How (not) to hate the gym

When I joined the gym a few months ago, I didn't expect too much. I figured it would be boring. I figured there'd be days I had to drag myself there. I didn't imagine I'd be getting Biggest Loser 'numbers' in my weight loss each week.

I was right about all these things.

I joined what I fondly refer to as 'an old lady gym'. There are two in Fibrotown. Those places where you do a three minute warm-up, a 30-minute circuit and a 28 second stretch at the end. Very much the drive-through version of a gym. No posing, no pontificating between sets, no need for a towel to wipe the sweat off the machine when you're done.

I was clinical in my approach to this. I know myself. I know that while I could go to a gym that offers everything from Zumba to yoga to spinning to tai chi, I would not indulge in any of these classes. I do not have time. I need to get in, lift a weight, get out. I already had a well-established walking routine under way. I needed some toning to go with it.

I confess to being a little concerned on day one. There's something disconcerting about going to a gym where nobody, not even the instructors, looks as though they go to a gym. But it's a lovely, friendly place and I figured that my days of looking as though I go to the gym are well behind me anyway, so I persisted.

I did a Bio Age test, which put my age at two years below my actual age. Good place to start. I'll be 21 before I know it. I weighed myself (and gasped and spent the rest of the session trying to work out the weights of my shoes, socks and tracksuit pants so that I could deduct them from the figure to make myself feel better). And I surprised myself by going back. Again. And again. And again.

Twice a week. For 10 weeks. And then the school holidays struck.

It was at this point that I realised something surprising. I missed it. The gym, I mean. I missed it. It is boring. There are days when I have to drag myself there. My 'numbers' are not very impressive at all. But the pay-off isn't in the bio-age or the weight loss or even the health benefits (and I do feel fitter and stronger). For me, it's all about the calming effect of exercise. The Post-Old-Lady-Gym high. It's there, and it's real, and a stress-head like me really needs it.

Apparently, I'm a convert.

[image: how cool is this decal from AppleStyx/etsy - I want!]


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