Does anyone NOT like gyms??

[LiLIrishChick63]

i just recently finished with Physical Therapy for a knee injury i had at work a few months ago. everything is almost 100% better now and i was given all of the exercises that i did there, printed out to me to take home.

well now my PT tells me she wants me to join a gym! i've never been a "gym" person. i never had the urge at all. even when all of my friends went, i would always rather be anywhere else but the gym. and even in high school i would try to get out of the weight room. i would sit on the bike and do that for the whole 40 minutes.

i don't like being around so many people for one thing. it's nothing to do with anxiety or nerves or anything(and i'm going to sound like a TERRIBLE person for saying this, but i promise i'm not!) but i just don't like to be around people for that long. work is bad enough. i just get so aggrivated and would rather just do things on my own with no one bothereing me.

and i hate to exercise. partially because i have exercise induced asthma and as soon as i start anything, i have to stop because i can't continue. and then also because i just don't have the motivation to do it.

and everyone has said "maybe if you had a friend with you, maybe if your fiance went with you?" but honestly...i still wouldn't go. i usually do things on my own anyway.

is it bad for me to not want to go to the gym? i'm not horribly overweight or anything.....although i'm horribly out of shape. but like i said, it's hard for me to exercise anyway. i just don't "get" the whole gym thing.

 

[Bareacuda]

I had knee surgery 2 years ago.

I Hate gyms! So last year I joined an outrigger canoe club.

Lost about 10 lbs. Built up my arms, my legs look Much better and have a great looking back, and took off 4" off my waist and 2 off my hips.I practice 3 days a week, 2 hrs per day.

Down side to paddling...up at 5am and wet most of the time... and it's cold water! But I love it, and DH is in the club too!

Another fun part.. going to California for racing! Nothing is so exciting as racing in the ocean! It's an E Ticket ride all the way!

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

I had knee surgery 2 years ago.

I Hate gyms! So last year I joined an outrigger canoe club.

Lost about 10 lbs. Built up my arms, my legs look Much better and have a great looking back, and took off 4" off my waist and 2 off my hips.I practice 3 days a week, 2 hrs per day.

Down side to paddling...up at 5am and wet most of the time... and it's cold water! But I love it, and DH is in the club too!

Another fun part.. going to California for racing! Nothing is so exciting as racing in the ocean! It's an E Ticket ride all the way!

i've thought about joining some sort of dance group.....but like i said.....i don't want to be around that many people. i sound so mean don't i? lol. but honestly, i would rather do things myself. and i have a TON of workout videos here at home, but half the time i'm so tired to even bother with them. and they're really fun videos.

off topic: has your knee bothered you since you got the surgery? i haven't gotten surgery, but i just wanted to know if i will have some sort of pain(it's usually just a dull ache once in a while) for the rest of my life or not.

 

[Bareacuda]

My knee hurts worse then before! The Dr put in staples....and on ALL my medical papers say in RED writting... NO STAPLES! Jurky Dr !
Last year we did the east repo cruise... I really didn't walk alot of places.I did do alot of pool time and snorlking!

 

[Miss Park Avenue]

How about swimming???

Last winter I found a local hotel that had an indoor pool. They offered memberships to locals. Every day after I dropped my girls off at the bus stop, I would head over to the pool. Many times I was there all alone. It was so nice to just swim in the water. And it was very easy on my joints. I have a bad knee from a skiing accident, it was hard to get going on an excercise program when it seems everything bothered my knee.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Have you looked into a personal training studio? I work at one, and it is MUCH better than a gym.

 

[Disney Doll]

I don't care for them. To me, everyone at the one where I belonged was a "Gym Prince/Princess" more interested in how they looked in their perfectly coordinated gym clothing and flexing their muscles in the inevitable mirrors that are all over the walls of the gym.

I started a walking program with my friends. That suits me much better.

 

[believe]

I go to a gym. There isn't any interaction unless you want it and if you choose the right time you could be the only one in the weight room. I joined the gym because DH didn't want weight equipment or exercise equipment in the house for fear it would just sit there. Honestly having a membership to the gym 'makes' me go, not sure I would do the weights at home.

If the gym isn't for you then you can hit the pavement and walk or go biking. Get handweights at home and stretch bands for the weight training. I think your Drs may going is to get you moving and to strengthen your knee. DH does the stretch band and finds it has really helped his knee.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

I don't care for them. To me, everyone at the one where I belonged was a "Gym Prince/Princess" more interested in how they looked in their perfectly coordinated gym clothing and flexing their muscles in the inevitable mirrors that are all over the walls of the gym.

I started a walking program with my friends. That suits me much better.

yeah the one i was introduced to was the same way. they all liked to look at themselves in the mirror.


i have problems walking long distances because of my asthma. but that's why i liked the bike.

i can do the strengethening exercises at home fine, and i enjoy doing them. i can watch what i want to watch, listen to what i want to listen to.

 

[paigevz]

How about swimming???

Last winter I found a local hotel that had an indoor pool. They offered memberships to locals. Every day after I dropped my girls off at the bus stop, I would head over to the pool. Many times I was there all alone. It was so nice to just swim in the water. And it was very easy on my joints. I have a bad knee from a skiing accident, it was hard to get going on an excercise program when it seems everything bothered my knee.

That's what I did after my knee surgery too, but at the Y. I haven't gone to a gym/pool/anything since my first pregnancy. I really should, too.

 

[DisneyBlonde]

The only reason I have successfully gone to the gym is because it is in my building at work and I can go before work or at lunchtime. If I had to make a special trip and go after work I would never go. I'd have every excuse in the book. Been there done that.

 

[OK!]

If your gym's anything like mine, go Friday and/or Saturday nights and you'll be all but alone. I have exercise-induced asthma too, so I know how you feel (I never wheezed so much as turned beet red--set your DISboards theme to "holiday", take a gander at the maroon border around the page, and that's almost exactly the color my face, back, and arms would be after I did the mile at swim meets in college), but if it's isolation you want, swimming's a good way to go. It's no-impact, great for cardiovascular conditioning, and effectively works on your upper and lower body at the same time. The downside is that there's no music (I've tried the Speedo swim-radio thingie with the headphones; the sound of water rushing past your ears drowns out any music that might be playing), but you don't have to talk to or deal with anybody!

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

(I've tried the Speedo swim-radio thingie with the headphones; the sound of water rushing past your ears drowns out any music that might be playing)

lol i wouldn't think that would work very well anyway.

 

[juligrl]

I hated gyms until I started going to one. At first I was pretty self conscious, but everybody does their own thing. If you do go just pace yourself and have fun. BTW, I love gyms now!