Joining a gym...thoughts...opinions?

[KAMKIM]

I have bought several things at home but I'm ashamed to say I am not disciplined enough to use them at home - too many distractions and too easy to not get up and use them. I'm pretty good in a "classroom" setting so I'm hopeful this will be what I need!

 

[WDWorBUST]

From my personal experience a buddy is critical....I personally need someone to hold me accountable. When I was meeting a friend at 4:30 in the morning I went much more regularly - even at that horrendous hour I have recently (today) completed a 12 week "bootcamp" with my company - if you can find one that will fit in your schedule I highly recommend this type of workout. The group atmosphere not only makes it fun but challenging. We start as a group and finish as a group. I will tell you that I am the most out of shape person there....still have 75+ pounds to lose.....but everyone is extremely encouraging.

Someone else mentioned this but it's so hard but so necessary in my opinion - STAY AWAY FROM THE SCALE. I just finished this 12 week session - I am proud of my results but would have done better if I had given the nutrition part 100%. However with that said I lost 5 pounds - in 12 weeks. HOWEVER, I also lost over 8 inches (Arm, calf, and thigh are only measured on one side so technically probably about 3-5 inches more than that), almost 15 pounds of fat and I gained almost 10 pounds of muscle. And in my pictures I can see a difference. This next 12 weeks I'm committing to giving the nutrition my all.....according to our coaches nutrition is 70% of it....maybe 80%. When you look at that and the results someone like me had without doing the nutrition....well I'm expecting great things from myself this next 12 weeks With that said I would have been so disappointed with the scale alone. I mean I have worked my butt off 3X a week for 12 weeks and lost 5 pounds? But....with the whole picture I am happy. So if you can get someone to take before and after pics and do your bodyfat % I would definitely do that.

Good luck!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

You only have to worry about this if you don't control you diet. Along with the self control needed to go to the gym in the first place you need the self control to eat right.

Calorie deficit = lose weight.
Calorie equilibrium = maintain weight.
Calorie surplus = gain weight.

There are some caveats of course but if you track what you eat and compare it to what you burn you will have a good idea.

Of course you're never going to lose weight if you're burning 600 calories at the gym (and that's more like 300 calories on the 30 minutes on the stairmaster machine), 1500 in every day life, and eating 3,000 calories a day. Doing 30 minutes on a stairmaster at the gym and then eating even one doughnut cancels each other out. You either have to up the calories you're burning or lower the calories you're eating. There's many pro-athletes that eat THOUSANDS of calories a day and have amazing bodies. I also think he underplayed the amount of people that have purchased gym memberships and then after a few months stop going but are stuck in a contract. I can name 5 people that I know just off the top of my head that are in this situation. Every January the gym is absolutely PACKED with newbies and by March it's pretty much dead again at night.

Also, like FireDancer said previously, so many people, especially women, do not push themselves at the gym. I hear about the same people (some of my friends, relatives, co-workers) that do the same work out every day (and not saying anything's wrong with that; I give them a lot of credit for caring enough about their health to be doing something in the first place!) but don't understand why they've plateaued for months with their weight loss. As you lose weight your calorie needs change so you have to again adjust the number you're burning or the number you're eating.

 

[redlight]

From my personal experience a buddy is critical....I personally need someone to hold me accountable. When I was meeting a friend at 4:30 in the morning I went much more regularly - even at that horrendous hour I have recently (today) completed a 12 week "bootcamp" with my company - if you can find one that will fit in your schedule I highly recommend this type of workout. The group atmosphere not only makes it fun but challenging. We start as a group and finish as a group. I will tell you that I am the most out of shape person there....still have 75+ pounds to lose.....but everyone is extremely encouraging.

Someone else mentioned this but it's so hard but so necessary in my opinion - STAY AWAY FROM THE SCALE. I just finished this 12 week session - I am proud of my results but would have done better if I had given the nutrition part 100%. However with that said I lost 5 pounds - in 12 weeks. HOWEVER, I also lost over 8 inches (Arm, calf, and thigh are only measured on one side so technically probably about 3-5 inches more than that), almost 15 pounds of fat and I gained almost 10 pounds of muscle. And in my pictures I can see a difference. This next 12 weeks I'm committing to giving the nutrition my all.....according to our coaches nutrition is 70% of it....maybe 80%. When you look at that and the results someone like me had without doing the nutrition....well I'm expecting great things from myself this next 12 weeks With that said I would have been so disappointed with the scale alone. I mean I have worked my butt off 3X a week for 12 weeks and lost 5 pounds? But....with the whole picture I am happy. So if you can get someone to take before and after pics and do your bodyfat % I would definitely do that.

Good luck!

Congratulations! I'm also happy about dropping inches even when I don't lose pounds. How are you measuring bodyfat?

 

[honugirl]

I started karate. It's amazing. There are several women in my class that have lost 45+ pounds since the start of the year. Where I go they offer kenpo, jiu jitsu, MMA, Muay Thai, boot camp, and cardio kick boxing. You can mix and match which classes you go to and can go as often as you want to. It might be a good alternative to a gym if you get bored easily. During the karate part, we do 20 minutes of weights with kettle bells, then 40 minutes of karate. Jiu jitsu is 1.5 hours of grappling (rolling around on the floor tossing people around).

 

[WDWorBUST]

Congratulations! I'm also happy about dropping inches even when I don't lose pounds. How are you measuring bodyfat?

Our coach uses body fat calipers to calculate our body fat percentage.

 

[FireDancer]

Our coach uses body fat calipers to calculate our body fat percentage.

This is the most accurate practical way to measure. The best would be underwater weighing or Air Displacement, but these are much harder to find. Those scales that give you a measurement or the electronic handles you hold in front of your face are very inconsistent. I have had those give me a number more than 10% off, and that is pretty bad.

 

[WDWorBUST]

Congratulations! I'm also happy about dropping inches even when I don't lose pounds. How are you measuring bodyfat?

Oh...and THANK YOU!!

 

[WDWorBUST]

This is the most accurate practical way to measure. The best would be underwater weighing or Air Displacement, but these are much harder to find. Those scales that give you a measurement or the electronic handles you hold in front of your face are very inconsistent. I have had those give me a number more than 10% off, and that is pretty bad.

I have a Tanita scale that supposedly calculates your bodyfat....it's a JOKE. Of course I didn't get the scale for that feature and I don't pay any attention to it so it doesn't matter anyway....I just hate all the gadgets that mislead people.

 

[redlight]

I have a Tanita scale that supposedly calculates your bodyfat....it's a JOKE. Of course I didn't get the scale for that feature and I don't pay any attention to it so it doesn't matter anyway....I just hate all the gadgets that mislead people.

I've seen those, and have been skeptical. That's why I asked how you were measuring bf.

 

[jaminmd]

I am joining a gym in 2wks with my step sister, hoping to work off some of this baby fat (yes my baby is 5...so what )

We plan on going 3 times a week after the kids go to bed and working out for about an hour.

I can also squeak in an hour on Saturday, they have yoga or pilates classes...and spinning classes (I dont know the times of this class yet though)

Any experience with gyms?

Just an FYI and I hate to sound like I'm setting you up for failure before you join because I'm not but...

Are they letting you pay month to month or a flat fee for x amount of months or are they making you sign a contract for automatic debiting? If you're not sure that you'll really stick with it, see if you can pay up front first for a certain time frame. No point in paying a fortune if you won't use it.