The reason why the gym is boring

This is something I hear a lot. If a gym could figure out how to make exercise more fun then they would be onto a real winning strategy. This is where the likes of Zumba or Les Mills has attracted lots of followers. People like the fun element. In my quest to figure out why people think the gym is boring, I looked into the reasons why people feel they need to go to the gym. I quickly found out some disparities in their reasons for going versus what they feel they need to do get into shape or get fitter. It became clear that the reasons aren't being matched up with the correct tools so people don't feel a sense of success when they go.

Here are some of the conflicting messages people are sending themselves about the gym.

They think that calories in v calories out are the only way to lose weight. So they feel that they have to burn off their over indulgence with hours of painstaking cardio.

People feel that you need to train at a crazy intensity to get into shape. This translates to a lot of pain for most. No one voluntarily signs up for putting themselves through lots of pain so we keep putting it off and live our excessive lifestyles. Then we sign up to a Bootcamp or Personal Trainer because to undo the damage.


They put too much emphasis on fat burning cardio. The problem with this is that again you need to spend hours (and I mean hours) to burn fat at this level. Does that sound like something you want to do?


Gyms are unfriendly. This is true of a lot of gyms. However, you may be one of the unfriendly people you don't like. A lot of people are quite defensive and feel insecure in their gym gear.

They haven't got a long term-plan. If you have a long-term plan, you can break it down it sub-sections of 2-3 weeks at a time. Then you haven't got this nagging feeling that you should be doing more exercise.

There is a 'them and us' mentality. People think that there are either those who like exercise and those who don't. They can't comprehend going on a journey with their exercise programme and liking it at the end. I didn't wake up one day and think "I live for exercise." Some days I can't be bothered to train at a high intensity. It has less to do with ticking a box and more to do with meeting an objective of the session. That could be stress management, getting my body moving or getting stronger.

These are all myths. So is the myth that everyone in there is loving life and can't wait to do another rep. Some are but people exercise for different reasons. However, don't be in a rush to say the gym is boring for the reasons above. The gym is just a place where exercise equipment lives. Yes you get the odd lycra clad individual who needs to buy a bigger size, but you can make it what you want. However, if you still hate the gym after all this, then all I would say is go for it! Life's too short, there are plenty of other things to do!

If you can't be bothered to exercise, this is a really great blog by a client.

http://unfittojoin.tumblr.com/post/40709555764/please-adjust-your-resolution

Chris.