Is the gym good for fitness?

There is no absolute good or bad, it all depends on your needs and how you use it. For those who have clear goals and know how to use resources, it is extremely cost-effective. For those who follow the trend of applying for cards and resist the commercial atmosphere, it is a waste of money.

I have been practicing for almost 4 years. I spent the first one and a half years messing around at home. I was too lazy to buy dumbbells and elastic bands. I kept doing deadlifts for almost a month. Then I gritted my teeth and got an annual membership in the gym downstairs. I just started using fixed-track pull-downs and leg presses, so I didn’t have to worry about losing my balance. When I met a tour coach, he would take the initiative to help me adjust my sitting posture when he was free. After practicing for three months, my back became thinner, and most of my previous rounded shoulders were cured. An aunt in her 50s who I often meet next to me used to have fluid in her knees and was afraid to run or jump. She followed the static class in the exercise room for half a year. The last time she took a physical test, her bone density was higher than that of many 30-year-old young people. Think about it, ordinary people simply don’t have room to store barbells that are tens of kilograms larger, gantry frames with full-angle adjustment, and elliptical machines with adjustable resistance. The gym is equivalent to spending a small amount of money to share a set of professional equipment, and the training atmosphere also pushes you forward. Sometimes after get off work, you are too tired to move, so you change into fitness clothes and enter the venue. When you see the girl next door who is about the same weight as you is already doing 100kg deadlifts, you are too embarrassed to sit there and watch short videos for half an hour, right?

But there are many people around me who think gyms are purely IQ tax. My colleague followed suit last year and got a 2800 annual pass. He went there twice in total, once to experience it on the day he applied for the card, and once when he remembered to take a shower half a year later. After the card expired, there were still more than a dozen free physical tests left that were useless. There are also some small gyms that are so popular that if you just get on the treadmill and walk for 5 minutes, the personal trainer will come over and poke you in the back, saying that you have a problem with your gait and the force on your knees is wrong. If you don’t buy the class, you will get injured sooner or later. I originally wanted to exercise and relax, but ended up being blocked for half an hour, and finally stopped going. There are also friends who love freedom by nature. They say that the gym is full of sweat and stuffy, and you have to stare at the electronic screen in front of you when running. It is better to go for a night run by the river, enjoy the wind and watch the sunset, or go hiking in the mountains on weekends, which is much more interesting than hitting the iron in the iron gym. This is true.

In fact, to put it bluntly, a gym is a place that specializes in providing exercise resources. It is essentially the same as the fitness track downstairs in your home or the yoga mats purchased online. It is just like buying a professional camera worth tens of thousands of dollars. If you know how to use it, you can shoot competition-level works. If you don’t use it, it will be gathering dust at home. It is not as good-looking as the photos taken by your mobile phone. If you just want to move casually to eliminate food, there is no need to join in the excitement of the gym. Walking twice quickly downstairs at home and dancing to the video for half an hour are not bad. ； If you want to systematically learn strength exercises, build muscle and lose fat to achieve your goals, or need fixed-track equipment to protect your joints, then choosing a gym with less sales and a full range of equipment can really help you avoid a lot of detours.