Don't Join a Gym: Five Reasons

Don't get me wrong.

I'm a very strong advocate of exercise and fitness. But I don't think everyone will always necessarily find it in a gym. While I am aware that joining one may be a good place to start, there are many drawbacks to be considered when joining one. The following reasons may help you think a little more of alternative routes to fitness in addition to gyms.

1) It Costs Money and More

- Driving to your gym to work out regularly might give many a sense of discipline and structure, but there are a lot of costs involved. With the price of gasoline hitting everyone's purse, if the gym is over ten miles away from your home you are burning at least a gallon of gas for the round trip. Multiply that by three times a week or more, and that's plenty of fuel you can use for other things, like running errands or spending time with your family with the gas you save.
-The monthly membership and the one-time fee might not seem a lot at first, but it does add up especially if (like many of us in the real world) you suddenly become extremely busy for weeks at a time and cannot go. You would then paying for something you are not using. You either have to terminate the membership, or make other arrangements.
-Looking closely at some membership agreements (not all of them), they might ask for your place of employment and how much money you make. You will probably realize you are not purchasing a membership, but signing yourself into a big loan, which you make yourself legally obligated to pay off, regardless of whether you decide to keep the membership or not. This leads to all sorts of unexpected troubles on your expenses, and possibly your credit rating. All you want to do is get in shape, not get into a legal battle with a big corporation.

2) Distraction

-One the selling points I keep getting handed to me is that if I invest in a home gym, I will have to deal with distractions at home, such as the television or radio, noise, and people possibly interrupting my workout in the living room. But if you look around a typical large gym you will notice the following: There are banks of overhead TV's in every direction you look, and on top of that, the gym is piping in loud "motivational" music to keep you pumped up, a dozen treadmills are churning away, and within ten feet of you are half-dressed strangers sweating and grunting to their own workouts (or worse, flirting with each other while pretending to use the machine). Oh, that's a refreshing change from being distracted, isn't it?

3) Inconvenient--Really.

-The gym may offer a class such as yoga, spinning, or aerobics. Unfortunately these may not be offered at the same times you are able to go. Also when you are given a tour of the facilities that may brag a pool, raquetball courts or a massage service, they may fail to mention these are blocked off to certain members, or are frequently "closed for maintenance" on certain days. If you want to take advantage of them but find you normally can't, you're going to have to go out of your way to do so.
- When you sign up for a gym, there may be clauses in the contract that will leave you high and dry. What if you move? Will you still be a member of that chain, or just the location where you joined? You can be pointed to an alternate location, a reasonable distance from you home. Some places, however, define "reasonable" as within 100 miles of your residence. (Oops! There goes your gasoline money!)
-What if the gym closes? What happens to the membership you paid for a year in advance? Companies in trouble will want to say you are not entitled to a refund.
-What if you get injured in the gym? What liability will the company assume if you get hurt or sick as a direct result of their negligence? It's usually a pain to get anybody from the company to help you with insurance matters.
-How easy is it to cancel the membership? This is one of the most complained-about disservices large gyms seems to give their unhappy customers.

Obviously this is not the same as being convenient.

4) Supplement Temptation

- On the way out there is always a table that has jars of pills, if not boxes of pills, promising to boost your progress if you are "really serious" about your results, be they muscle-building or fat-burning. Sometimes staff members will approach you to see if you are interested in purchasing a set. Likely they have been given training to sell this product, and have a very compelling presentation to go with it. Here's a dirty little secret: Many supplements come from the same laboratory, and regardless of the label, will be of the same quality as the generic brands. The generic products can work just as well! Once you educate yourself on which ingredients are the ones you really need and can work for you, that knowledge is invaluable because you can go to a discount store and save hundreds for the same result.
- Not only the big box "systems" will tempt you, but the convenience store inside can also be a strong lure: selling ready-made shakes, a place to sit and socialize after the workout, and a quick protein bar to grab on the way out. Not to mention teasing you with cool gym-logo merchandise like t-shirts, belts, shorts and bags, you're pretty much expected to linger about and go shopping in there.

5) Unsanitary (Eeuuww!)

-Not everyone in the gym brings their own towel, and even the ones who do, don't always towel off the equipment when they're done using it, regardless of what' the rules on the wall say. Then their pespiration dries within a few minutes, and you can't easily tell if it held someone's sweat and bacteria. More importantly, if you are the next person to use the equipment, you're either grossed out, or worse, unknowingly scraping up traces of a stranger's bodily fluids.
-Most gyms offer a shower, but if you have paid any attention to the ocassional health news, these places are a fungal nightmare. The showers are the one big place where you are most likely to inadvertedly pick up a case of athlete's foot. If you've ever noticed the soles of your feet suddenly starting to peel or itch within days of using a new gym (happened to my friend once), you may be acquiring that infection from their shower. The solution? Wear sandals (still not a guarantee but it's something) or simply don't take a shower until you get home.

There are alternatives to joining a gym. Consider setting up a few weights, and even some apparatus like a Swiss ball or an aerobic step in your home. You will never have to drive far, or pay monthly fees to use your own equipment. For a comparatively modest amount, you can have your own gym. You can also join a walking or jogging club in your neighborhood, or start one yourself. I myself have not been a member of a gym in years, but have combined jogging and lifting weights at home quite successfully to lose weight, and keep it off. Fitness is not something we can get from a corporate gym alone, but rather something each of us has to find a way to incorporate into, and find time for, in our daily lives.