The Gym

Oddly enough, I am actually excited about joining a gym! I have had a membership to LA Fitness for the last several years but have rarely gone in the last 2 of those years. The appeal of LA Fitness was mainly the pool. After having spent the last 2 years unable to swim and packing on the weight ... the pool has for now lost its appeal and so has LA Fitness. For a while I have been trying to figure out how to work going to the gym in my busy work and tivo schedule with no success.

Excuses I use to not go to LA Fitness (while still paying them $35 bucks a month):

1. Location : its a pain in the ass to get up early or try and get there during lunch when a commute is involved. I realize the getting up early is lame, but I really need my Regis and Kelly time in the morning.
2. Crowded: good lord, its freaking crowded all the time. The only time it wasn't crowded was during my lunch (2-3pm ish). Of course I rarely go at lunch because of the commute and shower involved. Once those were factored in that gave me about 15 mins to do anything, not even worth it!
3. Locker facilities: okay, clearly i am not an exhibitionist. Getting undressed and dressed in the middle of a huge locker room just isn't my style. I was doing myself and the public at large a favor by trying to get dressed in a bathroom stall (ew). Showering was an issue ... trying to get ready for work in the LA Fitness locker room is just not even possible.
4. Laundry: at any give time, or size, I have only one or two good workout outfits that I will allow to be shown in public. This makes it difficult to go to the gym on a regular basis without doing laundry daily. Did I mention my crazy work schedule? When I get home after a 10 - 11 hr day, the last thing I want to do is a load of laundry that consists of my towels and sweaty outfit. Nothing like using laundry as an excuse not to work out!
   

Of course my new diet program requires regular exercise (duh) so the gym issue was back on the table. Damn it.

Like magic, on Monday I stumbled on the gym facility at my office complex (in the next office building). I decided to take a look, it couldn't hurt. The gym itself was okay. It had all the usual equipment ... resistance training machines I can't figure out ... treadmills...ellipticals...etc. No pool, of course, but I am not ready for that. I figure it will be a good 30 lbs before I find myself in a bathing suit again. According to the adorable blond giving me the tour, the gym is never full "you will never have to wait for a machine or sign a list for the treadmill". That has its appeal. They have classes also ... spinning, steps, etc. That's nice, but I don't see myself doing that anytime soon, but I will put that in the vault.

Then we went into the locker room ... the part of the tour I was most interested in. It was nice, small, but lots of amenities. In fact, more stuff in the gym locker room to help you get ready for the day then in my bathroom at home. Lockers ... several showers (one with a little dressing area ... bingo), towels provided (nice). Then the magic happened. The nice blond told me about the locker/laundry service. For 55 bucks, they will assign me a locker, and provide 2 laundry bags. When you are done working out, you put your laundry bag in with your dirty towels, and like magic, the laundry fairy puts your clean workout clothes in your locker the next day! OMG. That was it. I couldn't give them my money fast enough!

In one swoop ( and check) all of my gym hang-ups had been solved. Dear god, no excuses now :) I have to actually work out.

As you can tell by my nifty traineo.com widget I have been working out. I go during lunch ... do 30 - 40 mins of elliptical and treadmill (10 on elliptical and 20 - 30 on treadmill), shower, go back to work. I look like a heart attack when I get back to the office, but I don't really care.

Yay me!