How to Find a Good Gym That Suits your Needs
During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people struggled with weight gain from l ack of exercise. Some of those who exercised at home lacked enough motivation to work out properly. However, the world is slowly resuming to the norm, and now you can get a gym membership and commit to a life of good health.
The best thing about exercising in a gym is getting a personal trainer who helps you attain your exercise goals and keeps you motivated to stay on track. However, there is a lot you should consider when finding a good gym that suits your needs, besides getting recommendations from friends or checking out reviews online. Here are some tips on how to find a good gym for your workout routine.
1. Gym Flooring
The first tip on how to find a good gym is to check out the quality of the gym flooring. High-quality gym flooring is critical for your safety and performance. The aesthetic value of the floor also contributes to your health and well-being by providing you with a comfortable feeling while you work out.
Consider gym facilities with high-quality athletic flooring that provides excellent shock absorbance and resilience to prevent you from sustaining an injury in case of an accident. Suitable gym flooring is also relatively easy to clean and maintain, so avoid settling for gym facilities with stained floors because they may not provide you with the proper hygiene or comfort.
Check whether the flooring is comfortable for aerobics and resilient enough for weight lifting, especially if your workout routine entails plenty of weight lifts. A suitable gym flooring should have at least the basic athletic surfaces- rubber, urethane, and vinyl. If your workout routine requires you to spend much of your time in aerobics studios, weight rooms, and fitness centers, check whether the gym floor is rubber.
Urethane is also a good flooring material because it can be used for various athletic activities. It’s easy to clean and also quite durable, so you don’t need to worry about being asked to cancel your membership along the journey due to renovations. If you engage in exercises that require great flexibility, this gym flooring would be ideal. It is water-resistant and can withstand different weights.
2. AC or a Non-AC Gym
The second tip on how to find a good gym is to consider whether the gym has AC or not. Your choice should wholly depend on your workout goals. A gym with air conditioning is good if you want to lose weight but don’t necessarily want to build your strength.
Many weight loss trainers agree that air conditioning does not negatively affect muscle build-up or the rate of calorie loss. If weight loss is your goal, you should therefore look for a gym facility that swiftly does air conditioning repair whenever a problem occurs to prevent weight loss setbacks.
However, if you want to build strength, you need to let the body get used to humid and hot environments that will enable you to build endurance and stamina. An environment with air conditioning might make you tire quickly and prevent you from creating the necessary endurance for various physical activities.
Advantages of a gym with air conditioning include a comfortable and conducive environment that allows you to do as much work out as you need, an environment that allows the body to cool much faster after heavy workouts, and fewer body cramps.
Advantages of a non-ac gym include: More toxins are removed from the body through sweat, a better environment for doing cardio, and minimal sore muscles because the environment requires constant warm-ups.
3. Swimming Sessions
The third tip on how to find a good gym is to find out whether the gym membership includes swimming sessions. If you love swimming, you might want to join a gymnasium that allows you to have a few swimming sessions a week.
Swimming is a good sport, especially for people who want to lose excess weight. A few swimming sessions a week will allow you to cool off your body on a hot day or after an intensive body workout, but it is also an excellent way to relax your body and mind and increase weight loss.
Swimming trainers claim that people who engage in swimming lose as much weight as they would while doing light exercises like morning runs. Swimming is also a great way of exercising if you experience joint aches or have injuries.
You also need to determine whether the gym facility offers swimming sessions if you engage in swimming competitions. Speed, reaction time, and power are essential skills required by sprinters. If you are physically weak and inexperienced to get a good start when your feet leave the swimming starting block, you could harm your body. As a swimmer, you should get a swimming facility with a gym to build your strength and get physically fit for a good start.
4. Adequate Showing Facilities
The fourth tip on how to find a good gym is whether the gym has adequate showering facilities. There is nothing as refreshing as a shower after a hard workout session. However, some gym facilities are overcrowded for one to enjoy the relaxing feel of warm water running over your body after intense exercise sessions.
So, before you settle on a gym facility, ensure that you will not need to wait long hours in line to wash off the salt on your skin. Get membership in a gym with enough showers where you can luxuriate for as long as it is necessary to feel relaxed.
This factor is also quite crucial for your hygiene. Adequate water heating facilities will also allow you to stick to your daily schedule without unnecessarily waiting.
5. Mindfulness and Meditation Centers
The fifth tip to finding a good gym is to check whether it has mindfulness centers for meditation. With the busy daily schedules, sometimes all you want to do is get a quiet place where you can relieve your stress and relax your mind after work as you meditate upon life.
Many gyms realize the importance and value of mental health through meditation lessons. So, when finding a good gym, look for one that offers a few meditation sessions for its members. The ultimate goal of any gym is to enable its members to achieve physical health. However, it may be impossible to attain physical fitness due to depression, stress, or anxiety.
Meditation sessions significantly alleviate these symptoms, making the body more prepared for workout sessions. Moreover, if you want to join a gym club for the first time, you might get intimidated by the competitive atmosphere of most typical gyms. Getting a membership to a gym with mediation sessions allows you to work at your own pace in a relaxed and inviting environment.
6. Gym Promotions and Member Privileges
The sixth tip on finding a good gym that suits your needs is taking advantage of the 7-day gym pass. A 7-day gym pass could allow you to sample the gym’s services before placing substantial financial commitments, especially if you are a new gym user. You can use the 7-day trial to test customer service and equipment quality and survey the gym culture.
While you are at it, take advantage of free promotions like free one-on-one training sessions and gym product giveaways such as health supplements and complimentary meals like seafood or free meal plans or meal planning sessions.
Research shows that consuming food rich in omega-3 fatty acids could help you reduce sore muscles after a heavy workout. They are also low in calories compared to other high-protein foods and have plenty of healthy fats to give customers energy to work out.
Nothing frustrates new gym users than trying to find out what they should do in a gym. Gyms that do not offer newcomers personal training sessions may leave beginners feeling left out and discourage them from continuing with workout sessions.
A good gym will allow new users time to get familiar with the equipment and the environment and advise on meal planning to ensure they take off on the right track. Get membership from a gym with trainers who help you plan your meals according to your exercise needs and weight loss goals from the start. This will help you control your diet and stay accountable for what you eat.
7. An Effective Security System
The seventh tip on how to find a good gym is checking whether the facility is secure enough. Security is another crucial factor to consider before making any long-term commitments, besides having state-of-the-art equipment, excellent customer service, and conducive gym culture.
A good security framework consists of panic buttons around the facility, access controls, and an adequate security surveillance system. Find out whether the gym has enough security cameras within and outside the building. Security cameras are not only necessary for preventing crimes such as theft but also for protection against sex predators and assaulters.
Cameras come in handy, especially in understaffed facilities at night or early in the morning. The extra set of eyes helps keep everyone in the gym face at all times.
Access control systems offer a good way of ensuring that only authorized members and employees can access the facility. Gyms with access control systems give members their card and a unique number, which they use to access different gym parts. This system is also helpful for facilities that offer 24-hour services, especially at night when the gym is not fully staffed. It also eliminates unwanted visits from unauthorized personnel.
You should also ensure that the gym has enough panic buttons that users can press in emergencies. Panic buttons alert emergency authorities as soon as they occur and enable members to get help as soon as possible, especially in restrooms and locker rooms.
8. Ideal Atmosphere and Spacious Gym Layout
The last tip on how to find a good gym is to get one with the perfect real estate. Gone are the days when workout facilities were associated with haphazard layouts, humid atmospheres, and crowded rooms with sweaty stinky users.
So, when choosing a gym, select one with a modern layout with plenty of fresh air that motivates you to keep working out. You should also check the space allocated for each activity. Smaller rooms for yoga and other meditation programs are acceptable if each member has adequate personal space. However, classic gyms should be spacious enough to host bulky equipment like lift chairs and allow trainers and members to maneuver through different zones safely.
The layout should also allow adequate circulation of oxygen. Stuffy gyms could make you tire quickly and cause psychological issues like stress and anxiety, preventing you from achieving your fitness goals.
Lighting is also another essential factor to consider. Yoga and meditation rooms should have bright lights that mimic natural sunlight, while red bulbs could be ideal for high-intensity cycling rooms because they invoke focus and intensity. The classic gym should have plenty of daylight complemented with white lighting.
If you are committed to living a healthy lifestyle, you need to keep fit by exercising regularly. There is no better way to achieve physical fitness than signing up for a gym membership. Exercising at a gym provides you with strength training, weight-loss equipment, and aerobic facilities to achieve mental well-being. You also get help from a personal trainer who helps you create exercise routines and meal plans that best suit your body. I hope that the tips above on how to find a good gym will help you find one that perfectly suits your needs.
