Picking a Gym You'll Actually Go To

Hey Gang,

Choosing the right gym or facility can be difficult, and frankly quite discouraging. It’s hard enough to start a new routine and create healthy habits for yourself, and then adding the stress of finding a location to sweat your face off- not as easy as it seems. I’m super lucky in that I work at a pretty rad place in the Executive, but let’s face it- everyone has different needs and wants within finding the gym that fits.

You aren’t just paying for a gym membership- you are creating accountability for yourself- and it starts with actually liking the place first. In fact, I listened to a podcast the other day (Planet Money), that said that gyms actually count on you NOT going. Huh? Mainly, it’s a number’s game- and if everyone went at the same time, there wouldn’t be enough room for everyone! Well, if you’re reading this, I don’t think you should be part of that equation. Let’s find a place that you like and get you there! Read on:

Type of facility

When you are looking for a place, there are a few options out there that can suit your needs:

Commercial Gym: This type of place has probably has most of the equipment and space you’ll need, but might not have all of it. They may be franchised or privately owned, and may have coaches available to help you out. In terms of exercise, this is the place to go if you just need to use some equipment to lift, run, bike, etc. It’s pretty much a check in, get your stuff done, and make like a tree and leave kind of place.

Studio/Boutique: This type of place would offer a specific service or have a specialty approach- let’s say a bikram yoga studio or a spinning studio. You would go here for a specific event.

Strength and Conditioning Facility: This is very similar to a commercial gym, rather you might find that they specialize in a specific niche. They may have specialized equipment and space to accommodate a variety of activities. In addition, you’ll find highly trained and passionate coaches and because of this, they are more expensive than commercial gyms.

Health Club: Certainly a much broader scope here. They cater to a lot of families and have many more amenities to offer than just the traditional gym environment. Some have a training staff, spas, tennis and basketball courts, child care, etc. Obviously, each place is different, but if you have multiple interests or needs, this would be something to consider.

With that said, I definitely recognize that sometimes there is a grey area within the type of facility you are at. That’s what makes each place kind of cool in their own way. For simplicity’s sake, I kept it to these four. There are tons of other factors to consider. Would you buy a car without doing a bit of research first on the dealer, price, loan interest rate, or service? I’d hope not.

Priorities and Price-point

People say you can’t put a price on health- but for a lot of people that is a real concern. It’s certainly an investment in yourself, but consider what you need and what you’re willing to spend on it without it stressing you out. You may have other financial goals, and might not want the monthly expense. Totally understandable.

So, figure out what kinds of exercise you want to do. Free weights, kettlebells, machines, space? All important considerations. Do you need all of the bells and whistles that a health club provides? No children? You compete in triathlons so you need a track and a pool? It just becomes about what will provide you the best training tools for what you can afford.

Environment

What kind of place do you want to go? Somewhere where people remember your name and a little bit about you? A place that is clean and regularly maintained? Or a place where other people have the same goals, mindset, and attitude as you?

It may seem like I’m the one asking questions here, but these questions are what you should ask yourself. I’ve seen far too many people walk in and out of facilities because it didn’t grab them and hold their attention. Consistency starts with the environment. Story time:

I went home to New York last year during the fall, and a was in the process of training for my marathon. I don’t have a gym back home, and needed somewhere that I could get use a squat rack for a bunch of different lifts. So naturally, I googled myself to Albany Strength, a facility that specializes in powerlifting and olympic lifting. I walked in, on a Saturday at 9am, and there wasn’t many people there. There were a few people warming up, and about 4 open squat racks. Sweet.

The equipment was kind of old; but still functioning fine. It wasn’t the cleanest place. That’s didn’t matter to me, I just needed a place to squat my legs into oblivion. And heck, it was only a 5 dollar guest fee. Now, here’s why it was a really cool, raw, experience.

As I started to train, more and more people started to show up. It was a squat day.

Powerlifters started to get training. As things got going, guys and gals really started to cheer each other on. There was probably 9 or 10 people taking turns squatting. It was fun to watch. So to them, that’s probably just another Saturday. From an outsider’s point of view, I thought, “Wow, it’s pretty cool what they have here.” That’s the kind of encouraging environment that helps foster growth for some people. I’d go back, mainly because of that.

Who are your "people"?

What I mean here, is the “typical member” that would be at the facility. What does the avatar look like? Do you think you’d like hanging out with those people? Is the “Bro Ratio” too high? (FTR: that’s a totally made up term, but if I have to explain it, you’re probably in the right place..) I certainly don’t want to stereotype, but let’s just say there are usually some consistencies.

For example, college gyms have a lot of dudes looking to impress people with biceps and tank tops. Health clubs have a lot of parents who are attempting to restrain their kids. Traditional box gyms have a lot of people on treadmills and doing machine exercises. Yoga studios have a lot of insanely flexible people wearing yoga pants.

Where do you see yourself being most successful, and keeping yourself accountable?

Go there.

Getting Help When You Need It

Since I am a coach myself, I certainly am an advocate for finding a place that has some great coaches or training staff. They are there when you need a little push in the right direction, and help mold a positive environment around you. You may not be the type of person that needs coaching, but it’s nice to have coaches that are willing to help you out if you have a few questions. (Which I always am)

Photo Credit: Got this from the PTDC Instagram page. 

With that said, weighing training options if you have the means can be helpful going into your membership. Semi-Private and Group training is a great model for this- still a good amount of coaching at a reasonable price-point, especially for people just getting out of college who have those student loan billz and whatnot.

Aside from that, I can’t stress enough how important it is to get yourself assessed by a fitness professional so they can guide you on the right path, even if purchasing a training package is not something you see yourself doing. Too many people waste their precious time doing things that will have limited impact on their success. Get started off right!

Pick one already!

So, okay. I gave you a ton of info, do you have somewhere in mind?

No? Consider these other factors:

Driving time- From home and from work.

Small Group or Fitness Class Schedule

Weekend Hours

Busy Times/Your Schedule

Do they give you a free T-Shirt? (joking)

What color are their bumper plates? (still joking)

Are their trainers hawt? (completely kidding, but have you seen our staff? #100doublefireemoji)

Do they have free food? (okay, now I’m serious. I love food.)

Stay fast, Stay strong,

Ryan

Crushing Weights for Endurance Training: Balancing the Equation

In this post, we are talking about how you can optimize your approach to training for an endurance race AND lift heavy things! There are many opinions out there about whether you should- or shouldn’t- do “this” or “that” with regards to resistance training for endurance exercise.

Before we dive in, I want to go over why there is some confusion. For starters, the body uses and creates energy for exercise in a number of different ways. Endurance exercise has the tendency to be more aerobic in nature and utilizes glucose and and stored fat for the majority of the exercise. This would be like running a 5k, doing a Triathlon, or even just walking around the mall. If the intensity is very high, you will burn a bunch more stored carbohydrate to facilitate a higher energy turnover.

Resistance exercise mostly uses a short term system that creates a rapid supply of energy to be used and replenished quickly. With some longer sets, a person may tap into their stored carbohydrate sources and use that for energy. With that said, there are three systems that help your body kick the can at exercise. Obviously, this is more complex and #sciency, but for the purposes of this article, that’s what you need to know.

Additionally, energy systems in the body are not like light switches in a house, where as when you leave a room and enter a new one you turn the lights off and then on. They work together synergistically. Think of them more like a dimmer switch. One system may be brighter at times than others.

So, if these two types of exercise (crushing weights and crushing endurance races) have energy systems on opposite sides of the spectrum, the question becomes, “How can I do both and be healthy, feel great, and get the best possible results?”

What is the main goal right now?

All things considered, the component that should be most prominent in your program is the one that is the specific event or goal you are working towards. For example, if it is an endurance event, then schedule more endurance volume than lifts. If you are trying to add lean muscle and get totally ripped out of your pumpkin pie, emphasize the lifting. If you are trying to create the holy grail (oh lawd) and do both at the same time, then you will need to scale back and focus on balancing it. Just keep in mind, it’s all about understanding that one may impact the other and knowing how to train so your endurance training doesn’t pull from your strength training, and vice versa. 

Here comes the "What if my gainz are ruined by my running/biking/swimming?"

Contrary to: "If I get too big it will hurt my aerobic capacity, therefore my VO2 max will suffer, and I won't be able to shuttle ATP efficien...." yadda yadda yadda. 

Essentially, as long as you are consistent with your training, you can keep your strength AND aerobic fitness . Remember, if balance is what you seek- you probably won't become the strongest person ever as well as the fastest endurance athlete. There is some give and take there. One experience I'll bring up:

After my marathon last year, I was so burnt out, that the idea of running was not my favorite. This is typical. I needed some time off from running, and then slowly got back into it. Meanwhile, I had been continuing to lift, get stronger, and put on size. When I did finally get back into running, it was a Certified Strugglefest. I just hadn't been keeping up with it. The point is, that whatever your current goal is; continue to do some aerobic training on a very basic level so this doesn't happen to you.

Specific Work Capacity

Work capacity is the ability to perform a task for a given period of time. Your main goal needs to make up the bulk of your training so the body can adapt and become better at the task. This will increase efficiency, improve work rate, and help your recovery become quicker. For example, I used to tell people that to get better at building fitness for soccer, you simply need to play a lot of soccer. Now, there's a lot of things that you can do to enhance it, but without the actual training stimulus, you won't get the desired effect. The same is true for endurance training and the same is true for lifting weights.

Applying it to let’s say… a marathon program, resistance training is important for the strength aspect of being able to hold up physically throughout the race. It's a long race- your body is going to get tired. 

But, that doesn’t mean it’s the only thing you should do. You need to get your miles in to build up specific work capacity so your body is able to produce energy for long training sessions. This also will help you become more efficient at creating and using that energy.

On the flip side of the coin, this is also why many endurance athletes completely neglect strength training, and the reason there are many myths out there about it. They want to get better at their sport so why would they do anything else then run, bike, swim, etc. Well, for starters there is strength maintenance. Remember the spectrum from above. If you are really good at creating energy in an aerobic fashion, you might lose some of that strength and power you once had if you don’t keep up with it. Obviously, this doesn’t happen overnight, but there are a lot of other reasons you should add it to your program: enhance your speed, increase your efficiency, and make you less injury prone.

Maximize Recovery and Reduce Unnecessary Stressors

When you are training for a race, it becomes obvious that it takes a toll on your body. You experience physical and mental fatigue, irritability (sorry Meg), have aches and pains, and want to eat everything in sight. The key to executing a solid training program is doing everything you can do in your power to make sure you recover from each workout. This also includes minimizing excess stress on your body. Eating right and hitting your caloric requirement, regeneration work such as foam rolling and stretching, staying hydrated, and getting quality sleep (laying off alcohol too, friends). I can’t emphasize this enough.

If you have things in your life that stress you out and take away from your training, remove them. All of your focus should be on the training process, because it is a long process. Consistency and quality of work adds up over time, and that can be the difference between you feeling awesome the whole race and you having to mentally grind it out instead. I talked about this in another blog post: (Click Here)

Metabolic Cost and Neural Fatigue

Ever wonder why you might be super fatigued one day, and feel like you’re hopped up on Skittles the next? Think of this as a car. You have the engine (the brain), and then all of the moving parts like the wheels, axles, fuel (muscles and stored energy). Sometimes stuff goes wrong with the engine (stress, overtraining, laziness), but then other times it might be a flat tire or you run out of gas (improper nutrition, no warm up, sore from the day before). All of these factors tie into each other, so it is truly a balancing act of work and rest; both for your brain and the rest of your body. 

The key thing here is that certain activities will have a different effect on your body. Metabolic cost refers to the energy that your body burned through: carbs, fats, proteins- they are all calories and your body needs to replace them. Neural fatigue refers to how your brain responds to the training. When you are overloading the muscle, the brain has to work harder neurologically to move the weight. Generally, fast, heavy, and skill oriented movements that require a lot of focus have a tendency to wipe you out. Why? Higher risk and increased stress. 

So: The key for long term progression is making sure you keep those two factors away from each other. Don't expect to lift heavy and run a high threshold tempo back to back. You'll need to space those out a few days from each other so you can recover from each session. You can however, perform lower intensity runs/bikes/lifts in between. 

Streamlining the Plan

Now, I can say all this science jargon and in reality, none of it matters if it doesn’t work for you- the athlete. Figure out how you can apply some of these concepts to your training schedule. You will see improved levels of fatigue resistance, decreased stress, and better performance.

When you are training, sometimes less is more. You don’t have to push yourself to the brink of exhaustion every time you train- you just need to be smart in your approach. Executing a training program can’t be done as if you are competing every day. Learn to accept the process and follow along with small progressions. Hopefully this article has made you realize why you CAN keep strength training while you are training for an endurance race. 

Best,

RY