Today's Discussion is on Glimmer's First Ever Gym Membership!

When I started at the job I had now, I found out my company building had a free gym employees could use. EMPLOYEES. I was a lowly contractor at the time. I was promoted to a full-time position after six months or so, but the past Glimmer had no idea that was going to happen, so she signed up for a gym membership in a nearby shopping center. It was a chain gym (mistake number one), but the gym was small enough that it felt homey and more personalized. The gym had only a few people who worked there, and on occasion you would enter and no one else would be there, workers or other people working out. It was a 24-hour gym too, so I could come any time I wanted.

Here's the thing about gym memberships...THEY SUCK. Did you see that one coming? Now I'm not going to sit here on my bed and type fast and angrily about my gym and how much it sucked, because, to be honest, it really wasn't all that bad. What DID suck was that I didn't read the fine print when I signed up for a membership. It was like that part in The Little Mermaid where Ariel signs her voice away to Ursula. I should have read it more clearly and asked questions. At the time I was just excited to start working out somewhere away from home.

The main reason I joined a gym (besides to work out obviously) was to kill time before heading home from work. The traffic was horrible on the drive home, and I hit traffic in the morning too, I wasn't about to do that two times a day. One day I will write about something I hate - driving. I love my car, so I don't want to drive in it and possibly ruin it. Makes sense right? That's a discussion for another day, though. I'm here to tell you about gym memberships. Not scare you away from them, but teach you from my experience.

The gym owner was this big hunk of a guy. Close your eyes and imagine a stereotypical gym owner. Yup, that's him. I still don't remember his name, but he made sure I at least had his business card to call him for one-on-one training (aka more money in his pocket). I received one free training lesson from his lackey (okay, close your eyes and imagine like the #3 in the gym...yup, that's him), but I really didn't like someone telling me how to work out - so I didn't take up another offer. All the "good jobs" and questions were just not my work out style. I don't like to talk to ANYONE while I'm at the gym. That's honestly why I stopped going to my work's free gym and started going to my apartment's free gym (its an apartment complex...no one talks to each other).

Everyone else around me at my gym was super friendly, though. I always went at the same time every day, so I'd always see the same people. There was the black haired lady training the older gentleman. The incredibly buff dude that looked like he was in the WWE. The three teenagers who really just needed to get laid already or at least go home and play some video games. A family, the office worker man who always came in in his suit and tie and changed in the bathroom, the couple, this kick-ass blonde chick who beat the crap out of that punching bag, and many more. I did say this was a small gym, but honestly, I only had to wait for a treadmill once - at a prime time to come to the gym. It wasn't a bad place at all! I just got stuck in the contract.

The contract was basically for a year, and I couldn't get out of it unless I moved 15 miles away from my gym. Because I now live in the area, that obviously did not happen, so I got stuck in it. Most of my friends just told me to go anyways, but to be honest, its a little far away, and I don't want to drive out to go to the gym if I don't need to. My gym is free, just as small, and I can walk to it from my room. Still, I pay $40 a month, an extra $25 if they bill me without enough money in my account (its billing to a debit card). This is the last month I have to pay though, so afterwards...I'm free! The funny part about all this is that I will be paying about that for the new memberships I want to take up - Adobe Premiere and a Tanning Salon chain (both monthly billings). Both...very different things, I know.

If you are going to join a gym, just be sure to read the fine print. Working out is great, but why the hell do we need to pay so much for it? Trainers, classes, memberships...it is all a little much for me. Some people really need that extra push though, and I will say that I am more on top of my work out game when I'm at the gym with other people around. We all motivate each other, and that's great! So...just be careful about what you sign your name on and kick some butt out there!

Love,

Glimmer