Gym Membership
I am a gym member. As a gym member I’m eligible to go to “classes” where a trainer walks you through a course of exercises targeting specific muscle groups or type of workout you want to do. For example you may want to work on Cardio, burn fat, strength, stretching or a yoga style called Refresh. Any and all of these classes are available to me for the low, low cost of my gym membership. Yay me!
A couple times a week I’m not just tediously meandering from one machine to another without really knowing what I’m working on when I do it, if I’m using correct form or anything else really. The gym is a wasteland of unknown things for those of use who hated Physical Education. Anyway… what was I talking about? Oh yes, I’ve been going to these classes pretty regularly this month.
Classes are a lot of peopling. If you don’t like people, it takes maximum effort to get threw a 30 minute session. That’s me. I thrive in the no people zone. I have to deal with random people all day long at work, doing so when I’m working out is almost painful. But that isn’t the point. I can fake it, and well. So well in fact that I have many conversations with these various people who class up.
Classmates
There are a few things about these classes that I find interesting. I have never been in a class where an attendee was male. The trainer is male, the class participants have all been female. I will come in and edit with a date and time if a guy floats up in there to take a class. Really, that would be a noteworthy event.
Older women are SUPER talkative! Oh so friendly and see it more as a gathering than a thing you need to do. My age and younger are standoffish and just want to get in and get out as quick as possible. Everyone has their own reason to be there. And they complain. In abundance… about everything.
About 70% of my conversations with them is “Why are you here? What are your goals? How long have you been at it?” And of course pimping Forget Skinny because… I’m a closet narcissist or something. Again… off the rails let’s get back on the subject. Those conversations overwhelmingly point to motivations for working out. Some I find deeply sad and troubling, others just make me giggle. Let’s go over just a few of these conversations shall we?
Conversations with Classmates
There is a woman she’s probably mid to late 20’s (it is rude to ask a ladies age, I’m not crazy. Won’t do that.) She’s beautiful. Long dark hair, almond eyes the color of honey, her skin is so perfect, and her smile is bright and real. I like her. I think her perseverance even when something is hard is inspiring. And yet I find her motivation troubling. “My husband will love me again if I lose 100 pounds.”
I’m absolutely certain she believes this to be true, but I don’t. Personally, I think if your husband loves you then he will love you at 120 or 600 pounds. Her husband may be using her weight as an excuse to treat her poorly and because her self esteem isn’t where it should be, she feels like she doesn’t deserve better. I hope her motivations change. And I hope she chooses to achieve for herself.
Buff Betty
There is a woman that I call “Buff Betty”. This isn’t her real name of course, it was a bad joke I made in class one day that if they ever made her a Barbie she would be called Buff Betty. This chick is a total bad ass!
I don’t know if she was born that way or she’s just trained to be that way. Her motivation is she’s bored with regular workouts, going to classes helps her stay motivated to work out. To me this is an awesome motivation. She knew what she needed to keep at it and went for it. Awesome Buff Betty! See you next Wednesday!
Pre-Work Complainers
There is a duo of women who come in before work to work out. Every single time they complain about every single movement the trainer asks them to do. This frustrates me because it takes up time to get them to work when I just want to work out and go. I finally asked them “What is your motivation to take these classes?”
The response was that they like that the trainer tells them when they do well or have great form. They don’t get that from working out alone. Okay, I get that. I also like to know the correct form of an exercise. If you are doing it wrong you could get hurt. That’s a passable motivation to me.
The Red Hat Group
The last ones I’m going to talk about is the Red Hat group. In case you don’t know what the Red Hat Society is, it’s a social group for ladies over 50. These ladies are probably closer to 60 or 70 years old… and hilarious! Slightly vulgar. I adore them.
Classes don’t cover as much if they are there but… it’s okay they need time too. What is their motivation? Well that came from a spicy lady who told me, “It isn’t appropriate to have a cocktail at this hour.” I’ve spent leg and shoulder classes every Monday for a month laughing every time one of them said, “Last time a man told me to get on my knees, I made him give me a diamond.” And my favorite, “Come up with a new one honey, I’m an old bat.”
While they’re using it as a social gathering it’s getting them up, out and moving. Their togetherness motivates them. That’s amazing. I hope I have that when I’m their age. It’s not too far away really. I guess I better change my mind on peopling. Mmm.. maybe in another 20 or so years. I have time to work on that mindset.
What Motivates You?
I love hearing other people’s motivations… or lack of. There have been many one hit wonders in the classes since I started going regularly. There is one thing that I have noticed about all the people who came once or came a few times but stopped. The motivation was never because they wanted a change. It was always a doctor said or my boyfriend / husband, some outside force that was propelling them towards working out.
My Own Mindset
The first time I tried this I don’t think that my mindset was correct. It was I can not be fat at 40. I just can’t. Well I turned 40 , I was still obese. The world as I knew it did not end. My motivation, my mindset was not right.
Fast forward to 2017. My mind changed. My mind has changed to push towards healthier habits over all. I gave up smoking. I was successful in doing so. In fact, I’m still smoke free. That was something I told myself I couldn’t do. I’m too stressed, too addicted, or I’m insert whatever BS lie I told myself. I changed my mind and I did it.
It’s now 2018.. inching ever so fast to 2019 and I am 32 pounds lighter than I was in August. That’s not so shabby. I didn’t do it with a miracle or a prayer. I did it by changing my mind. Working hard, sticking to a healthier standard of eating and pushing forward when I want to quit. Which is often. I love carbs. I don’t quit because my mind is set on growth. My motivation is me. I am my cheerleader, my coach, my biggest fan. Now I am motivated. And I hope you are too.
Until next Tuesday,
Be your reason. Love yourself, love others and know you are awesome!
Beck
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Thank you for this insightful post. i really struggle with motivation. I have joined so many gyms but just pay the bill without ever actually going there. Not great for my body or my wallet! On the occasions that I do go I feel great and I do enjoy it. I will try and get down there this week…
Chris, I’m going to quote Yoda at you. “Do or do not, there is no try.” You can do it! I have faith in you! LOL! Seriously though, I don’t know what type of gym you have, I started going to the trainer lead classes because it was an appointment. An actual time that someone would be waiting for me to get there. I signed up, I have to go or that person would be let down. Does that make sense? I hope so. If you aren’t comfortable with meeting a trainer or going to a class still put yourself into the mind set of it is an important meeting that you must attend. Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither is a six pack. It’s going to take all of us time and work to get into the right mindset and habits. I have faith you will go to the gym. Once a week at least. (My fingers are crossed!) Beck
Hello Beck, great article. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Good for you that you have been attending gym religiously, something I am struggling with at the moment. I am however going to resume my normal schedule and purpose to not miss any of my sessions.
I can relate with most of your experiences at the gym. I purpose to lose a few more pounds and get me some packs on my tummy, until I do that, I will remain committed henceforth.
That’s a great attitude! You can do all things with the right mindset! Beck
Hello there. This post is so fabulous. Thank you for sharing it with us. Talking about motivation… What truly motivates me is change. I want change in almost everything starting from work to time with family and friends. I want to be free financially. This is my motivation and it keeps me pushing on…
Sounds like you have a plan of action and are moving forward with it! That’s amazing! I wish you the very best of luck. Beck
Motivation is important to me and living in the countryside, especially in the Wintertime, can sometimes put a huge damper on it. I went through it more than once paying for the Membership and being stopped by one Winter-storm after another.
However, I love working out seeing also the positive changes my body is going through and also losing weight. I can’t and won’t stop now my health is important and I am just done with beating myself up about being overweight.
But, still finding a stronger motivation is going to class and I just love my classmates which really helps me to stick to my goals.
I really like your story and congratulations to your achievement of losing the pounds 🙂 Keep rolling
Sylvia
Stay motivated Sylvia! Even during the winter months. Keep coming here, ask questions. We see, we read… we answer! Join Facebook groups, Instagram your successes and failures… whatever you can do to keep motivated do it! You are so important. Stay warm this winter! Beck
Thank you Beck, I certainly will do that.
I am glad to have found your page 🙂
Sylvia
Hi Thank you for your review of the Gold’s Gym Adjustable Aerobic Step, my wife has been asking for an aerobic step for Christmas and I think this should fit her needs quite nicely , I really like the fact that it is easily stored and adjustable making it perfect for our small space.
It’s a fun little addition to my home gym. I use it when it’s raining (We live in the Subtropics, rain is more than occasional.) Easily stored and hidden away. Not to mention you can find tons of You Tube step workouts to use with it. It’s a great little tool.
I really enjoyed reading your post, especially the part about the two women who complain about every single thing the trainer asks them to do. and the wife whose motivation in joining the gym class was to make her husband love her again. OMG! I really wish people would do things for the right reasons. But hey, everyone has their own reason or motivation for doing the things they do or for striving to be something or somebody else.
Oh by the way, you made a wise decision to give up smoking and lean towards healthy habits, kudos to you. I am a health enthusiast myself and I understand that it could be difficult at times to control our cravings for sweets and junk foods. So what is my motivation to live a healthy lifestyle? Because I love me. You’re right, we cannot love others without loving ourselves first.
Loving ourselves is the first healthy habit I think we should get into. It’s a tough road for some people but maybe they’ll get there in the end. Thanks for reading!