There are many different criteria for choosing a club, One is proximity; another is type of equipment for your particular routine. Still another is overall cleanliness and repair. All of those are important. But, for most of us who join at a standard fitness chain, these almost always are  adequate.

One of the important points beyond this, is the club membership itself. One really needs to look at who is already
 a member as he or she will be sharing equipment with them on ... Read More

When choosing a workout area in a new club, one should always consider who is always on an adjacent piece of equipment. In other words, who is on the stationery bike right next to yours? Is this person actually doing their workout or are they carrying on conversations with someone else? While social courtesies are generally good to maintain, too much talk can detract from one's workout intensity.

The same is true for cell phone usage. One should determine whether those on the Exercise ... Read More

It is a good idea to exclusively work out during scheduled Exercise times. In other words, one should think only of getting a routine done and of making modest improvements over reasonable periods of time. That means not fraternizing when doing your daily routine.

For some people the seemingly innocuous chit chat of a friendly atmosphere is essential for a sixty to ninety minute workout. For whatever reason they feel the need to converse with the person next to them on the stationery b ... Read More

It may be true that a highly motivated person can work out well even at a club managed by his or her worst enemy. But most of us are not like that. We all know that our dues are in part paying for his or her salary.

Liking a club owner or manager may sound trivial to the dedicated athlete. He or she will say that at best these folks pay the club's bills in a timely fashion, thereby insuring that doors will stay open. Beyond that they are little relevance.

If we were all as singl ... Read More

Highly motivated people do not need a club membership to workout. They can do it on their own, buying equipment for use in the basement or simply logging in miles of running around the block. Or they can do a daily swim across the lake if a good sized one is not too far from their house.

But most of us, even the highly motivated need to have a place where we can do our daily routines. What then makes one place better than another?

Before answering, it needs to be said that there ... Read More