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I recently joined our local Virgin Active as I can't ride my bike because of an operation 4 months ago. I am getting it half price because I am with Pru healthcare so its £40 a month.
I'm finding it really beneficial for my body and my mental state, I get angry when I can't take my aggression out on my bike. I would definitely recommend it to others.
I drive to the gym as it's on the way home from work which i also drive to SHAAAME on me.
I also pay £28.95 p/m which gets me access to all gyms and baths in the Kirklees area, including classes.
I only have to use the showers when i go and take the kids swimming a couple of times a month and i've nearly made my money back without lifting a dumbell.
As for the bikes and treadmills, i use them to warm up and down only so between 5 and 10 mins per sesh tops.
Oh I feel really good out of it and it has enhanced my bike-riding a lot too.
Go for it.
My gym is the countryside on my doorstep, and it's free to access generally, or a small amount of petrol if somewhere I drive to.
An actual gym you pay membership for is expensive, you'll probably go for a bit and slack off and the membership fee is being wasted, or you go there more often than getting out in the fresh air just to justify the membership fees, it's a breeding ground for colds, and it's boring. I'd even go so far as to say I'd rather ride on the road than go to a gym! 😯 😉
As for "it's dark in the winter" / "too wet outside" etc. Meh. At least when it comes to off road. Dark - go night riding = fun. Wet - mud = fun. 😀
My only issue with gyms is the proliferation of bloody Les Mill's classes.
See my previous post. 👿
the ones who drive there
The ones that drive there then park as close as they can to the front &^%$ing door even though they are illegally parked...
My gym is the countryside on my doorstep, and it's free to access generally, or a small amount of petrol if somewhere I drive to.An actual gym you pay membership for is expensive, you'll probably go for a bit and slack off and the membership fee is being wasted, or you go there more often than getting out in the fresh air just to justify the membership fees, it's a breeding ground for colds, and it's boring. I'd even go so far as to say I'd rather ride on the road than go to a gym!
As for "it's dark in the winter" / "too wet outside" etc. Meh. At least when it comes to off road. Dark - go night riding = fun. Wet - mud = fun.
Then why you posting on here still? Go outside and gambol, while all us idiots pay a reasonable monthly fee to get the option to swim, do classes and pump dem gunz....as well as ride bikes.
the ones who drive there
This always makes me laugh as every time a gym thread turns up some one quotes it. Plenty of people on here me included will throw their bike in a car a drive somewhere to ride it.
I pay £15 per month for The Gym round the corner from work. In training for a charity ride so means I can go for a couple of hours straight after work leaving my (midweek,) days off for riding a real bike outside or spending time with the other half.
Works out to about £1 per visit.
Theres a pure gym opened up near me and for £10.99 a month and only a months notice to cancel i might give it a go.
Running inside a box
Riding inside a box
Working out inside a box
All the while you could be outside. **** that.
Yes, the comments about driving to the gym are somewhat disingenuous. If the walk is more than 30mins and it's pissing with rain than I'll drive, thanks. I understand I could run there but if I've got a structured, set plan of intervals or circuits planned out I'm not going to waste my time racking up junk miles and dodging dog-shit in the dark just to get there.
Having said all that I think that given the way most people use the gym you could achieve just as good, if not better results exercising in your own home and using your own body-weight and a couple of other cheap pieces of equipment if you really wanted to.
I'm not sure if it's just me but I find that it's not really practical to actually do proper intervals on my road bike out in the 'real world'- too much traffic, junctions, lights etc so I quite like using the wattbikes to properly beast myself.
I go to the gym.
I also ride my bike (erm, not so much at the moment due to working long hours away from home).
I go to the gym mainly to get toned, but sometimes I'll do some cardio if going out on the bike isn't convenient.
Doing weights at home never works, as I can never be arsed to do a full session - at the gym, I've made the effort to get there, so I do a full session.
Usually I drive to the gym due to time constraints/convenience.
Sometimes I ride to the gym.
Sometimes I drive to the trails.
All of the time, I do what suits me at the time.
Sanctimonious people offering their wisdom as per....
hora - Member
Running inside a box
Riding inside a box
Working out inside a boxAll the while you could be outside. **** that.
Quite
I started going to the local sports centre with a bunch of friends years ago. Gradually they all started to disappear for various reasons until I was the only one left.
Christ but it was boring. I probably weigh less now than I did twenty years ago when I was going to the gym, due to the fact I walk to work and back every day, about two miles, plus I'm on my feet all day, moving around, I walk miles at weekends, and I'd cycle more if I wasn't afraid of messing up my shonky left knee even more.
I'm stuck inside a box all day at work, buggered if I'm going to spend even more time stuck inside another box when I could be outside enjoying wildlife and scenery.
And excercise.
Spin classes are brilliant at this time of year, great for MTB training with all the HIIT, and wall to wall fanny.
I use the gym at work social club for about a tenner a month. Like it actually, feel like I get more training benefit from intervals than I would out on the bike as I don't use a hrm on the bike. Can also concentrate on core strength and upper body more. No substitute for cycling but cheap and more time effective.
I remember one evening riding to the gym in Summer (sauna) and thinking 'look at the riding/running on those machines on a beautiful dusk evening inside'
The gym soured that day.
I pay £14 a month for swim/sauna at a rough place. If I didn't have a ****ing hot sauna once a week I'd go mad.
I use the local leisure centre gym in the winter months - fiver a go and no contract. Summer months I find time for a few hours on the bike after work.
They're a real den of arseholes though, there's a lot of fashion goes on, people who camp on a machine for 30 mins and manage 3 sets the whole time and 'gym fit' types who like to pass me 'friendly tips' ranging from dehydration to roids - the joggers don't fool anyone - you've got pins for legs.
I'm always glad when the clocks go forward and I can leave them behind for 6 months.
We have 2 free gyms at work. I use one of them once a year for my fitness test.
Gyms suck, give me fresh air anytime.
Just joined our local Puregym again at £15 a month. Went this morning before work which set me up nicely for the day, I feel less tired than I usually do. If I had a bike I could commute to work on I wouldn't have bothered but as they don't tie you into a contract once I do have something sorted I can just cancel it.
We have a free gym at work, pretty decent by all accounts, same as the local council gyms. Also open 24/7 as it's attached to occupational health. But it's at work. So screw spending any more time there than I need to.
Inverclyde sports centre is just round the corner, £40 for membership including some classes. Unfortunately it's all the shitty ones with names made up by some bloke who was in "the Regiment" such as 'C40' (umm what?) and the hilariously titled 'Kettlerasylum'; one presumes it's dodge-ball using kettles or a demolition derby riding these bad boys:
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Or £29 for the same level of service as work (I get yearly health checkups involving all the lung capacity stuff anyway). But with considerably greater likelihood of spotting a hottie. No pool though.
Council gym - same story. But with a pool and sauna.
Was chatting to a hottie in the gym yesyerday, we were both standing up when the conversation began then she started to do an exercise which displayed her puppies in their full splendor while still talking to me, didn't know where to look. 😯
Love going to the gym AND (I know this is really radical) I love going out on the bike too, s'all about variety.
Do the naysayers believe they can achieve the same range of fitness and conditioning on a bike as they could achieve in a gym?
It's £27 a month for our family at our local council leisure centre. Gym, pool, kids swimming lessons, the whole shebang!
I've been going 3 times a week on my lunch break for the last couple of months and have noticed an improvement on my fitness on my usual weekend pedal.
Far better than sitting at work and the Lycra/hottie thing is the icing on the cake!
patriotpro - Member
Do the naysayers believe they can achieve the same range of fitness and conditioning on a bike as they could achieve in a gym?
Depends what you're after. I'm not looking to tone the body, build muscle, become a performance athelete and whatnot. I just ride for fun and some exercise.
Riding doesn't shift my belly of course and maybe a gym could help, but that's more to do with booze and curry than going to a gym 😀 (besides, I'd just do a work out at home if I really want to do something about it).
Tenner a month here for full access and all classes. No pool but massive gym with good equipment, well run and maintained. Xercise4less.
Some very cheap gym deals here.
My prob is I have all the cheap gyms like TruGym, The Gym etc, but want swimming. So for that it's either pay Virgin Active a bazillion quid, or local council gyms for £40. Which gives access to 3 pools, and 6 locations. Plus discount on badminton/squash court bookings etc.