Some people LOVE the gym; they love the atmosphere, the
smoothie bar, the overpriced workout clothes in the retail shop… everything. I say good for those people; I think it is
super important to incorporate fitness into your life in a way you love.
Not me. I used to go
to the gym…until I didn’t. I would start
back again only to find any excuse not to make it there. The whole time, I was paying gym membership
fees for a gym I WASN”T EVEN USING. I
paid gym fees for THREE YEARS. I figured
the monthly payment was cheap, but since I never went, I was wasting my money. Lots of money. In hindsight, there are probably several
reasons why I quit using a gym and started working out at home… here are just
some of them:
1. What am I supposed to do with THIS? What am I doing? Unless you are a personal trainer or a
competitive weight lifter, the average person looking to shed a few pounds and
tone up has no idea what to do with the sophisticated mechanisms staggered
throughout the gym. The gyms I have been
to usually offer a complimentary lesson on the equipment with a trainer, but it
is usually pretty cursory. They show
you how all of them work, but not how or when or how often to use them. Unless you are shelling out extra cash for a
trainer, you are pretty much on your own.
And you might end up looking like this:
Or you just end up on the elliptical
machine for 45 minutes while reading a book with nothing to show for it but
numb feet. Yeah, that’s effective.
With my home workout programs, I have
trainers pushing me, cueing me, and instructing me, using methods and programs
that are PROVEN to work. These programs
have lots of variety, so I don’t get bored.
They are the perfect balance, of strength, cardio, and flexibility – all
three components of a good fitness regime.
2. It’s an ordeal: driving there, changing clothes,
waiting for equipment, getting a locker, forgetting your lock, renting a lock,
working out, getting your stuff, and driving back home to shower. At MINIMUM, this adds thirty minutes to my
workout routine, and I’m not even burning calories! When I’m working out at home, I put on
workout clothes, press PLAY, workout, shower, DONE. BOOM.
3. Someone else’s schedule. The gym has HOURS. Want to get up at 4:30 AM to work out? Too bad; the gym doesn’t open until 5. Late getting off work? You might as well go home; the gym closes in
30 minutes and it isn’t even worth your time. What if you want to take a cardio
kickboxing class? Sorry, they only offer
it at 7:00 pm on Mondays… and you’d like to be finished working out by then and
in your PJs. But if you are working out
at home, you aren’t a slave to someone else’s schedule; you can work out on
YOUR TIME, no matter how early, late, or what sort of workout you want to
do. Just find a program you love and
press PLAY.
4. Supplements… hmmm… Shelves of bottles, jugs, pills, tablets, and
supplements line the walls of the gym retail store… you ask someone for help
choosing the best one for you, but instead of asking you what kind of results
you are looking for, they have a jumbo bottle of vitamins, protein shakes,
recovery drinks, and fat burning tablets stacked on the counter and charged to
your credit card. What?
Look, let’s face it: it is nearly
impossible to get all the nutrition our bodies need from the food we eat. You need a supplement. Why not something that will replace your
vitamins? Will provide pre- and
pro-biotics, protect your immune system, give you energy, and is PROVEN to help
you lose weight? It’s ONE meal a day;
Shakeology is the real deal! If you are
looking for other supplements, Beachbody has those, too; just tell your coach
what your needs are and he or she can point you in the right direction without
the need to take out a second mortgage.
5. People staring at you. This is creepy, right? And you aren’t sure if they are staring at
you because you are cute, you are doing the exercises incorrectly, they are
your future stalker, or you are sweating in unsightly places… This DOES NOT happen if you work out at home
(unless you count the dog, but then you at least know he loves you).
6. Who is keeping you accountable? Does the front desk guy at the gym call you
if you missed your workout today? Does
he notice that you lost two pounds or that you managed to NOT eat your
husband’s frozen pizza? Does that guy
even know what a big deal that is? What
about the fact that you just rocked out your FIRST boy push-ups? Or the fact that your boss yelled at you and
all you want to do is drown your sorrows in hot wings and ice cream… is that
front desk guy at the gym going to tell you that it is okay and to PUT DOWN the
delivery menu? Probably not. You need SUPPORT from people just like you,
people who have gone through what you are going through, people who are going
through it WITH YOU. Weight loss is a
battle field, people, and the soldiers fighting the good fight beside you are
your biggest allies. The relationships
developed in accountability groups are different from any other. You root for each other; you rally when times
get tough (and they do!) and you celebrate each other’s successes in ways that
people who aren’t in the trenches don’t understand. You don’t get that support at the gym… you
just keep getting the bill.
7. Out-exercising your diet… or not. Myth:
as long as you work out, you can eat whatever you want. Um, no.
It doesn’t work that way! I don’t
care if you spend an hour on the treadmill; if you are eating junk all day,
your body will show it. If you have
sprung for some personal training sessions, the trainer may give you some food
guidelines, but after that, you are on your own. Most trainers don’t teach you how to plan
meals, handle temptations, or navigate the food situations at parties. The trainer is definitely not going to check
in with you to see if everything is going well for you, or try to help you
trouble-shoot when you feel like you are backsliding.
8. Other people’s sweat and germs. I have three words for you: Staph infection. Eew.
9. Cost. One of the best-known nation-wide gyms charges
$400 per year for membership; that is the most all-encompassing option. That includes a fitness assessment and
classes. There are cheaper options, but
those gyms don’t offer classes and only have limited equipment – and they have
Pizza Mondays, which seems counter-intuitive.
In both cases, you pay whether you go to the gym or not. Most of the time, you are locked into a
contract. There is limited contact with
a trainer or nutritionist. They will
probably say “Hi” and “Bye” as you are leaving, but that’s about it. You are pretty much on your own, unless you
want to talk to someone about buying supplements.
For me, it’s a no-brainer.
Challenge Packs are priced from $140 - $205; you get a world-class
fitness program that is RIGHT for YOU, that is PROVEN to WORK, and that is
YOURS FOREVER. You can work out wherever
and whenever you choose; you are not a slave to someone else’s schedule. There are tons of programs, so there is one
that is PERFECT for YOU. In addition,
this price INCLUDES 30 meals of your all-in-one nutrition supplement,
Shakeology. It is one meal a day that
you don’t even have to think about. If
after 30 days, you don’t LOVE your program or your Shakeology
,
you can return one or both for a full refund – no questions asked. I don’t think the gym will return your
membership dues if you are unsatisfied.
The most important aspect of the Challenge Packs isn’t even
what comes in the box that is shipped to you; it is the support and
accountability groups that I run, and the only way to get UNLIMITED ACCESS to
those groups is through a Challenge Pack.
There you will get a TOTAL FOOD EDUCATION, tips, recipes, motivation,
support, accountability, and more! It is
my absolute favorite part of being a coach.
The things that happen in those groups are unbelievable! I love watching people CRUSH their goals!
If you would like more information about my groups or
Beachbody programs, just fill out the application at this link:
Oh, yeah: BE FIERCE!
