Why a Gym Membership Can Kill you (well not kill but...)

Why a gym membership can kill you. (Well… not kill, but definitely jack you up in all the wrong ways)

Many of you, who know anything about me, know that I despise gyms and more than that, I hate their memberships. Gyms are generally crawling with other people’s bacteria; they smell like being tea bagged by a gorilla, the costs usually lack integrity and worst of all there is nothing for you there that you can’t find somewhere else. I know these statements sound pretty harsh and you may not agree with all of them but I feel confident saying that everyone reading this will agree with at least 1 of those statements. My harsh opinions are not completely unwarranted as I am one of the MANY people that signed up for a gym membership that still haunts me to this day.

When I signed up for my first and last gym membership, I was young and still very naïve. What I thought I was doing was agreeing to pay $19 a month to work out whenever I liked at many of their conveniently located facilities. What I actually agreed to was a lifetime membership that would eventually cost me thousands of dollars. How can this be done? You may be asking yourself. Well some gyms have this thing where they automatically debit your account every month for the same amount whether you use their service or not. They trick you into signing a contract by calling it a membership agreement, but what you are actually signing is a loan agreement. They are loaning several thousand dollars to be paid off in your lifetime every month in $19 increments. Some random bank is essentially backing the gym and technically when you pay the gym your monthly debit and it goes toward paying off your loan. I don’t think this practice is considered legal anymore however, it’s ramifications are still effecting my life. A lot of this has happened because I was young and dumb, but I find it hard not to believe that wasn’t the intended purpose. I was a mark, and they were very good at directing this particular mark into making terrible life decisions. Eventually I was sued by the corporation because I refused to deal with their bullshit (another young dumb move) and they have literally garnished my income and my bank account, and yet that company is not even capable of offering their service because they went bankrupt.

Integrity!! MY FAVORITE WORD!!!

If you offer a useable service you should charge for your service appropriately, and it should be fair and honest. People always say I don’t charge enough for my service, but the reality is as a personal trainer, the service I am offering to you is technically intangible, meaning I can’t just hand you a different body. I have to inspire you, motivate you, change up not only your physic but your emotional mentality, I have to lead by example and fit all that into however many sessions you decide to take. How do you put a price on that?

Well, most trainers have, and the market value is around $60-$85 per 45 minute session. Most people I train cannot afford to spend that kind of money on a hope that my services will actually give them exactly what they want. In honor of my favorite word, I will share a secret with you…I wouldn’t and I didn’t! BOOM! I just blew your mind right?! Okay well I did get an upgrade that came with like 4 personal training sessions with that shitty membership, but those didn’t get me to change my life or my body, they never did anything good for me actually. (Here’s how I did that). So, to keep my integrity and sticking to my mission statement, I do what I do as a resource for anyone to get started and have the tools to maintain your fitness level for your lifetime.

I cannot have 24/7 access to my clients life, and I’d really rather not. No trainer can be there every moment to make all of your eating and activity choices for you. The only reason I became a trainer is to show other people you don’t need one, and you especially don’t need a gym. I’ve probably said a lot of controversial opinions regarding my service and my profession but my statements do not lack integrity and anyone can find truth to them, even other trainers.

So what should you do to get fit?

You should first decide in what capacity can you be happy with your level of fitness, meaning what do you want your body to be able to do and what do you want it to look like. Be realistic, consider your choices and decide what is right for you, and acknowledge that those goals may change and most likely will change several times throughout your life. When you have that all hashed out; decide if you need help by taking inventory of your resources. Do you have equipment you have never used? Break it out! Do you not know how to use it? Then you need help! Go to a class involving that particular equipment to learn to use it several different ways. Why not just watch the video that came with it? BECAUSE A VIDEO CAN’T TELL YOU IF YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!!! But I digress, Going to various fitness classes and trying out different physical activity type skills are a GREAT resource to get you started if you don’t know where to start. A personal trainer can be a REALLY GREAT resource from the start too!! They can educate you on proper form and show you techniques that gives you the most out of your work outs. A good trainer will lend advice to keep you mentally focused on your personal goals. But, a trainer can’t do it for you.

Ultimately, you are the only one who can make your body what it is. Only you are in control of what goes in it. So only you are the one who will suffer whatever consequences are in store for it. You control your own intensity level and only you really know if you are pushing enough...if you have integrity.