Injury update: Foot is 85% better (who needs a medical degree?), but on the advice of my lovely Twitter followers, I didn't run today. Very disappointed because I had a very tasty 11.44km route mapped out to christen my new shoes. But in the spirit of Janathon, and with my PT away on holiday (selfish), I hit the gym for the first strength training session of 2011.
I've been a member of my gym for a couple of years, and I can't tell you just how much I hate it in January. New Year's resolutions and cheaper membership deals mean that the place is overrun with people fighting over dumbbells and spin bikes, and suddenly there are queues for treadmills.
I'm fully supportive of people starting a new fitness regime, but there's one thing about gym newbies that drives me crazy - walking on treadmills. I'm not talking a brisk walk as a warm-up/cool-down, or as a power walking session when it's icy/raining outside, I mean the people who pay for a gym membership, buy gym gear, come to the gym, get on a treadmill, set it at walking pace, and leave it at that pace for a good 45 minutes before getting off and going home. Why pay gym membership? Go outside!
Anyway, I digress. I battled my way around the gym, jumping between free machines and snatching mats as soon as someone left one. It was like the gym equivalent of the January sales on Oxford Street. I'm back to work tomorrow. If the foot's better it'll be 7km before work, but I'll definitely be at the first SUPERchicks session of the year after work.
99% of people who use the treadmills in my gym walk on them. I don't mind so much the pensioners walking on them (there's a lot of pensioners in my gym), but the younger people get on them, with their mate on the other side and they just walk on them really slowly for about 10 minutes, yakking away. I never saw people walking on the treadmill in the gym in London. It's weird. And unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteI HATE the gym in Jan! It's such a pain.
ReplyDeleteEven having to wait for a shower to become free!
I'm going to brave the gym before work tomorrow. I hope the newbies don't make me late for work on my first day back!
Gah! Those same treadmill walkers who stay as flabby and untoned as they began. Walking's great and all, but swapping a mosey round the shops for one in the gym isn't going to do FA, is it? Then they complain about not getting results or value for money... KMT!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, wish you a speedy recovery :-) x
Panic not - they won't even make it to mid Jan and then you'll have the gym to yourself again. Hope your foot feels 100% better tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on Jan gym membership. I hate the gym with a passion!! I gave up going some years ago and bought a bit of equipment to do it at home. What is the point of walking on a tready? Just walk to the bloody gym!!!!! *tuts loudly* xx
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of the above...Nuff said!
ReplyDeleteHope your foot lets you run tomorrow. Cx
Well done on resisting the run. I know it's tough but it's important to listen to your body sometimes.
ReplyDeletex
Glad I'm not the only one with treadmill walker rage! Thanks for all your well wishes for the foot, fingers crossed for tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI am so with you on this one! Why do they do it? I tell you why, so they can go back home eat some pie and say "its okay, I did 45 mins on the treadmill today!" selfish muddafunkers!
ReplyDeleteI know just what you mean... why bother going to the gym if you're not even going to break a sweat? I suppose a gentle stroll on the treadmill might be marginally better for your fitness than sitting on your backside all day eating crisps. But only marginally.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to play devil's advocate here. I used to be really scared of the gym - they really can be genuinely intimidating places, especially for people who aren't used to them or who are super-underconfident. The thought of panting and going bright red in front of people was enough to make me weep. So (ironically) in the beginning I didn't push myself because I was afraid of looking really crap in front of all these lycra-clad goddesses.
ReplyDeleteGranted, I was never a Treadmill Walker, but I can kind of see it from their point of view. Now I get down and dirty with the rest of them.
It's the women who put make-up ON to do their work out that really get my goat...
Completely understand how intimidating gyms can be to newbies, especially if you don't have an induction. And the treadmill is the one thing that most people can operate without killing themselves. It's just the walking at the same pace for an hour that gets me - if you're going to do that, why pay hundreds of pounds a year in gym membership? Go for a walk outside!
ReplyDeleteIt's probably best I don't get started on the gym make-up girls. Or girls who weigh themselves the second they walk into the changing room, and moan when they haven't lost 2 stone (do men do that too? They won't let me into the male changing rooms to check). Or anyone on the Special K diet...
Agreed. Walk outside. London's an awesome city, so why waste it shuffling on a treadmill to a bad naughties dance soundtrack? People are weird. x
ReplyDeleteI love this post!!
ReplyDeleteHope the gym newbies disappear soon and your foot recovers.
What about the people who put the incline up REALLY high and hang onto the bar? (check out virtualrunners blog on the same point!)