One of the most common questions from people looking at getting into shape is why to join a gym or a fitness centre. Two of the big reasons for most people as to why they join the gym are:

1. The Atmosphere

When you walk into the gym/fitness centre, you find that music’s playing, the equipment is banging away, cardio gear is working hard, and the people are sweating up a storm.

 

This atmosphere is what you feel and it helps motivate you and get helps get you into your routine.  The added advantage is this atmosphere also includes a group style of training, so after you’ve to this centre for a bit you’ll find that you will get to make friends and get to know a lot of the regulars like yourself that attend the gym. So you’ll end up working out with more and more people over time, which again helps keep you exercising and the facility.

2. The Equipment

Probably the biggest reason for joining the gym/fitness facility is the equipment and the facilities on offer.

 

Most gyms will supply a full selection of equipment which usually includes all the cardio equipment:

• Bikes
• Recumbent cycles
• Treadmills
• Cross Trainers/Elliptical Trainer
• Rowing Machines

A full range of machine or cable weights, these can include (plus a lot extra):

• Chest Press
• Shoulder Press
• Leg Press
• Lat Pulldown
• Leg Extensions
• Leg Curls
• Bicep Curls

Also depending on the type of gym they can include a full range of free weight benches and weights, which can include:

• Bench Press
• Squat Racks
• Smith Machines
• Flat and Incline Benches
• Dumb bells
• Ezy-Curl Bars

This range of equipment allows you to enjoy a full range of options within the gym facility itself, with numerous workout options and the variety to keep you interested.

 

For most people this is why they join, but from a safety and health perspective there are a couple of other reason why as well.

 

Probably the biggest is the supervision angle. When you in a gym, there is always people around, from trainers, to cleaners, to other people working out. This provides a constant and safe environment for you during the workout in case something happens. Accidents can and do happen when exercising, from simple things from low blood sugar, sudden drop in blood pressure to strains and muscle pulls, so having people around you that can/will help you in this time of need is essential.

 

Unbelievably this is probably the most overlooked factor for most exercisers, and you find a lot of people don’t even think about the safety angle when it comes to working out. Also don’t forget our streets aren’t as safe as they used to be so things like running and jogging around the parks and roads is nowhere near as safe as they once were especially once the sun goes down, where with the gym doing these types of exercise on a treadmill removes this personal safety stress from you.

 

So as you can see there is more than the convenience reason for joining a gym or fitness facility and to be honest people will probably have quite a few reasons more to, but this does cover the basics.

 

We’ll also be covering later how to decide on which facility is right for you as well, so stay tuned for that.