I really tried to make the gym I joined in April work. But it just never right and I never developed a steady routine. It was always difficult getting to it after work and it was always a problem getting stuck in rush hour work traffic if I went in the morning.
My life has changed a lot – the time I used to spend at the gym has suddenly got more scarce. So I have had to work smarter to develop a routine.
The council run gym was 4 miles from where I lived and in the old days when I had lots of time I would have been getting up early on Saturday to run the four miles, then do a two hour gym session followed by running the four miles back!
The best I managed was a 3/4 time a week routine for a month, but it did not last. The gym was okay at best, but quiet expensive for what you got as it had a big swimming pool which I never used to maintain.
I decided it was not worth the money and so I began looking elsewhere.
As I have started stepping up my running for the Spartan Beast I have been running from the outskirts of the city centre into work – twice a day. During this journey I have ran past a 24 hour gym about half mile from where I work.
This was not the 24 hour gym I refer to in my other post, but another one (apparently 24 hour gyms are quiet normal in a city centre?)
When I was at my fitness peak I benefited fro having a gym on the doorstop where I worked – that meant I could go before, during or after work – it all depended how I felt that day. It is a lot easier walking to a gym down the road than having to fight your way through rush hour traffic after a tough day at work.
The council gym didn’t open till 7am, so it was always a rush getting into work and it always suffered from the early morning crowd all eager to have a quick session before work. A big appeal was having the flexibility of when I could go training.
After having a meeting in the same building the 24 hour gym was located I walked in and made a purchase of a 1 year gym membership! The membership was £10 cheaper as there was no big expensive pool to maintain.
1st Day back training
This morning I had my first workout – not the best idea as I had been to a wedding the night before but thought I should start as I mean to go on. So I parked on the outskirts of Leeds and ran to the gym.
The benefit of the gym is that it had some of my old favourites such as battle ropes. The downside was that the medicine balls weren’t heavy enough! Never mind its good enough.
I don’t know if it was from running to the gym or having a late night but it was really hard – my frustration is always going to be that I am not as good as I used to be. But the only way to beat that is to maintain a constant training schedule.
Another benefit was the space of the free weights area – there was plenty of space and not too many people training (I imagine being open 24 hours means that the insane 5/6am weight training crowd can get in!)
This membership is for a year, so this time I have no choice but to make the best of it.. I am determined to get back in my old ‘Spartan’ shape.
All the best – James
Perfect Manifesto 