You Don't Need the Gym to Work Out
Everyone wants to work out—right? In an ideal world, there would be that magic hour each day where you can get yourself motivated to work hard on transforming your body. It’s just an hour, what’s so hard about that?
Well, it’s actually pretty dang hard. Here are some incredible statistics on gym attendance from 2012, the most recent data available:
Of the people who joined a gym in January 2012 for a New Year’s Resolution, 80% quit within the first five months. That means that by June, 80% of those new members were gone!
4% of those new members don’t even make it past the end of January.
In 2011, only about half of gym members visited the gym 100 times during the year, which would be about 2 times per week.
In order for a gym to be profitable, they need 10 times more members than the gym’s capacity. Which means when they sign you up, they’re banking that you don’t come.
So lots of people join gyms and then have some reason not to go. Everyone has his or her own excuse, legitimate or not, and some people make up excuses more often than others. But we all know working out is good for us, so let’s do it more!
You don’t have to join a gym to be a workout regular. And even if you’re already a gym member, don’t feel pressured to work out exclusively at your gym. There are other ways.
Any physical activity you do will help. If hitting the gym today feels daunting, go for a bike ride. Go for a walk. Do some pushups in your living room. Maybe go crazy and find a 15-20 minute workout on YouTube. They’re everywhere, and some are quite good (Check out Fitness Blender—they’re geared toward quick, fat-burning workouts). There are so many alternatives.
In fact, all of my clients work out with me in their homes or at the park. None of them use a gym, and they don’t need it. The majority of people can get a great workout using small bands or weights, and most of my workouts use just your body weight.
Working out doesn’t have to be about putting on your gym clothes and grabbing your water bottle and headphones, getting in the car, driving there, finding a parking spot, fighting for the last treadmill in a crowded, sweaty room, and “getting your workout out of the way.” In fact, it shouldn’t be that way. Be smart about your workouts, and stay active. Make it your lifestyle, not just that thing you do sometimes. Any activity is better than nothing!