So I'm off to the gym...
So I have my gym membership sorted and my chosen one is Pure Gym, primarily because it's cheap, cheerful and has some pretty decent reviews. It also happens to be located within a Tesco so that's massively convenient, for picking up the quick snack...oh right yeah, maybe not. This will be my first time in the gym since 2008, that's pretty shocking. Now we are heading to the gym around 9pm this evening, to try and avoid the bulk of the people (If you pardon the pun). It goes without saying, I am incredibly nervous, I'm frightened and every bone in my body is trying everything to put me off the idea. I feel like I'm heading to a Job Interview and there's still several hours to go before we actually leave, I am physically shaking at the thought of walking in the gym, and getting judged instantly, but I know this is something I need to overcome, everyone is there for the same reason (I hope), but if I even get one innocent look from anyone, I would probably have a cardiac arrest on the spot, that's not even an exaggeration, so I hope they have a wall-mounted defibrator. Breathing exercises are absolute bull and don't do an actual thing, how the hell can one take a deep breath for like 30 seconds, for the average fat person, this is like only having one slice of cake...it just can't happen.
P.S. if you click the Pure Gym link above, as it's my referral link I may win a free prize, hopefully, it's not a cake, that would be a bit of a bummer.
Cost and Equipment
So the cost for the actual Gym Membership was £10.99 with a £10.00 joining fee, which means you have to pay £20.99 on the spot instantly for your first month, this is a monthly recurring subscription and will come out of our account on the 28th of the month. (this may vary). Other Subscriptions vary, however, we purchased the 'Off-Peak' subscription, meaning we are only allowed access to the gym between 9pm-6am Monday-Friday, but at any time on weekends, other subscriptions (which are typically more expensive) are available and include any time access, multiple gym access and a 'Bring a Friend' scheme for example.
The second thing we bought was a water bottle, we opted for a 500ml bottle, for the convenience of it being able to fit in cup holders, it has a lockable flip lid, with a carry strap for ease of use. It also has a water measurement indicator on the back, so you can keep track of your water intake during workouts, it's a pretty sturdy water bottle and has been going strong for pre-gym use anyway. The cost of this was £8.99 and was bought from Amazon, the particular bottle we opted for was this one.
The third thing we bought (which is completely optional) was a quick access fob to the gym, this cost £6.00, this is to save us from having to type in a long pin code every time we access and leave the gym, you simply hold your fob against the access point and...voila you're in!
You also need some sort of bag, to carry your gym stuff in, if you want a change of clothes or to swap into a different pair of trainers/shoes or something like that, then it's the perfect thing to carry them in. We already had a couple of gym bags that we bought a few years ago with the intention of using...HA! that happened. But they can be picked up for about £4.00 or even less if you look in the right place. If you don't have the budget then a bag for life or even one of those extortionate 5p plastic carrier bags will do, I mean you might look like a bit of a muppet if you take in your giant Lidl bag for life, but very effective all the same.
We also plan on buying a padlock when we get to the gym, for storing bags, coats, and keys etc. These can be bought from the Pure Gym vending machines for £5.00 and there's a choice of colours woohoo.
You are also going to want to take some form of towel or wipe(s), this is to wipe down gym equipment once you've used it, to remove any sweat (and from me, there'll be bucket loads), there's nothing worse (I would imagine) than sitting in someone else's bodily fluids, like ew.
I would also strongly recommend investing in a fitness tracker, I'm lucky enough to have an Apple Watch, which is an amazing activity/fitness tracker, but expensive all the same. You mainly just want something to track your heart rate, calorie burn and it will also give you a sense of achievement. These can be picked up for as little as £10.00-£15.00, or even less if you come across a bargain, if you want something with more features or you love a brand, I've owned a Fitbit Blaze a Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro and most recently an Apple Watch Series 3. I've found both the Fitbit and the Apple Watch to be most accurate for step counting at least, as well as heart rate. However, you can never go wrong with a Fitbit and some of them have amazing features now such as onboard music and contactless payments etc.
If you want to listen to some banging tunes, when you're heading to the gym, then I would obviously take some headphones or earphones, whatever your preference. I currently have some BeatsX headphones, they have awesome sound quality, pretty decent noise cancelling and get around 7-8 hours of wireless play from a full charge, they also connect both to my watch and my phone, so it's a win win, of course, there are cheaper wired and wireless headphones available, so whatever tickles your pickle.
Final thoughts...
So I'm absolutely S*itting myself, as much as typing this blog post has been therapeutic, I know it's nearly now, if you have any ideas of how to get rid of pre-gym nerves, then please let me know, Aside from hibernating, hiding or faking my own death I'm completely out of ideas. I hope I can one day build the confidence to walk into that gym with my head held high because that would just be the best feeling. Thanks for listening and thanks for your support if you've made it this far.
Flabs Away!
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