Gymbo, the Re-Boot

Let's not beat around the bush; the last eight years have been up-and-down for me on my fitness journey. For starters, eight years ago today, I closed on Casa Meg, and started the (Wild and Absolutely True) process of making it livable. Since July 28, 2016, I have:

1. Had the craziness of buying my first home. My running took a big hit as I got used to a new neighborhood.
2. A year later, the craziness of my mom's cancer diagnosis, and the following months of supporting her.
3. A year after that, Mom passed away, starting off about a year that is mostly kind of a blur. Grief is weird. 
4. Just as I started to come back to some semblance of normal, BOOM! A pandemic.
5. Let's face it, the whole of the year 2020.

Things have more or less leveled out since then, but with all the wild life changes, other things suffered. 

I worked out with Kay for a while, online, but an eight-hour time difference and his own life stuff have made that harder and harder. If I've learned anything, I need a coach in my corner, and while Kay is happy to cheer me on in our WhatsApp conversations, it's not the same as having people in person who are glad to see you walk into the gym. 

Add to all of this the fact that 24 Hour Fitness, never the fanciest gym, has gone very, very downhill, and I have struggled to be the gymbo I once was. I have two clubs that are convenient to me:

• The Antelope club, pretty much right across the street from my condo complex, but very understaffed--only two personal trainers, very little desk staff. People do not re-rack their weights, do not clean equipment after use, and a person can walk into the gym and not have one person look at or speak to them the entire time. Look, I don't need a parade for showing up at the gym, but a greeting at the door is nice?
• The Fulton/Hurley club, within a mile of my school and perfect for days I have to stay for a school event and such. Also understaffed, never clean, and equipment constantly not broken. The leg press machine was out of order for a month. Toilets regularly out of order. Dirty locker room (I once found a used tampon in a shower stall). 

With the dirtiness, broken equipment, and dude bros never picking up after themselves, I just find 24 Hour to be an absolutely depressing place to go. I thought about buying some training again to motivate myself, but the only gym with enough trainers to really choose from is about five miles out of my way.

But I miss working out! I have some equipment here at home, but not enough to make big growth and gains. Something needed changing.

I did a simple search for local gyms on the Maps app on my phone. One that came up is a small, privately-owned gym about five miles from here, in Roseville. It's easy to get to (minimal traffic, on a couple of small back roads). And for $100 a month, I have unlimited classes and free gym time. 

So a few weeks ago, I drove over one morning to check it out, and met the owner, Fred. He was very welcoming and I explained that I'm really just looking for a place where I feel welcome, that is clean, well-maintained. I immediately got the sense that this is exactly what he wants for his gym members. He walked me through a basic workout, and immediately said, "Ahh, you know what you're doing!" 

I do know what I'm doing. But I also really like walking in and seeing familiar faces (I've already started recognizing some faces, and the place is never crowded), and getting a cheerful greeting. I can ask Fred for help adjusting a machine, or a spot on the chest press, and he is totally happy to assist. But he's also happy to let me do what I feel I need to do.

So far, I've mostly attended the classes, and only done one self-guided workout on a morning he was out of town (members can access the gym, and there's almost always someone there). The classes are great--full-body workouts, at your own pace, with plenty of variations. Can't do a Bulgarian Split Squat? Do regular lunges instead. 

Last week, chatting with him before I left, I said to Fred, "I'm actually jazzed to come here." I'm not bullshitting him. The place is well-maintained, has every type of equipment you could need, and he keeps ample bottles of cleaner and rags around--and people USE them. He has a water cooler, keeps a box of tissue, a cup full of hair ties. It's the little things, along with the upkeep of the place, that make it so easy to work out there. 

Even better, like I mentioned, I've already met a few people who come to certain classes that we are on a know-your-name basis, and we can encourage each other. One is another Antelope resident who is also a music teacher! 

In a few short weeks, I've been seeing some steady gains in the weights I'm lifting. I'm feeling great, and I'm enjoying the workouts, which take me anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. This coming week I'm going back in to school, so I'll be switching to the evening classes--some run by Fred, others by another trainer who is also really great. 

The best part is I know I'll make the switch from morning back to evening workouts just fine, because I've started building a community that will encourage me, and not let me give up on my goals. How great is that?