enthusiasm to motivate you to get moving and to keep you coming back. Don’t let classes intimidate you. No one was born knowing all the moves, all the steps, and all the combinations. Everyone was once a beginner.When you get into a class with the music going, the instructor shouts encouragement as well as directions, and like the other exercisers, you will get into the spirit. When you first join a class, you might not have the stamina to go the distance even in a fairly easy
class. The contagious group energy is sure to pump you up, however, and you’ll be able to do more than you might have expected. Studies have shown that people feel better and get more out of fitness classes led by an instructor who tries to learn and use participants’ names, who provides frequent individual attention, and who gives positive feedback to the class and to individuals.