What Your Gym Doesn’t Want You To Know
Every business has their own little tricks of the trade – ways to lure customers in and make tons of money. That is all fine and wonderful, as long as the consumer doesn’t suffer (too much). However, we think its time to blow the lid off the dirty little secrets your gym doesn’t want you to know about.
They really stick it to ya when it comes to membership rates.
It is a well known fact that gyms are stuffed to the gills in January. Everyone is fresh off their new year’s resolution buzz and anxious to see weight loss results. For this reason, it is virtually impossible to get a good rate on your membership. August, on the other hand, is the perfect time. Gyms have rock-bottom prices for their memberships during the summer because no one wants to join then. In fact, only 6% of all new gym memberships come in during the summer. If you can find a way to hold off until the warmer months, you can get your gym membership for a steal.
Just because you have already shelled out the big bucks for your membership doesn’t mean you need to continue paying that rate. The gym’s sales team needs to meet monthly quotas and keep cancellations down. If you think you are overpaying for your membership, push a little. They won’t want to risk losing your business. Bring in a flyer from a competing gym with a lower membership rate – see if your gym will match it. Or, ask about the perks new members are receiving. Are new members getting extra guest passes? Do they have all-gym access so they can workout at any location in town? Do newbies get free personal training sessions? Tell the sales team you want equal treatment!
Before you sign on the dotted line, do a little math. Whip out the calculator, break down your membership fee, and determine how much it will cost each time you workout. For example, if your membership is $100 a month and you plan to visit the gym four times a week, it will cost about $6.25 per visit. However, if you only plan to workout twice a week, you will be paying about $12.50 per visit. Now, ask your gym what the drop-in rate is. Will you be saving money or wasting money by purchasing a membership? Stefano DellaVigna, Ph.D. (an associate professor of economics at the University of California Berkley) found that, on average, people who sign up for memberships pay 70% more than if they would stick to pay-per-visit. Or, to word it differently, the average member could save $150 over six months by taking advantage of the drop-in rate.
Their equipment is crawling with germs.
As the weather turns colder, it seems everyone is sick with something. Think of how many germy hands have come in contact with that treadmill before you climbed on. Plus, the moist surfaces in a gym (like damp locker rooms, public mats, and sweaty machines) are swarming with bacteria, fungi, and viruses. If you have an open wound while working out, you could contract staph infection. According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, community-acquired staph infection is an ever present danger. The infection can develop as a result of using improperly cleaned sports equipment or towels, and person-to-person contact.
If you want to limit your chance of picking up one of these nasty buggers, try these tips:
- Limit direct skin contact with moist surfaces. For example, place a towel on the machine before sitting down.
- Wear less skin-baring clothes – leggings and a t-shirt is a great gym outfit.
- Bring your own yoga mat.
- Shower immediately after working out and change into clean clothes.
- Bring your own towel from home.
They employ low-quality trainers.
Signing up for personal training sessions is a great way to infuse a bit of motivation into your weight loss efforts. However, not all personal trainers are created equal. Did you know a personal trainer can become “certified” by taking an at-home course and completing an open-book exam? Its true – personal training is a totally unregulated industry.
Before signing up for a membership, make sure the gym has personal trainers who are actually qualified. Ask about years of experience and see if trainers have a certification accredited through the National Commission for Certifying agencies (look for the letters NSAC, ACSM, NASM, ACE).
Exercising, eating healthy and losing weight are admirable goals. However, before you sign your life away to a local gym, make sure you fully understand what you are getting yourself into!
Guest blogger Chelsea Adams was burned by a local gym. After putting up with sky high membership fees and shoddy equipment for years, she finally gave her gym the boot. Now, she exercises at home and in the park; her weight loss efforts haven’t suffered a bit!
Best of Holiday Weight Loss Tips
According to people, it is not possible to lose weight during the holidays but if you apply some common sense strategies, it is not impossible at all. A collection of the best of holiday weight loss tips are discussed below:
Holiday Weight Loss Tip #1 – Always Eat Breakfast
Never skip your breakfast. A study reveals that having your breakfast daily tends to make you lose weight and puts you on the slender lot. Breakfast works wonders for our metabolism. If we starve the whole day and then have a late evening dinner, we are more likely to overeat and pile on the calories.
Instead we should start our day with a low calorie breakfast. It could be a small bowl of cornflakes or oatmeal with a serving of a fruit of your choice or may be a glass of low fat skim milk.
Holiday Weight Loss Tip #2 – Fill Up on Fiber
Fiber diet is very useful as it helps the digestive system to function better. It also helps to monitor the blood glucose levels and control hunger. Before eating any simple carbohydrates (sugar, white flour, potatoes), go in for some vegetables, salads and whole grains.
Put this practice into action while attending Christmas parties or dinners. Adding some lean protein to the fibrous food provides you with a winning combination to help you easily keep your eating pattern under control during holidays.
Holiday Weight Loss Tip #3 – Water down Alcohol
Another good way of reducing calories is to water down your alcohol. Drinking one glass of water after consuming a glass of alcohol will help you avoid drinking too much and thus help you in reducing intake of high calories through alcohol. This will also prevent you from undergoing dehydrating hangover the next morning.
Holiday Weight Loss Tip #4 – No ‘Pigging Out’
Pigging out means eating a large quantity of food at a time without being hungry at all. To avoid this, the best way is to keep away from the table and the kitchen cupboard most of the times.
This is also known as ‘binge eating’ and it throws out your weight loss efforts for a loop. You can do in with a few treats throughout the season but have to commit yourself that it does not have to be done without any valid reason.
Holiday Weight Loss Tip #5 – Big Eyes, Little Stomach
Don’t heap your plate with food. Your eyes may love all the sumptous delicacies laid out in front of you and entice you to have as much as possible, but don’t fall into this trap. Instead, take little servings of food. Taste everything but always in little measures.
Holiday Weight Loss Tip #6 – Skip Second Helpings
You have to make a commitment not to go in for a second helping no matter wherever you eat, be it your home, restaurant or a party. A second helping is always taken when the food is tasty and delicious rather than the person being really hungry.
This practice makes us take in more calories than we actually need and thus, we increase our weight instead of going the other way of losing it.
Holiday Weight Loss Tip #7 – Work It Off
Perhaps you were not able to control the taste buds and you ate and ate and ate! Now, to compensate for this indiscretion, what do you have to do? Of course, you have to work it off now!
You can either go for a gym or work out at home for the next few days. However, to make the workout effective, either you have to extend the length of the workout or increase the intensity of the workout to reach the weight you started with before the holidays.
Conclusion
Holidays are a time of enjoyment and merrymaking with family and friends. However, if you are following a weight loss plan, make sure you do not let it go haywire just because you couldn’t control the hunger for delicious foods.
Author Bio:
Samantha Kingston is an experienced health blogger who believes that ‘health is wealth’. If you are looking for exclusive weight loss deals, she recommends DietToGo coupon codes and Weight Watchers coupons. Take a look!
Free Fitness Apps: Top 6 Picks for Android Phones
The latest technology might well be the best way to stay fit and healthy. Smartphones and tabs enable us to enjoy different applications which can transform our daily lives —from apps that monitor the weather and accurately tell our location, to those that count our heart rate and even the number of calories we take.
Android + Health, Why Not?
Smart phones, laptops and tabs are gadgets not limited to communication and social interaction; these gadgets can now enable people to be fit and healthy at all times. USA Today stated this new health technology may probably be the best medicine. Technologies such as VitaLink, which enables video chatting through phone and a webcam without any mouse or keyboard required, keeps it easy for physicians and caregivers to monitor their elderly clients. Phones with built in “location detector” may send out alerts if a relative with Alzheimer’s disease suddenly wanders off.
So what’s in store for your Android phone? Here are the top 6 free fitness apps for Smartphone and Android users.
1. Cardio Trainer + Resolutions
What does this app do? It helps you track your running, walking, biking and other fitness activities. The “resolutions” part simply pertains to making a resolution in order to get yourself motivated. It is quite interesting as it follows the popular practice of “New Year’s Resolution” and the popular resolution of losing weight and becoming fit for the new year to come. If the user becomes successful in making their resolutions come true, they can get their money back, and if not, it will be donated to charity.
Link: http://www.appbrain.com/app/cardiotrainer-resolutions/com.wsl.CardioTrainer
2. The Jog Tracker
Jogging is a good way to jumpstart a day. The jog tracker is an application that can measure the time and distance you’ve tracked. This app utilizes Google maps and GPS to find your location. The app also enables the users to check their track history on the web for easy and convenient access.
Link: http://www.appbrain.com/app/jogtracker/com.highwaynorth.jogtracker
3. Liftpro2
If you want to learn exercises that can help you stay in shape, LIftpro might just be the best application for you. This app enables you to learn different exercises and includes diagrams for faster learning. This app can also manage and track activities such as running, jogging, walking and biking.
Link: http://www.appbrain.com
4. My Tracks
This fitness application can record your GPS tracks, and show you your time, speed, distance and even elevation. You can even share these records while you’re on the go. You can upload your tracks through Google spreadsheets and share them friends or anyone in your social circle.
Link: http://www.appbrain.com/app/my-tracks/com.google.android.maps.mytracks
5. SportyPal Pro
This app is described by some bloggers as one of the best training tools for running, cycling, jogging and even skiing. This application features GPS trackers, syncs to web accounts, heart rate monitor and many others.
Link: http://www.appbrain.com/app/sportypal-pro/com.sportypalpro
6. RunkeeperPro
With this app, the time, speed and distance you covered during your fitness activity can be monitored. It even shows the number of calories burned and the path you tracked on the map. Special features of this application include fitness classes and customizing workout intervals.
Link: http://www.appbrain.com/app/runkeeper-pro/com.fitnesskeeper.runkeeper.pro
There are indeed limitless possibilities with the different technologies available in the world today. Let these technologies guide you and assist you in making your goals tangible. Still, we should not plainly rely on these technologies in order for us to succeed in our goal to be fit. The success of the fitness program is not limited to your just fingertips, but to your whole drive and motivation to do so. You can use meal delivery programs like Medfast and Nutrisystem. Get discounts and find more info for these products at Weight Loss Triumph site.
