I know it’s really none of my business what anyone else is doing at the gym, and there’s no reason any of it should bother me. Yet, it drives me up the wall to see some of the dumb-ass things women do with their perfectly good (and often expensive) gym memberships. And it’s rarely the women who are fit who do these things. It’s the women who are out of shape. The women who, later in the day, bitch to their friends and coworkers about how hard it is to lose some weight, or how much their backs hurt, or how tired they are. It’s the women who say they’ve been “going to the gym” every day for two months and haven’t made any progress.

I think it’s great that anyone would even take that first step of walking into a gym and becoming a member, and even greater that they make the commitment to show up. But showing up is not worth a damn if when they get there, they’re not doing anything productive.

Newsflash: “going” to the gym is not the same as actually working out at the gym. You can’t just show up, hang out in the “stretching area” doing a bunch of useless contortions you call “floor work” and an ungodly number of crunches every which way but the right way, chit chat with your friends, or on your cell phone, stop by Jamba Juice for your post-workout calorie-bomb, and then assume that because you swiped your card at the gym, your body is going to reward you. It doesn’t work that way, except for the few genetically gifted women.

No. You have to show up with a plan. You have to have a goal. What is your goal? “Oh, I just want to lose some weight.” No. That is not a goal… that’s something you want. A goal is, “I want to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight of 135 pounds.” Or, “I want to lose two inches from my hips.” Or, “I want to be able to run a mile in under ten minutes.” Whatever the goal is, it has to be specific, otherwise how the hell are you going to know when you get to it, or how to get to it? Yes, “I just want to get fit and feel better…” That is a good overall goal. I won’t argue that, but do you know how to achieve that? If you don’t, you need to figure it out, make a plan, and put it into action. Not knowing what to do is not an excuse. There is so much information out there - trainers, websites, books.

I go to the gym at least four times a week, sometimes five. Every time I go, I have a notebook, I have a plan, I track my progress. If things don’t work, I change them. When I first started working out, and didn’t know how to change them myself, I had a trainer (a short-lived luxury!), or I would ask a qualified person for some pointers. Or - shocker! - I would READ and LEARN what to do. And I still do all of that. I am paying good money to go there, and I am taking time out from other things in my life on a regular basis to work out and achieve my fitness goals. I had fat to lose, or I had a marathon to run, or whatever it was. I have goals, therefore I have a plan and a way to know if my plan is working.

I don’t go to the gym to socialize. I go in there, warm up, lift like I mean business, do some form of cardio, stretch (not always, shame on me!) and go home. I leave my cell phone in the car. I stay focused, and I don’t chit chat. After I’m done, if someone I want to talk to is around, I may stop by and say hello, or I’ll let them know I’ll call them later.

Don’t get me wrong. I understand that not everyone who goes to the gym goes in there because they want to lose weight, or put on muscle or look better, or get healthier. Some people go to the gym because it is a social outlet for them, or because it is a way to reduce stress. It’s personal time. I respect that. This isn’t directed toward those people. This is about the ones who, outside of the gym, whine about not being able to achieve whatever their goal is all the while fooling themselves thinking they’re doing anything even remotely effective to achieve them.

In no particular order, these are the top time-wasters I see at the gym, and if you’re one of these ladies, stop for a moment, think about what you want, and if you recognize any of these as something you do, then effing STOP and re-evaluate what it is that you want to get out of the time and money you’re putting into your goals.

• Strolling on the treadmill for 10 minutes, sipping a sports drink (that’s it - that’s your workout?). Variations of this include: strolling on the treadmill, or pedaling leisurely on a bike while totally engrossed in a gossip magazine or Danielle Steel novel.
• Standing nearly motionless on a machine, chatting with another person, or talking on your cell phone, or texting… occasionally moving, but not really doing much (and sometimes sipping on a sports drink while doing this).
• Walking into the gym, going straight for the stretching area, and doing 20-30 minutes of “abs” with horrible form and technique, and then calling it a day. FYI - If you have a little or a lot of belly fat to lose, you won’t “burn it off” by hammering away with these exercises. You need to clean up your eating, lift something and do some cardio - consistently. And don’t even get me started on the “side bends” and “side bends with weights!” I’ll see you at the physical therapist’s office in a few years (or a few months!)
• Being perfectly capable of “graduating” to 10, 12 or even 15-pound dumbbells, yet stubbornly sticking with the 5-pound weights for all your exercises because you don’t want to get too bulky, you just want to “tone” your arms. Hello - you are already bulky, and it isn’t changing. Your purse probably weighs more than that. Don’t be afraid to get stronger. You might like the side effects!
• Doing an excessive amount of repetitions on any type of exercise in an effort to spot reduce the fat in a particular area. Several come to mind - abs, as mentioned above; the “inner thigh” and “outer thigh” machines (I should write a whole other post on why and how this is such a waste of time); tricep kickbacks… Spot reduction does not happen. All you’re doing is wasting time, and setting yourself up for possible injury.
• Walking into the gym and going straight to the sauna or steam room because you think that sweating means you’re burning fat. Sweating is not an accurate indication that you’re getting a good workout, and while you will see immediate weight loss on the scale when you walk out of there, it is only water loss, and the minute you drink something, you’ll regain those few pounds. If it seems too good to be true, that’s because it is. If sweating really resulted in fat loss, there’d be a lot more trim and fit people around. Think about it.
• Drinking a sports drink (like Gatorade, Powerade, or Vitamin Water) even though you’re not doing more than 15-30 minutes of low-intensity exercise. These drinks do provide hydration and electrolytes, but they also provide excess calories and sugar. Save some money and calories and just drink water.
• Having something stupid as your post-workout drink or meal. I mentioned Jamba Juice earlier, but I’ve also seen some women grab a 20-ounce bottle of pop, or diet pop. Some women even go to Starbucks after the gym and “reward” themselves with a “skinny” crappaccino drink. Have some protein and some quality carbs after your workout, if you’re going to have something. You don’t have to have a protein shake unless you’re on the run, but even a few egg whites and a 1/4 or 1/3 cup of oatmeal is better than any of the other choices you’ve been making. Check out my post workout meal this morning:
  4 egg whites, sprinkled with some parmesan cheese, and 1/4 cup of oatmeal with a few blueberries.

  

And these are just a few! Bottom line is that you don’t have to throw your hands up in the air and “accept” that your body is just not meant to look and feel better. Set goals, and become educated about what you need to do to achieve your goals when it comes to working out. I want to see more enlightened, empowered and motivated women taking charge for themselves at the gym!

Last Modified : July 25th, 2008 Filed under : Move Navigate : Previous post / Next post