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The 24 hour fitness ethos

I think i was 14 years old when i built my first dumbbells. It was made out of two old cans of powdered milk (filled with cement and rocks for weight) and an iron bar obtained from a junk yard. It was actually pretty creative, except the weight was a little uneven lol. I was a tall and lanky kid so i thought i'd bulk up a little. This lopsided creation would commence what has become somewhat of a really lazy passion of mine. Working out...

Years & years later my rudimentary milk-can dumbbells had evolved into the vast and ever-growing 24 Hour Fitness gym. In fact, its getting too crowded for me. More on this later... Aside from dumbbells and bench presses, basketball has also been a big part of not only my workout regimen but of my life. My age is advancing now and my love for the game has not receded even a tad bit. I still play every weekend and recently, on Thursday evenings. I don't really consider Snowboarding a true workout, but lets throw that in there for the heck of it. Additionally, Mountain Biking has practically taken the place of my weekly treadmill session, i feel that it is more strenuous and not to mention, more fun anyway.

I wish 24 Hour Fitness were more like the ubiquitous Starbucks though. If there were more than just one gym per 30 square miles around here (at least it seems like it), it would certainly make working out a bit less cramped and much less stressful (not to mention convenient). While it is generally encouraging to see more and more people joining the active workout community, the influx is becoming a bit of a bother. Never in my many years of going to the gym had i shared a Bench Press with someone, at least not at 10:30 PM. That has never happened! I mean, it is precisely why i go so late in the evening, because i just don't like to share equipment. For one thing, some people have hygiene issues. Something no one likes to deal with obviously. Secondly, i hate that feeling of being rushed because someone's gotta use the damn bench after me. That tends to screw-up my pace, thus effectively thwarting my regimen (well just about...). But what i despise the most is having to sit around twiddling my thumb waiting for equipment to free up. Which has been the case as of late. Waiting is not only annoying, its downright stupid sometimes... Who the hell wants to spend two hours at the gym?

That fateful night bore an epiphany. Why must i endure this bothersome gym, i asked myself. Is it really worth the wait? Sure, if i had no other choice. But the reality is, i dislike going to the gym at obscure hours of the night (sometimes morning...) but it is the best time to go, crowd-wise. It's the only reason why i had been able to endure it. But like i said, it has been almost unbearable as of late and driving to Simi Valley (28 miles one way) is not a real option for me (i already drive far enough to work as it is). Screw this, i told myself...

Another reality is that i am paying $24 a month for a service i don't necessarily use frequently enough (just once a week). It is relatively cheap if you think about it because it works out to be about $6 per use (for me). Or less than a dollar a day for the membership. Considering it is open 24 hours a day, thereby, members can theoretically go when they please or whenever the urge hits them, it's really not so bad, is it? For me though, they might as well open after 10 PM because that is the only time i will ever go. I have gone before on a whim but that has not happened in a couple of years. You might say i have trained myself to go late at night, and that's not because it is the ideal time to workout, mind you. It's because of that damn over crowding lol. So it seems i won't be going to the gym on a regular basis anymore, unless i guess i decide to up it to around 11ish. And i don't foresee that happening...

So what's this all mean? Well it certainly doesn't mean i am tossing my workout regimen out of the gym door. Fortunately enough, I do not feel that working out is a chore so i will continue on steadfastly. I've decided to start working-out out of my own in-house gym. Sounds cool, doesn't it? Besides i only use three things at the gym and $24 a month hardly justifies it... I mean, why not? I'm paying close to $300 annually, why not invest that in dumbbells etcetera instead? I'm certainly not going to miss the jam packed gym in squalid Panorama City and the late night showers. And since i already get a good dose of cardiovascular exercise from basketball and mountain biking (and the occasional treadmill now...), my focus is on free weights...

For now i've only got the dumbbells and additional weight plates, but i'll have the rest of the equipment soon enough.

Posted by: Marc Gabay
Wednesday, July 25, 2007