6 WAYS TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR GYM MEMBERSHIP
It’s coming close to January, meaning that gyms throughout the UK are about to get busy. While we’re a small private training studio in Clapham, you may have chosen the gym membership option to help you achieve your fitness goals. Here are 6 tips to help you make the most of of your gym membership investment.
1. Set realistic appointments
Unrealistic training schedules are not only counter-productive; they can ruin your confidence.
Decide in advance how often you can realistically go. It may be twice weekly, but making this decision at the outset can set you on a great path toward improved health and fitness.
Once you have decided the number of times each week you can go, what time of day suits you best? The key word is consistency. Make sure that you set a schedule that involves consistent training, but also includes your life!
2. Get an induction
Often the value of a gym or leisure centre is assessed by how many treadmills and cardio machines are available, when it can be so much more with the right guidance.
Any gym will have trained staff on-site to help you understand how using the full facility can benefit you. To ensure this, book an induction time with a staff member to make sure you get the full range of options available to you.
3. Decide what you want
Goals are at the heart of progress. Before you start raring up that fitness engine, make sure you know where you are going.
This is where S.M.A.R.T. goal setting comes in handy (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Reasonable, Time-Limited).
Be as specific as you can with what you want to accomplish. This will help you when you plan your sessions, and it will also be very useful when you get your gym induction.
4. Manage expectations
From past experience, by the third week of January approximately 60% of new joiners in a gym are already tapering off in their commitment to regular attendance.
Regardless of your goals, to expect to see palatable progress in the first couple of weeks is asking too much of yourself. We base our programs around 12-week increments because that’s how long it takes to see recognisable change.
You’ve made a great decision to focus on your health and fitness: allow yourself enough time to let the magic happen.
5. Re-assess
Make sure you monitor your progress. While there are many ways to measure progress, it’s important to consistently measure to make sure you are on track.
It can be as simple as setting a reminder on your phone every 21 days, and on that day you get out of bed and try on a pair of jeans that you want to fit into.
The point is you are assessing yourself based on an end objective that is important to you, not some measurement of ‘perfect weight’ or ‘desired body fat’ that may not be realistic.
6. Turn your phone off (unless you are using it specifically for your workout, in which case put it on Airplane mode)
Treat your time at the gym as ‘you time’…this is time that must be protected to preserve your sanity.
While you may be getting used to the gym, you will enjoy the results when you focus on the effort to get there. So no annoying phone calls, no distracting texts. Just keep focused and concentrate on yourself.
Whether an hour, 30 minutes, or however long the workout is, by concentrating on you, your time is automatically better spent.
To learn more about effective workout habits to achieve your fitness goals, contact James Staring, a leading personal trainer in Clapham, London.
ABOUT JAMES STARING
James Staring is a personal trainer based in Clapham, London. His methods have featured in publications such as Your Fitness, Hello, Healthy, Daily Mail, Closer, and many more. After giving up smoking and entering the fitness industry in 2009, James has focused on his passion to help others transform their health and fitness. However, James is convinced that most people struggle so much more than they need to in an effort to improve their fitness. Through his company, Fit to Last, which he runs with his partner, Ali Page – James has helped hundreds of men and women make small adjustments in their daily habits to transform their fitness and to love how they look and feel.