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Creatine is made naturally in the body as an energy source for muscles.
Choosing the right gym that will ensure your continued and overall progress is almost as important as finding a life long companion that will be with you through all the good and bad times.
Choosing the right gym that will ensure your continued and overall
progress is almost as important as finding a life long companion
that will be with you through all the good times and all the bad
times as well. Throughout my years of training, I have always
made finding the "right" workout facility one of my highest
priorities.
Why? Because finding the right gym or health club
for you will guarantee your success or failure in reaching your
intended fitness goals. An environment conducive to your development
may accelerate your gains ten-fold. An environment that is
detrimental to your success, will eventually lead to definite
loss in interest and motivation. I equate this to finding the right
companion because it can be viewed as an investment in your future.
Making the right decision to invest in the gym of your dreams can
be a very stressful decision to make. You really won't know until
you actually start to "live" there whether the decision you made is
going to be a lasting relationship. No matter what decision you make,
there will inevitably be things that you won't like and things you
will love about it.
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Do You Live In An Area With Limited Gym Choices?
The key is having or finding more things to love than to dislike
in your gym or health club of choice. Finding
the things that you love will happen naturally in some cases. Others
will develop with time and patience. Your fortitude and dedication
will enable you to find and discover the things most important and
building the relationship that will be necessary to achieve and drive
you towards your ultimate success.
Failure to be open to changes and resistance to becoming flexible
to change, can and will eventually lead
to your discontent and disenchantment with being there and investing
time trying to build a solid foundation. Doesn't this all sound like
a relationship and things that could make or break one?
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That is the very reason that I was inspired to write this. I have realized how
similar the two are in many ways. In this article, I intend to list some
of the things that should be considered when trying to find the "right"
place for achieving fitness results!
Environment And Surroundings
This to me is crucial in determining whether the day to day trips to the gym
will be something to look forward to or something to avoid or find reason to
avoid. As in a solid relationship, how that relationship with a gym develops
will depend on the surroundings that foster its development. Having other
motivated and inspired members, will sometimes inspire and or motivate you
to be there and to make sure you make it there.
Just as a married couple should attempt to surround themselves with other married people. As a married
couple, there is great value in those surrounding yourself with those that have succeeded through the
trials and tribulations of the day to day experience, the same is necessary in a
gym or health club atmosphere.
Surrounding yourself with others who have achieved success will help
to inspire you to also succeed. When deciding if a gym or health club
is right, it is important to spend a week or even two, before joining,
working out there at different times. Try morning and evening workouts to get a feel
for the type of atmosphere a gym has.
This will provide much of the necessary exposure you will need to enable you to get a feel for the atmosphere and decide if it is right for you. Some gyms or health clubs provide or facilitate a
highly social atmosphere. This type of atmosphere is important for those
who see a workout as a social or networking experience. This is okay for
those with less competitive goals. A bodybuilder, however, will probably
prefer a less social atmosphere since timing and intensity are key elements
to success.
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However, it is important to realize that this type of gym
should not be discounted immediately by a bodybuilder. As I mentioned
previously, it could be that the early morning atmosphere might be conducive for a bodybuilder
while the evening environment may be more attractive to a person having more
social aspirations. The only way to know for certain is to experience it
first hand.
Equipment Evaluation
Free Weights or Machines?
Machines or free weights? This isn't the first time this question has been brought up and probably not the last either. Read more to hear both sides of the argument!
Evaluating the type of equipment at the gym is like appreciating all the
qualities that you desire in a companion. You might prefer a gym having
more free weights than machines just like you prefer a companion that is tall or
short. A great place to begin, again, is to actually workout at the
potential gym. This will allow you to know how well the equipment fits into
your overall development plan. Things that it will help you determine are:
Is there enough variety of equipment for differing angles?
Is the
equipment
sturdy and well maintained?
Is there enough of the popular equipment such
that I can get to it during your workout? (i.e.. bench press, cable pulley
etc..),
Does cardio classes fit into my planned schedule?
I equate this to being similar to taking a person on a date to help determine if they might become a future
companion of choice. You most likely would not make that determination before
several dates or conversations. Deciding on a gym, should include a small degree
of the same type of investigation. Also with equipment evaluation, it is critical
to consider the scope of equipment that is provided.
A bodybuilder may require free weights, machines, cardio equipment (i.e.. stair climber, indoor track,
heavy bag...), etc. in order to be successful at reaching their required potential.
Some gyms may be lacking in one or more and sometimes all of these areas.
This is all dependent on your overall goal and should be considered in light
of what that might be.
Location and Hours
Location of a gym is a convenience that should have a major impact on your
choice
of the right gym. Again, as in finding the right companion, it is often
required
that a person of interest is within driving distance. Developing the
foundation
of a good relationship, requires a lot of time and care. The best way to
provide the
time and care is by having access to visit that person or talk with that
person
without a major investment of time or money!
This is especially important
during the
early stages of a relationship. The same holds true for finding the right
gym. In the
early stages of developing your relationship with the gym, it is important
to find a gym
with a convenient location and hours that facilitate your hectic schedule.
An
optimal location is one that falls between work and home. This makes it
easier to
train before or after work without using the old, "It's too far out of the
way and
I'm running late..." excuse. It is also great to find a gym having multiple
locations
in the area. This way, you can have alternatives and it can provide more
variety in
terms of atmosphere and equipment.
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I find that, with six different gym
alternatives,
I can force a necessary change in my workout routine by simply deciding to
train
at a different location. I can also, depending on whether a competition is
imminent
or not, choose a gym that facilitates my atmospheric needs at that moment in
time.
You see, it can be advantageous in an effort to stimulate growth to have the
option to choose a different gym to workout at from cycle to cycle.
It can
help to revitalize you when working out in the same gym over and over
becomes
less and less exciting. That revitalization transforms into an opportunity
for
much higher intensity workouts meaning MORE GROWTH! Remember, finding and
choosing
a gym with a location and hours that adhere to YOUR lifestyle can help
guarantee success.
Cleanliness
Being healthy and staying healthy is the goal that most persons have who
frequent
gyms or health club establishments. Another key area to consider, while
deciding
on the right gym, is cleanliness. It is difficult to stay in a gym, train
hard,
and make progress when you are constantly sick! Assessing the cleanliness
of a
gym is paramount.
RELATED POLL
What Does Your Gym Provide For Wiping Down Equipment?
It is, however disappointing or disgusting as it might
be,
necessary to investigate all aspects of cleanliness or intent to provide
cleanliness. A gym that provides spray bottles with paper towels for wiping
off equipment following use, indicates to me its seriousness in maintaining
a
healthy environment.
Whether its members choose to use the bottles is not
as important
as the attempt made by gym management. Showers and toilettes are another
place to look that indicate cleanliness. These areas are continually used
by gym
members.
Gym management that chooses to ignore the fact that keeping these
areas
exceptionally clean is important, obviously has very little care for its
members. Having soap dispensers available and filled is another important
area
to check. Washing your hands, particularly after handling gym equipment,
can help
to prevent the spread of germs. Without anti-bacterial soap available, how
certain
are you that you are safe?
What will that tell you about the gym? As a
bodybuilder,
it can be catastrophic when an unexpected illness prevents you from being
your
best while in contest preparation. No matter what the cause. Being in a
gym that
doesn't provide a clean and healthy environment, is counter-productive and
can
have devastating consequences.
Once again, I will relate this to a
relationship.
How many times have you decided against a long-term relationship after
determining
that the person of interest led a more than disgusting lifestyle? Having
the chance to
discover this in advance, prevented an eventual life of unhappiness as a
result
of living in unclean surroundings. Get my point?
Knowledgeable Staff
Having a gym staff that knows why they exist and for what purpose they exist
is another important consideration to be made. As important as I believe it
to
be, it is one of the most difficult things to find. As a gym regular, I
have been
asked many times by other gym members, how to use certain types of
equipment, how
to isolate a certain muscle group, how to diet, how often to train, how many
sets
are adequate, etc, etc...
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This week, your host, Daniel Gastelu, continues his lessons in Exercise Physiology. Dan offers some insights on additional nutrition and training topics such as meal frequency.
Many times the reason I am asked is purely due to
the
simple fact that the so-called "knowledgeable staff" is viewed as far less
than
knowledgeable. Many don't possess a legitimate certification of any form.
Being
a gym regular almost immediately implies to other new members that you are
the
resident expert even though the gym may claim to have on-site experts!
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As you search for a new gym or health club that will help you reach your
intended
goals, make sure you consider the things I have discussed in this article as
well as defining areas that you feel are important to you. Remember,
choosing
a gym is an important investment and the choice you make can be a long
lasting
relationship that can lead to unending inspiration and success or turmoil
and
eventual failure.
Thanks again and I hope it was useful. See you next article...
This to me is crucial in determining whether the day to day trips to the gym
will be something to look forward to or something to avoid or find reason to
avoid. As in a solid relationship, how that relationship with a gym develops
will depend on the surroundings that foster its 
Gym management that chooses to ignore the fact that keeping these
areas
exceptionally clean is important, obviously has very little care for its
members. Having 
