How To Select A Gym
So you want to join a gym?
Awesome.
Welcome to my church…
But are you looking for a church with 50 foot high ceilings, stained glass windows, and an ornate steeple?
Or do you like a simple yet beautiful patch of earth where you can kneel and pray?
The choice is yours. Allow this article to be your guide on selecting a gym that suits you.
Location
As a former fitness facility owner, I can tell you that the vast majority of a gym’s clients live or work within a 3 mile radius of where the gym is located. Especially if you are new to fitness training, you want to make going to the gym as convenient as possible. But if you are a die-hard fitness freak (I use that term with much love), you may be more than happy to travel extra miles to find that obscure kettlebell class, Crossfit box, yoga studio, or dungeon-style powerlifting mecca.
Something else to consider is parking availability. Most large corporate gyms will have plentiful parking. But your small independently owned gym might be a bit sparse (parking sucked at my first location).
Atmosphere
Call it atmosphere, vibe, energy, or style. Every gym has an intangible quality that makes it feel like your home away from home or being caught in hell somewhere between standing in line at the post office and waiting to get your driver’s license renewed.
A big part of the atmosphere is the number of people training. Some people like a packed gym and feed off of the energy. Other people like the crowd sparse (that would be me) and love it when they are the only one in the gym. The important thing is to visit the gym at the time of day you will be using it. Also try to see what it’s like on a Monday, as that is usually the busiest day of the week for gyms.
If the gym you’re considering has a website, checking it out can give you a hint of the atmosphere. But nothing beats checking it out in person. When I moved to Austin, I selected my neighborhood specifically because it was close to a gym that had great reviews online as being known for no-nonsense training and they had all the equipment I could ever want (several power racks, Olympic lifting platforms, lots of dumbbells, and very few machines).
But when I went there for a week on a free pass, I hated it. The “vibe” there made it a common occurrence for people to talk to me between sets and offer unsolicited advice on my technique. Don’t get me wrong, no one was rude or condescending – I just didn’t feel comfortable with the vibe and culture of that gym.
Admittedly, I am one anti-social mofo when it comes to my gym time. I ended up signing up with a national corporate chain gym that I absolutely love in large part because when my earbuds are in and I’m standing in the power rack, nobody says a peep to me.
Equipment
Speaking of power racks, does your gym have one?
If not, run like hell!
I’ve previously gone as far as saying that if you are not using a power rack at the gym, you might as well stay home for training. That’s not me being “hardcore” or a “meat head”, that’s me being practical.
You can get a set of dumbbells and a door frame pull up bar that will cost you much less than a year’s worth of gym fees and train at home. But a power rack, barbell, and plates can get a little pricey. And even if you are willing to drop the coin or scan Craig’s List and find a killer deal (very possible), many people will not have the space in their home to have a rack and barbell set-up.
I suppose another reason to use the gym even if you don’t use the power rack (cringe), is because it really is your “church” of sorts. . . It’s a place where you find some mental, emotional, or spiritual clarity. It gives you a much needed gap between work and home. It provides a space where you can’t access the computer. It’s your place of moving meditation. You find solace there that you haven’t found anywhere else. If that’s the case, great. . . But still consider stepping into the damned power rack.
If your gym does have at least one power rack with a barbell and plates, other pieces of equipment to look for include dumbbells and. . . dumbbells.
I’m only half way kidding. But a pull up bar (often attached to the power rack), kettlebells, medicine balls, jump ropes, and boxing equipment are also nice to have around. I’ll even admit to using cables on occasion and I think they can definitely have a place in a well rounded program.
But what about the cardio machines?
Ahhh yes. . . treadmills and stationary bikes and ellipticals, oh my! Believe it or not, there are actually a few “cardio” machines that I do like. My requirements for a cardio machine are that it uses both the upper and lower body and it can stop and start on a dime. That means I want to be able to go from a dead stop to an all out max effort with no lag time waiting for the damned machine to catch up.
So what machines meet those qualification? The 
Payments, Contracts, And Upsells
I see nothing wrong with a gym requiring a contract. I used to do it.
Same goes for automatic withdrawals. I required it. Just because the gym owner has solid business practices in place that increase the likelihood that they get paid does not mean that they are only interested in the money. Money is the lifeblood of any business. If you like your gym, pay the damned fee. The lights might just stay on and the roof might not leak.
If the gym does require a contract, be sure to know what happens when the contract expires. If you sign a 12 month agreement, what happens on month 13? Does the contract go to a month to month agreement that you can cancel at anytime? Or does it renew to another 12 month agreement? Personally I would not sign a 12 month contract that rolled into another year at the expiration. But the point is to be aware of this part of the contract, and be sure that you agree with the terms.
But how much should you pay?
It’s easy to throw around the old maxim of “you get what you pay for”, but that’s not always the case. Any reputable gym should give you a free or extremely low cost trial period where you can use their facilities for a limited time and then make your decision on whether their fee warrants the benefits prior to signing a contract.
If the gym you are considering does not have a free or low cost trial, that usually means that they are only after your wallet. But occasionally this means that it is a truly exclusive group and they don’t want any half-steppers – but that is the exception to the rule.
I pay $43.30 per month for my gym, and to me it’s worth every penny. Other gyms can be close to $200 per month and some community centers or YMCA’s can be less than $30 per month. The bottom line is that if you use it, and it improves your health, it’s tough to put a dollar amount on the value. Personally I think anything less than $200 per month can be reasonable (not to include personal training). It just depends on your use and the impact it has on your health and fitness.
One thing to keep an eye out for are aggressive sales tactics for personal training services, tanning packages, and other potential upsells. When I joined my gym I asked the manager directly, “If I sign up here, am I going to be constantly pitched for personal training services?”. He said no and I signed on the dotted line. And I’ve never once encountered a sales pitch at this gym since I signed up.
But this is not always the case, especially in some of the larger corporate gym settings. Trainers or sales people may have to report daily to management how many members they approached about training upsells, how many packages were sold, and/or how many referrals they received. I’m not opposed to selling or marketing – in the proper context. But when I’m at the gym for 30 minutes of “me” time is not the proper context. If you don’t want to be bothered with the newly certified ACE fitness trainer practicing his sales skills, ask what the protocol is before you sign the contract.
Amenities
Personally the only amenities I care about are the equipment. But I live less than a block from my gym, work from home, and don’t care about the shower facilities of my gym.
You on the other hand may be getting your workout in over your lunch break and have to be back in the office in a suit and tie (or skirt and heels as the case may be) for the afternoon. If you will be using the locker room, be sure to check out the cleanliness but also be conscious of how many people are using the locker room. Are there enough showers to accommodate the busy lunchtime gym blitz? Are people courteous when they lay their stuff out on the benches or do they take up as much space as possible. How many old dudes are walking around naked with their dingle-dangle wagging while their towel rests uselessly over their shoulder? You know your personal preferences for cleanliness, personal space, and umm… showmanship – make sure the locker room of your gym meets your preferences.
Child care services are another bonus that parents may appreciate. If you’ll be bringing children to the gym, be sure to stop by the child care area to meet the people responsible for watching the kids and to see how the kids interact with each other.
Other amenities your gym may have include free towels, sauna, swimming pool, cafe, 24 hour access, massage therapy, or chiropractic services. Then again, you might be in a cinder block warehouse with concrete floors that has zero amenities. It all comes down to your personal preferences.
Action Steps
If you’re ready to start the process of finding a gym, here are the steps that I recommend:
1. Find gyms within a 3 mile radius of your home or work place. Maybe you already have a few gyms in mind because you’ve seen their storefront signage on your drive to work or you already know people who train there. If not, Google Maps is a good resource to use. Type your address into Google Maps, click on the red icon that designates your address, and then click “search near by”. Type “gym” in the search box and the map will show the location of the gyms near your home and have a corresponding list in the left hand column.
2. Select a gym that appeals to you, and go visit. Do not call and set an appointment. You want to catch them off guard so you can get a taste of their customer service when they may not be expecting it. When you get there, ask for a tour of the facility. If you like what you see of the equipment, amenities, and atmosphere, ask for a trial pass. If this is not free or costs more than $20.00 leave immediately. Ideally the trial pass should be for at least a few days if not a full week or two. Also be aware of the sales tactics. Are they trying to pressure into a sale right there on the spot, or do they get you a trial pass with minimal paperwork and hassle?
3. Train at the gym. I know it’s an obvious step, but be sure to use the trial pass. Make sure you go on the days and times that you will be using the gym if you sign up. Be aware of the things that will weigh on your decision to join. Is the equipment clean and in good service? Are you comfortable with the crowd at the time you train? Are you satisfied with the locker room, child care, and other ammenities?
4. Ask for the contract. Two days before your trial expires, ask for a copy of the enrollment contract. Take it home and read it. If there is a “corporate policy” against taking the contract out of the facility before enrolling and you otherwise like the gym, ask if you can come in the next day and sit in their lobby and review the contract (this is why I recommend asking two days before the trial expires). If they won’t let you do that, then be prepared for hard-sell tactics and consider looking into a different gym.
5. Review the contract. You should not need a lawyer to decipher the agreement. It should be written in plain language, ideally with subheadings that let you know what each paragraph is about. Look for what happens at the expiration of the contract (does it roll over to month to month or renew for the full term of the original agreement). Also look for what happens if you move away from the area, become injured (not necessarily through training) and can’t use the facility, or miss a monthly payment.
6. Sign up and train! If you are happy with the terms of the agreement and you like everything else about the gym, get signed up and start training! You may need to bring a voided check if you are going to have the payment automatically withdrawn from your checking account, otherwise bring your credit card. Something else that I didn’t mention is that many gyms, especially independently owned gyms, may be open to receiving payment in full for an entire year at a discounted rate.
So there you go! Not a bad guide for selecting a gym, eh? If you enjoyed this article many thanks for spreading the word on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. And if you have any questions about selecting a gym, let me know in the comments below.
Stay strong,
Vic
___________________
Since I’m now only posting once per week to this blog, I want to start including some great links from around the web at the end of each article. This week we have a free book, a poetry contest about bacon, this blog going mobile, and an amazing weight loss transformation. . .
Joshua Millburn of TheMinimalists.com has an excellent work of fiction available for your favorite price – free. I’ve read the book and it’s top notch. Click the link to get your free digital copy of Falling While Sitting Down.
Doug Grootveld of WellnessRenegade.com has an awesome tribute to beloved bacon. He’s created a pretty funny video about the health benefits of bacon and is hosting a poetry contest about bacon where you can win… bacon! But you’ll have to beat my Jay-Z themed ode to bacon which you can read in the comments of the post by clicking here.
You can now read this blog on your smart phone and I know you can’t wait to do so while you drink a cup of coffee, eat a sandwich, and drive a stick shift. If you are looking to have your site go mobile or need other web marketing services, be sure to contact Jessee at www.fresnowebmarketing.com.
Steve Kamb of NerdFitness.com published an amazing weight loss transformation story this week. How amazing? 128 pounds lost in 10 months amazing. Be sure to read all about it by clicking here.
That’s it for this week! If you made at this far, you might as well sign up for future updates. Heck, I’ll even throw in a PDF that shows exactly what I ate and how I trained to lose over 17 pounds in a month. Go ahead and submit your email address below. I double dog dare you.
The Beginner’s Guide To Strength Training
Strength is the foundation of (or can enhance) nearly any other athletic attribute. Speed, power, balance, and even endurance and flexibility can all benefit from proper strength training. To be clear, when I’m talking about strength I’m talking about moving heavy weight at low repetitions (five repetitions at the most). And doing sets of only one to three reps is my preferred range for getting stronger.
But before we get any further, let me come clean. . . I’ve never been very strong. The most I’ve ever pulled on a deadlift is 315 lbs and the most I’ve ever squatted is 265 lbs (at a bodyweight of 160 lbs). To those new to strength training, those numbers might sound solid. But to the well initiated, those numbers are not impressive. What I’m getting at is that if you’re new to strength training, I have good experience helping people get started and ensuring proper technique. But if you’ve been at the strength game for a while, you might want to check out some other resources such as those from Roger Lawson and JC Deen.
OK, so assuming you’re a newbie – where do you start? If you are new to fitness training, then you may not be sure what exercises to do or what pieces of equipment you should use when working on strength. This guide will help you navigate your journey of getting stronger from beginning to even intermediate stages. So go ahead and bookmark this page right now. 
The Minimalist Guide To Fitness
Walk into any of the large commercial gyms and you’ll be bombarded with a bevy of gargantuan machinery, clanking weight stacks hanging from pulley systems, and people doing the treadmill trot like mindless caged gerbils. Television screens flicker against the walls and even from some of the machines. People mill around without purpose as the options presented in the ocean of chrome and vinyl numb them to haphazard action.
The truth is that you don’t need any equipment for fitness training. Depending on your goals there are some pieces that can be useful, but these tools comprise a short list. The list of exercises used can also be kept short and sweet. Selecting one movement from each of the following categories is all that is needed:
Upper Body Push
If you are using body-weight training, the best upper body push exercise is the push up. And I’m talking about the good old fashioned toes and palms on the ground back straight push up. Sure, there are plenty of other push up variations available. But if you focus on technique instead of banging out a bunch of sloppy high-speed repetitions that short the proper range of motion, the basic push up will be just fine for developing the pushing muscles of the chest, shoulders, and triceps.
If you are using free weights (either barbells or dumbbells) my preferred upper body pushing exercise is the standing overhead press. To get even more particular, I tend to favor the push press as the slight dip and drive from the lower body allows for the use of heavier loads.
I favor the standing version over the seated, as standing involves more engagement of the lower back, hips, and abdominal muscles (how’s that for “core” training?). I prefer the standing overhead press over the bench press as I’ve found the heavier loads of the bench press combined with the propensity for poor technique make it ripe for shoulder injuries.
I also like the “practical” or “functional” aspects of the overhead press when compared to the bench press. You can see how the fitness developed with the overhead press could help you put a heavy box in your attic, but a situation similar to the bench press in “real life” is more difficult to identify.
Upper Body Pull
Earlier in the article, I stated that you don’t need any equipment for fitness training. Well that’s not completely accurate if you are going to include upper body pulling exercises. For upper body pulling you will need a tree branch, swing set, pull up bar, or some other stable object that will support your weight when you hang from it.
The pull up is the best upper body pulling exercise and I prefer it over other free weight pulling exercises such as bent over rows. Although I am a fan of using additional weight for the pull up (usually by suspending barbell plates from a weight belt) as long as sufficient volume has been worked up to with the body-weight only version.
One hiccup with the pull up is that it is outside of the current fitness capacity of many people, in particular those new to training. In this situation I typically recommend the body row, although assisted pull ups using bands or a partner can also work.
Lower Body Push
Whether done with a barbell or body-weight only, the squat is the best lower body pushing movement. Technique is crucial with this movement, especially if using free weights.
A common fear about squats is descending “below parallel”. This refers to not going any deeper than when the thighs are parallel to the floor. This fear is often misguided, as maintaining a strict one-size-fits-all rule for this movement cannot apply. Squat depth will depend on a variety of factors including hamstring flexibility, core strength, knee health, and of course technique. The guidelines I use for squat depth are twofold:
1. Are you pain free during the movement? If there is discomfort in the knees, lower back, or even ankles once certain depth of the movement is crossed, then the range of motion should be shortened to the point where pain is no longer present.
2. Is there a point where the pelvis tips forward? Some people are blessed and can do the “ass to the grass” full range of motion squat while maintaining proper skeletal alignment. Most people will have a point in the bottom of the squat where the pelvis tips forward and the lower back rounds. The range of motion should be stopped prior to this “tipping”. Maintaining alignment through a greater range of motion can be improved through practice and often with attention paid to increasing hamstring flexibility.
Lower Body Pull
Training the lower body pull without using external resistance can be tricky. For most people I recommend sprints as the hamstrings are highly engaged. And as much as I love hill sprints, using a flat surface is probably better if your intent is to get some hamstring work. Although sprinting more appropriately belongs in the heart rate acceleration portion of this post below.
Another option for a lower body pull body-weight exercise is what I call the single-leg bend and reach. It’s basically a stiff-legged deadlift done on one leg without any additional weight. This can be tricky from a balance standpoint, and even a hamstring flexibilty standpoint, and I rarely use it with clients. Ideally training the lower body pull will be done with free weight exercises.
The best lower body pulling exercise is the deadlift. The deadlift engages the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back like no other movement. With proper technique and training, weights of two and even three times that of the lifter’s body-weight are achievable. Lighter loads can also be used in a circuit training format such as doing ten deadlifts followed by 20 burpees and repeating for 3 – 5 cycles.
Heart Rate Acceleration
Nearly any jumping or bounding movement can be used to get the heart rate cranked. As mentioned above, sprints are also an excellent option. My three preferred exercises for this mode of training are burpees, jumping rope, and sprinting.
And to be clear I’m not talking about entering some “target heart rate zone” crap. I’m talking about maximum effort until your lungs burn and your chest feels like it will explode. I’ll pick 10 minutes of burpees over 30 minutes of long slow jogging for fat loss training and general conditioning any day of the week.
Putting It Together
Whether you are training with body-weight exercises or using free weights, you only need to select one movement from each category for your training program. Over time you may want to change the exercises more for avoiding boredom than anything, but there is plenty of room for fitness improvement through only using four or five movements. Here are examples for both body-weight and free weight training:
Body-weight Training: Push up, pull up, squat, sprint.
Free Weight Training: Standing overhead press, weighted pull ups, squats, deadlifts, jump rope.
For the body-weight movements, you could use those four movements in a circuit format 2 or 3 times per week and have a complete training program. For the free weight exercises, I would try separating them into pushing and pulling days (overhead presses and squats on Monday and pull ups and deadlifts on Wednesday as an example) with a short but intense jump rope session at the end of each workout.
That’s it! You don’t need a laundry list of exercises. And you damned sure don’t need any machines. Get stronger and leaner while keeping your workouts simple by following this minimalist guide to fitness.
How do you keep your fitness training simple? Do you use any equipment? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
To receive future updates and a PDF report detailing exactly what I ate and how I trained to lose 17.6 lbs in only 31 days, enter your email address below:
Say Good Bye. And Mean It.
This is #40 of 40 Things I’ve Learned In 40 Years. To see a list of these short daily writings, click here.
There are moments when closure occurs. Many of these moments are relatively inconsequential – like the closing of this 40 Things I’ve Learned In 40 Years series. But some of the moments of closure are life changing. . . Divorce. Bankruptcy. The death of a close family member or friend. And saying goodbye can be difficult.
But when the time comes, when all other alternatives have been expended, when you know that it must be done. . . Say good bye.
It is that simple. But as I’m fond of saying in the fitness realm. . . simple does not mean easy.
Burn the bridge. Cut the cord. Delete their number from your phone. What ever metaphor or real action that must take place for closure, do it. Say good bye. And mean it.
____________________________
Many thanks to everyone who followed this 40 Things I’ve Learned In 40 Years series. It had its high points (Soldiers March, Warriors Dance was by far the most popular post). But allow me to be honest – it had more downs. Posting every day for 40 days is bound to lead to bouts of mediocrity and given the opportunity to repeat the exercise I would graciously refuse. But I would not have the presence to pass on the hypothetical future opportunity but for engaging in this writing experience for the past 40 days. So again, my sincere thanks to those of you who took this journey with me.
So what happens next? What happens next is a short break. I will not be posting again to this blog until the new year. When I resume posting I have two courses of action planned:
