Weight Training.

Do not fear Gentle Reader that this is about to turn into a weight-loss blog, I’ve a couple of posts in mind on the issue, and so I’ll get them out and post occasional updates but as there’ll no doubt be something else on my mind this week, please bear with me until then!!

As I mentioned yesterday, I joined the gym.

Previously to moving to Australia (almost 12 years ago) I had been a regular member at a regular gym, one that ran classes. weights and circuits, weight training, personal training etc. and I won’t lie, I actually enjoyed it. I even got fit enough to enjoy running at one point… I know, me, running… We had a contra deal at the office so it didn’t cost me a cent but my tenure there ended when I moved house, my routine changed and rather than make it work from the new address and the new routine; I got out of the habit.

There are three gyms in my current neighbourhood. A fancy nancy big chain gym where you pay over the odds and get a backpack and drink bottle and where getting out of your contract, for whatever reason, is like getting a divorce.

The second which is all about one on one personal training which is a bit too, well… personal for me.

Which left the other one… and happily, that one suits me down to the ground, because, for me, going to the gym has to be a couple of things.

It has to be near enough to home that I don’t have to get dressed and ready for work there… so, given that I live about 7 mins walk from the shops, and by extension, the gym, this was favourable.

The second criteria is that the gym has to be unpretentious – I’m not really sure I care whether a gym caters for men and women, or women only, but I’m not a big fan of the competitive atmospheres you find in some places. It happens that my gym is women only, and unpretentious in that it’s not done up real fancy, it’s small, the trainers are normal everyday girls, not sticks and the members are friendly. In fact, in reading on their website that the gym‘s unofficial motto is “no makeup, no men, and no mirrors” you’ll get an idea of the vibe of the place.

Finally it had to be able to work into my schedule – I don’t mind getting up early in the morning, but I have to be able to get to there, work out, get home and get ready for work and be on the bus by 8.45 so it had to be efficient… If I get a walk in in the morning my circuit takes about an hour – I can’t sustain that kind of time commitment every day – but the Curves workout is only 30min long (plus 10min of stretches). Now THAT’S efficient, and for me, that’s sustainable.

So I joined up. I joined up and I loved it.