To date, I have had membership at 4 different gyms. I started off at a council run leisure centre gym, which wasn’t terrible and was pretty cheap, but could get busy. It had a decent selection of machines, both weights and cardio, although frequently there were machines out of order and it could take a while to have them fixed or replaced. There was only a small free weights area which often only had a couple of people using it, but it was wide open and regularly used as a walkway to get from one end of the gym to the other, so for a newcomer to lifting weights it wasn’t the most enticing of options. One of the best things they had was a swipe card which not only controlled access to the gym, but also could be put into every machine to track your workout, and if you wanted there was a touchscreen panel that you could use to see a personalised exercise plan. I never used this but would love to have it now. There was also a decent swimming pool, so I was swimming for at least an hour 4 or 5 days a week, but because it was the leisure centre you got all sorts in there, but there was only one roped off lane, and whilst I am a decent swimmer, I didn’t have the speed or stamina to feel comfortable going in the lane whilst there were other swimmers in there, which meant I was stuck in the uncontrolled zone zig-zagging between the walkers/lines of talkers/floaters/width swimmers and anyone else that seemed intent on getting in the way. Swimming was a big part of my workouts and I was getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of structure to the swimming and the lack of decency from the fellow “swimmers” who found it impossible to be considerate to not only myself but anyone else who was actually trying to swim in the swimming pool. Eventually I cancelled my membership and looked for another gym.
I wound up at DW Fitness, which was definitely an upgrade as far as the quality and quantity of gym equipment went, but it was also an increase in gym goers. The bro-zone was pretty much always busy with a lot of posing going on, not a chance was I going in there. As with at the leisure centre, I stuck to the cardio and weight machines. The swimming pool was smaller than at the leisure centre, and there was no deep end which meant there were even more walkers, and for some reason people think it is acceptable to walk in a line of 4, 5 or sometimes more, talking, making it difficult for the swimmers to actually get a decent rhythm going. I ended up taking the attitude of I don’t know these people, and if the staff aren’t going to make it possible to have a good swim then I’ll take it upon myself, elbows out, head down, swim along the wall and if anyone gets in the way (with the exception of those actually trying to swim) then it’s time to play chicken, I bet they’ll move before I do. I’ll admit there were times when I had a splashier stroke than usual, but when a group of people swimming are being forced into a tiny area so that no swimmers can use the pool as their social club with no consideration for others then the gloves are off. There were two serious perks to DW (aside from the fact it wasn’t limited to council hours, so was open late, and on bank holidays), there was a steam room, and a couple of hot tubs. Between doing 90 minutes or so in the gym, at least an hour swimming, followed by steam room and finally relaxing in the hot tube I could easily spend half a day at the gym. If nothing else I definitely got my monies worth.
And then COVID hit, I got into a bit of a funk, put on a bunch of weight, lost any semblance of fitness that I had, and never made it back to DW.
Fast forward a few years and I have moved across the country, and back at a council run gym. This time there is no swimming pool, at least not at our local gym, but the gym area is a lot bigger than my previous council gym, and there are classes, not that I am bothered but Vikki enjoys them. The bonus with this gym is that it is run by the city council, who also have a bunch of other gyms in and around the city, including a few that do have a swimming pool. Anyway, back to the gym, it is split over two floors, and has undergone a refit in the time that I was a member which resulted in a lot of equipment being moved around. Originally it was pretty much setup so that machines, both weights and cardio, were downstairs, and the cable machines and free weights were upstairs. This worked well, in the sense that you didn’t have to be self-conscious with a load of bros around you when you were panting through some cardio or struggling on the weights machine. Then it all went tits up. The refit was clearly done by, well, I can’t think of a suitable insult so we’ll just call them an idiot. From day 1 of the reopening there was complaints, from myself, and others. Every time I spoke to a member of staff about it they said the same thing, that there had been a lot of complaints, from members and staff. The idiot had decided it was a good idea to mix things up, some free weights here, a couple of cardio machines there, some weights machines here, others over there. There was no logical reason for why things had been put where they were, but there was now no zonal layout, both upstairs and downstairs had cardio machines, both upstairs and downstairs had some weights machines, AND both upstairs and downstairs had free weights complete with walls of mirrors. Maybe the aim was to try and get people to mix more, I don’t know, all it did was piss people off. We took a bit of time off from the gym, not intentionally, life just got in the way, and when we went back there was a noticeable change. There seemed to be a lot more idiots around. More groups of lads “working out” in groups of 4 or 5, hogging a machine for the better part of an hour without actually doing much aside from being loud and obnoxious. The classes were also taking a downturn, Vikki was down to doing one class a week and even that was at risk of being cancelled. Still, it was our local gym, it was easy to get to, and it pretty much had the equipment we wanted to use.
About a month before our holiday to Egypt Vikki won a competition, a month of personal training. For those unaware, a month of personal training equates to a single one hour session per week for four weeks. Personally I’m not keen on the idea of having someone follow me around the gym telling me what to do, that’s what the app on my phone is for, but it was something we had looked into previously for Vikki, so getting four sessions for free was awesome. Whilst the overall experience wasn’t enough to make us think paying the asking price was worth it once the free sessions ended, Vikki did feel that she benefited from the sessions, so again it was something we were looking into, which leads us to gym number 4.
It isn’t something I had ever considered before, but a lot of hotels offer memberships to their gym and spa facilities, including our local Holiday Inn. What caught our attention was that every gym membership included one PT session per week, and it was only a few pounds more expensive than what we were already paying, which sounds like a bargain when you can easily pay over £100 per month for one PT session per week. We decided to go and look at the gym before making a decision, because there was no point in moving there if the gym doesn’t have what we want. First impressions were that it is very small, certainly the smallest gym that I had been to and by quite a margin. It is immediately obvious that there is not a lot of machines, for example there is only one traditional exercise bike, one recumbent bike and one spin bike. Slightly concerned we continue looking around. In the weights room there is again noticeably machines missing that we are used to, but not too many. I think Vikki was sold on it just based on the PT session, I was a little more hesitant, and if we hadn’t have been looking around at our usual gym time then maybe I would have made a different decision, because there was literally 2 people working out in the entire gym, and they were working out together. Hell, if it is the quiet then I don’t need a massive array of machines, I will happily use the cable machine and free weights. We decided there and then to sign up and cancel our council gym membership, and honestly it is the best decision I’ve ever made when it comes to gyms. In the few weeks that we have been members we’ve had the gym to ourselves more often than not, and even when it isn’t empty there is generally only one or two other people there. This has meant that I have become acquainted (and quickly fallen in love) with the cable machine, and have even ventured into the free weights zone, hell I’ve moved benches and set them up for what I want to do, something that I never would have ever even considered at the other gyms. With it being quiet, or even a private gym most of the time I have had the time and space to try out things without feeling like I am in someone’s way of like people are watching. Sure, there are small improvements I would like to see, but on the whole I absolutely love this gym.
It isn’t just my gym sessions that have benefited from moving, my entire workout plan has massively improved. Now that I am comfortable using the cable machine and the free weights I have found that I don’t have much time at the gym for cardio work, so I have made a conscious decision to use the gym for the weights, with maybe 5 or 10 minutes of cardio as the beginning or end of my workout, and as such I have been better at getting out and walking with Darby or using the exercise bike at home to get some cardio work in. It has been a bit of an education, as I have made sure to do my research so that I know what I am doing with the weights and cable machine, which exercises target which areas, etc. Heck, I now have an app on my phone the has various workout plans saved, my ideal gym workouts, gym workouts for if the cables are being used, I’ve even got at home workouts planned to finally make proper use of the resistance bands and weights that I have rather than just doing some basic bicep curls and calling it a day because I don’t know what else to do.
All said, this post has just been a long winded way of saying if you’re a fellow fatty, or even if you’re not, and you find yourself limited at the gym because you’re worried about having all eyes on you, then look at what other gyms are available to you because I have definitely come to the realisation that it is not about having every possible bit of equipment in the gym but rather having a space to workout where you are comfortable to use the equipment that is available. At the end of the day, machines are great, but they’re only mimicking what you could do with free weights and cables, if only you’re willing to give them a shot.
DISCLAIMER: I am well aware that not everyone who lifts weights at the gym is a gym bro/meathead/flesh sack of steroids. I am well aware that not everyone in the free weights area is watching what you are doing. BUT, the gym bro stereotype exists for a reason. Let’s be honest, if you’re reading this you’re not a gym bro, we all know gym bros can’t read.