So, Christmas is over and we've all eaten too much. Don't feel too guilty about it, as I think it's the one time of the year where you should be able to enjoy yourself for a few days and relax on what you eat and do. I still threw in a few push-ups and body squats myself, but this was more to give my metabolism a small boost before enjoying all those Christmas treats...
After Christmas comes the New Year which also brings a 101 New Year resolutions. It's a fair bet that a big chunk of these will involve fitness and it's no surprise that new memberships for gym's are at their highest in January. Great for gyms as aside from the new member numbers before the end of the tax year, after 1 or 2 months most of these new members will stop going to the gym via a number of excuses. What's surprising is a lot of them won't cancel their membership so the gym owners can sit back collecting the money. They hardly chase people up in case they jog the memory and the person they called decide to cancel their membership.
The biggest problem comes to long term gym users, the men and women who use the gym week-in, week-out.
For 4 to 6 weeks we see people who have no idea what their doing, attempting to use gym equipment they have probably never even seen before. A few will have paid extra money for some sessions with a personal trainer but even then, I've seen some really bad trainers just give the out a few exercises and hand out a long list of cardio machines to use. This way they can stand and talk to their client while collecting money which frankly they don't deserve. The new member doesn't know any better and will think this is the right way to go - endless, boring cardio and a few weights thrown in here and there. It's no wonder the numbers of people using the gym go into a decline after February.
A few will walk around with a few pages torn from a fitness magazine trying to copy the routines given (I must admit, this was me some years back). At least they have a routine, but as no one has shown them how to do each exercise (and they hardly ever ask anyone) they also soon get bored and you never see them again. The magazine routines also nearly always involve the heavy use of weight machines which as discussed in a previous blog aren't great to say the least, and can end up causing more harm then good.
The new members who I take an interest in are the one's who will start from scratch using free-weights and will concentrate on form before trying to lift anything heavier - this tell's you that they have taken the time to at least do some proper research. They won't be trying to show off to the opposite sex and they won't be rushing through everything. These are the people who will be taking the time to learn the moves and will even ask other gym users for advice - a few times now this has happened to me and while I'm no expert, it feels good when someone asks for your help.
Another thing to look out for are people who will add weight and mix up their routines. This stops them becoming bored, will allow them to use different muscles and some will say even confuse your muscle. Regardless of what happens, you'll be making your muscle work harder to adapt which will result in your body becoming stronger and being able to cope with what you throw at it next time.
But whatever you do, you must make progress, be it with the size of the weights your lifting or the time you complete a circuit or distance in. Without challenging both mind and muscle you won't reap the benefits of the workout.
If you do see someone new at the gym then take the time to say hello and even offer to help if you want - their bound to be nervous and remember, you were the newbie once...!
Talk soon,
Dan
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