WANTED: a Good Gym!

There's a few requirements that every gym should meet, yet in my experience, some gyms fall short of these very basic things, and this ultimately puts me off from becoming a member.

I've only actually been a regular gym attender since late May - beforehand, I chose to run outdoors and I attended group exercise classes instead. I guess you could say I was a bit of an anti-gym kind of person, as I considered it far too pricey and almost intimidating to become a regular gym-goer (sad, huh?).

However, moving back home from university meant that I could no longer rely on my beloved group exercise classes (an average week consisted of circuits, pilates, dance aerobics, and legs, bums and tums - how I miss these classes!), for which I paid a measley, student-savvy 8.50/month(!). And so, my ventures into becoming a fully-fledged Gym member began.

I started out at the Olympiad gym in Chippenham for a couple of months, the same gym that my boyfriend had already been a member of for the past 1-2 years. This was a good gym for a few reasons: it wasn't too big (or small), it had mirrors, it was modern and had suitable air-conditioning, the machines were great, you could watch the TV if you so wished (music channels tended to provide motivational imagery along the lines of perfectly-sculpted women writhing around the screen - always a good reason to work out harder, no?), and windows offering a view of the park, essential for distracting myself whilst pounding the treadmill.

Since my boyfriend moved out of Chippenham, we've tried a few other gyms that just haven't been up to scratch. The first should have been excellent, but was the equivalent of an ice room and was also too big and too quiet - call me egocentric (I am definitely not, fyi! Don't get me wrong!), but I like to be surrounded by people whilst I'm working out, whether it's to see what others are doing or just to be in an environment whereby everyone is pushing themselves, I think it generally makes me work out harder.

The next gym was too cold (not temperature-wise this time) and factory-like. It offered basic equipment and machines for a basic price, so for some people it is completely suitable. However, my boyfriend complained about the lack of mirrors (also egocentric, apparently!) - and so it was on to the next one.

We attended a local bodybuilding gym a couple of days ago, an 80's-throwback style of gym, complete with floral curtains upstairs in the cardio room and various old posters of ripped male and female bodybuilders scattered around the walls. Equipment also appeared to be from the 80s! It wasn't worth the 25pound/month price, that's for sure.

And so the conclusion prevails; until a move back to Chippenham (and thus the Olympiad) is more prominently on the horizon, I will make do with the free kind of gym: exercise DVDs, home equipment, and fresh air/pavements.

A boring post to say the least, sorry guys and gals!