Tonight, I went to the gym again, bringing my average gym costs since June down to just £25 per visit. Hooray!
My new plan is to try out a new machine each visit, until I have worked through them all. Having not yet re-booked for a session plan with a fitness guy (or gal), I went for something easy: the rowing machine. I'm also determined not to "travel" under 5km, so I ran 3km and rowed 2km before a cool-down perambulation (if you can perambulate on a treadmill) and a quick spell with the free weights. A very quick spell.
One problem I have in the gym is that I feel exposed and stupid as soon as I step away from the machines. I don't really know what I am doing when it comes to free weight exercises and stretches. Added to that, I'm not exactly Hercules, so I can only really work with pretty weedy weights, especially if I'm already knackered from rowing etc. Combine this with the fact that the free workout area is pretty small and (it seems) never empty, and you have one very uncomfortable and self-conscious exerciser.
I feel that exercise of this nature is a bit like dancing - if you feel uncomfortable and self-conscious, you look uncomfortable self-conscious. I therefore cut my exercise a bit short and saved my stretches for the changing room (and only then because it was almost empty). Perhaps I should sign myself up for one of the classes in an attempt to face (and conquer) my fear of looking stupid and uncomfortable.
Equipment used: treadmill, rowing machine, free weight
Distance: 3.5km (run); 2km (row)
Future goal: stretch in public after exercise
Location:LA Fitness, Southampton, UK
Don't sweat the self-consciousness, it's one of those cases where everyone else there feels or has felt the same way before.
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