Day 84: Gym visit

About a year ago, when I had just moved from New York to Louisville, I did a lot of research to find the right gym in town. I knew that I was going to have more time to take care of my health, and I wanted to make a commitment to doing that -- and the best way at the time that I knew was to join a gym. I looked at three places: a fancy-pants "wellness center" (partially run by the hospital where my husband was working), a kind of run-of-the-mill commercial gym, and the YMCA. I settled on the Y because it was mid-priced, had everything I needed, had free childcare, and I liked the vibe: no preening, no loud music, everybody just nice and doing their own thing.

Of course, my membership was woefully underused. My daughter already goes to daycare for 3 hours each morning, so I felt bad about putting her in childcare again for another hour or so later in the day -- so I wound up going in the morning, when she was already at daycare. Pretty much all I did was get on the treadmill or elliptical, which was useful when I was training for the 5K races in the winter. They offered loads of classes at the Y and I always meant to try one out, but just never got there. They had some personal training options but frankly, the personal trainers there kind of worried me -- I had asked one about some leg pain while running and he gave me an completely useless answer while looking me up and down. Blechhh.

My membership at the Y ended in June, at the end of my first PCP month. I spent some time on the elliptical trainers there while waiting for my knee to improve after a couple of weeks of jumping, but once I went back to jumping rope, I didn't need the Y. It's a 15-20 minute drive away from my house, too, which took up valuable time in my day. So much better to be able to work out at home, whenever I have time, even when my daughter is upstairs napping and I can't leave the house. We have a neighborhood pool that we've been using all summer, so we didn't need the pool at the Y either. I'm looking at a couple of other options for indoor swimming for both of us over the winter.

Today I decided to visit a different place, about 3 minutes from where I live, just to check it out. Snap Fitness is a franchise that seems to be growing really quickly -- this place wasn't even open last year when I was looking for a gym. The deal is that the place is open 24/7 and you enter with a key card. There's only a staff person there a few hours each day. It's got treadmills and arc trainers, plus a bunch of other machines, free weights, exercise balls, etc. -- pretty much anything you would need. When I visited today and had the manager show me around, there were 2 people working out, both pretty heavy. The place was clean, bright, and spacious and I liked the idea that I could come anytime and nobody would really bother me. (Weird: they also have a tanning bed, the use of which is included in your membership. Uh, yuck.)

It seemed a little expensive for what you get: $50 a month for a couple, plus $45 fee to start. It's month-to-month, though, so no contract, which is good. They offer personal training services and a weekly "boot camp" for extra fees. If I were going to join a gym, I think I would be happy to go there and just do my thing. My husband was talking about buying a treadmill for the basement, but I would rather join this place and use theirs instead.

BUT -- I don't want to join a gym. I don't need to join a gym now. During this whole process, I've been really glad to be at home where I can sweat and curse and look like hell and not worry about what anybody else thinks. I work out in old shorts and a sports bra, not something I'm going to wear in public. On a rainy, cold morning when it would be hard to get in the car and go to the gym, I have one less deterrent keeping me from exercise if I only have to go downstairs. Before starting this program, I didn't know what to do to exercise at home -- maybe some DVDs? But those get old reallllly quick. I feel so much stronger now with the knowledge of how to get it done at home, on my own, without paying a monthly fee to anybody.