Thinking of Joining a Gym After Lockdown?

The gym isn’t for everyone and working out at home can definitely have its benefits. It’s free, you can go at your own pace and you can have your own music blaring out at top volume. There are a multitude of apps, online workouts and even some gyms, like Underground Gym, have their own online coaching platform.

So why join a gym?

A lot of people are put off by the cost per month of having a gym membership, but you have to see it as an investment. If you’re doing home workouts you probably need to buy equipment. This could be dumbbells, resistance bands or even just a yoga mat, but at a gym you have all of this and so much more:

Versatile and specialised gym equipment
Approachable and knowledgeable staff
Supplements
Various exercise classes
Personal Trainers
Atmosphere

For me the thing that makes the gym a much better option than home workouts, besides not being able to afford just about any of the equipment, is the atmosphere. The ambience of the gym helps me to:

Stay focused
Keep motivated
Have a better workout

The simple act of GOING to the gym motivates me to have a good workout. They call it the ‘House of Gains’ for a reason. There’s literally nothing else to do there that can distract me. If I’m exercising at home I can get distracted by the TV, video games, my phone or even just staring out the window. Not only that but other people help me to stay motivated at the gym. You’re all there to do the same thing, no matter the level of experience.

When it comes to the people at the gym it’s not just the other gym-goers but also the ones who work there. They are all there to help you achieve what you want to achieve. This could be as simple as asking someone how to use a machine, how to perform an exercise or which supplement to go for.

But the better the gym, the higher the price!

Not always the case. It’s all about value for money, which can be determined by a number of different factors:

Does it have the equipment you want?
What vibe do the members give off?
What are the staff like?
Do they offer the classes you want?
What expertise do the PT’s have?

Becoming a member of a gym is a way of investing in you, especially if you struggle with motivation for exercising at home. For some people, myself included, the fact I’m paying for it will make me do it. And it’s not just the physical aspect, exercise has a huge positive impact on mental health and within a gym, social health too.

But I’ll feel self-conscious

You might do, I’m not saying that the gym will stop you feeling that way, but from personal experience it has helped my confidence no end, and remembering the important point that other gym members are there for the same reasons you are. They are also there to work on themselves and will be focused on what they’re doing, not what you’re doing. Headphones were and still are my greatest weapon against feeling self-conscious at the gym, they massively help to keep me in my own little bubble and to focus on me.

So grab your headphones, get down to the gym, and focus you.

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