"Resolution" Crowd at the Gym!
 

I went to the gym during "off" hours today and the place was packed! I never had to wait for a treadmill before. I do realize a lot of people are off work today, I know I am. There's was a line of people buying memberships. And there were 5 new people in my kickboxing class. Are these all New Year's Resolution joiners? I never made the "lose weight/get in shape" resolution before so I don't know.

Its nice to see all these people trying to get in shape, I hope they stick with it! :carrot:

I don't go to a gym, but when ran this morning (at 10am), I kept thinking everyone must be looking at me and thinking I was running because of a New Year's resolution! I wanted a T-shirt that said, "I've been running since August!" :o

Normally I run at about 5:15am, and only a few people are out then, and they've all seen me every M-W-F since August :dizzy:

According to the stats, most will be gone by Valentines :dizzy:

Uggh! I haven't been since NY (working nights so sleeping days) but the thing I noticed last year is that while the treadmills and classes are FULL FULL FULL, the free weights area is still a ghost town during the day. Yay!

So I'll continue to do my cardio on the roads outside (provided the storms stay away) and hit the barbells and dumbells. And like Suzanne says, wait for VD when they'll all be gone.

I remember someone (on here? Can't remember.) relating an anecdote where they were standing in line at the gym counter, and the person in front of them was cancelling their membership after paying for 12 months but only actually going from January to March. She asked what the gym owner called people like her. His answer? "Profit!":lol::lol::lol:

Oh I could have written this post myself. :D I ran at 7am and I saw a few neighbors who normally don't see me running at 5:30 am every morning. I felt like they were thinking "New Year's Resolution Running". Just to make sure they knew I wore my "Kicked Asphalt - Philadelphia 1/2 Marathon" shirt so they knew I wasn't some resolution girl. LOL.

I used to be a die-hard gym goer and I absolutely HATED January. All the resolution folks would be there and sure enough...by Valentine's day they were all gone and it was the regulars once again.

Yeah. I was talking about this exact thing with someone today. :)

There is part of me that feels really bad for saying this ... because ultimately I really really do think it would be great if more people started working out and stuck with it. But honestly ... I wish all the uncommitted newbs would just get off my elliptical, quit hanging around the freeweights with their cute little spandex outfits and no commitment, and get the **** out of my way. *wry smile*

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:rofl:

My gym was closed over New Year's (grrr...), so I haven't been in yet, but all of us regulars were discussing this last week. It's annoying, but the trend for the last two years has been that about 60% are gone by January 15.

It kind of amazes me that people would attempt to begin getting fit by paying out a big chunk of cash to do so, instead of starting with free alternatives, like simply walking or doing body-weight exercises. Or that they actually wait and plan to do this at New Year's. But, I think this is a corollary to the "I can't get in shape until X happens" kind of thinking, too.

Yeah, it was my gym's first day open for the new year and it was pretty busy. I went in early and although I didn't have to wait to use anything, there was still about twice as many people there compared with a normal Saturday.

I am dreading going in on Monday - it'll just be insane after work. Think I'll go first thing instead...

Well, in all fairness, this is what I did. Mostly because I don't really have anyplace that I can walk w/out driving to it first, and secondly because I had no idea WHAT to do for bodyweight exercises. I was seriously clueless. :) Also the idea that if I was spending money on it, I'd actually go because I can't bear to lose the money was a big incentive.

But also keep in mind that a lot of gyms *don't* require a "big chunk of cash". I joined my gym when they were having a special - and by the time i was done negotiating, I had them waive the initiation fee and only pay a $35 processing fee, plus $35 a month with no contract. So ... for me, the incentive of "I have to go becuase I'm paying for it" was huge and it wasn't so much money up front that I would have freaked if I'd decided a gym wasn't for me. :)

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ditto everyone. my gym has been packed these last two days :(

I noticed it right after Christmas. DH and I have pushed our visits back an hour. It thins out after 8 p.m. I shudder to think about going at 5:30.

That doesn't sound so bad in your case, then. But people who pay for a full year and then only go for a couple months...that still boggles my mind!

My gym requires such a financial committment it's called a fitness club. :lol: I can't believe that all of these newcomers suddenly ponied up the money to join, so my guess is that all of these people are paying the dues every month and decided, "I might as well go start using it, if I'm going to pay that much every month!"

Oh crap, I forgot. The roads will be icy in the morning and I only want to do a short run so I was going to gym it, but ugh. The resolution crowd. As Suzanne said, 95% will be gone by V day and usually 75% by 3 weeks. But this week will suck.

My gym actually has stats for monthly attendance and the spike on the graph in January represents 3 times the number of people as February. My fitness classes resume Monday and I am planning to go earlier to make sure I get a spot.

I've just moved house and will be joining my new gym in the next few days, I don't want people thinking I'm just there for a resolution but I guess I'll prove that when I'm still there in a few months. I've never seen the resolution crowd though so maybe I'll play a game in my head of who's not going to be there next month while I'm exercising.

Ditto Julie & Kim. My diehard running partner and I ran NY Day in the early afternoon and there were bunches of people out. I had this strong desire for people to know we've been running for YEARS and this ain't no resolution!

Hehe, I'm glad I wasn't the only one! I felt kinda silly :o

So I couldn't sleep this morning and was at the gym when it opened at 7. The crowd was very light, save for the spin class crowd (such a rowdy bunch;))

DH just returned and he said it was packed and he was glad he went for a run before that because there wasn't an available cardio machine to be found.

I don't mind going early in the morning or late at night, but DH hates it. I think for the next couple of months he will see it my way!

WOW Chicks! I was going to go to the gym in a few minutes.. I hope it's not that packed! I haven't been to the gym for a few days I've just been working out at home and riding my new bike (mobile not stationary)! Now I'm kind of dreading going.

I confess though I worked out New Years Eve and had saved some calories so I could have a beer... I decided I wanted chocolate more! I had a piece of chocolate and went to bed at 12:15 Then I worked out on New Years day too!

You should have seen me today. I bought a treadmill even though I swore I never would but my gym closed when it was too icy to run outside so desperate times. Damn I wanted to march around the store with my Marathon finisher shirt to "prove" this wasnt a resolution sale.

I'm just back from the gym and I have to share this.

There was a guy there, haven't seen him there before and he had the speed on the treadmill set at insanely fast. I mean, the belt was travelling so fast it made me dizzy. He would run for about 10 seconds, feel himself sliding off the end and then hop on the sides of the treadmill for around 40 seconds. And he did this for at least half an hour. I didn't know whether to get a trainer or not, probably should've...

My Zumba class was packed today as well. I did not even think about people with New Year's resolutions, but that definitely explain it.
I will do my lifting very early tomorrow morning - most people like to sleep in on Sundays.

The Bally's I usually attend was packed today too. A lot of people I don't normally see in there...

Yes, Yes! My gym was packed today around noon hour. I had no elliptical cross-trainers so I had to settle for a treadmill. I hope the new year's rush dies out soon. :)

That's good to know. I am having to take a month off from my GYM because Dude needs my car, so I'll be working out here @ home. It's good to know that most of the newbs will be gone when I return! :p

I feel the same way! I don't go all dressed in cute Spandex myself, it's always sweats and tee shirts. I leave with my hair a mess and all red and sweaty. Some of the beauty queens in their cute Spandex don't even break a sweat. What's that all about????:dizzy:

One of my favorite posts in the discussion forum at the triathlon site I frequent is about this very thing. I love it, and I'll quote it here.

Doesn't it make you want to go hug a newbie? :)

Great post!

I have to admit, when I go to my condo gym, I see people there who really don't know what they're doing. Sometimes I offer to help. Really, I want *more* people to workout and be fit, right? So helping them is the best way to achieve that. Don't just hug a newbie, help a newbie! :D

...Though I might not help a newbie at my super-cool mid-town gym where we all pretend we know exactly what we're doing and don't make eye contact. :cool:

Tyler Durden, I tried very hard to remember your post as I ventured to the gym today, the first Sunday after New Year's. Boy, did I try.

And I did pretty good and felt pretty good (the gym was PACKED), but there were still some observations, and yes, some "ticks":
Observations:
-an unusual amount of men wearing swim trunks.
-the median gym-goer age was noticeably higher (which I thought was great, actually)
and the big one.... I was on the elliptical for 45 minutes. In that time 7 people got on (and off) the elliptical next to me. I thought maybe I had some funk, but DH confirmed that I was smellin' fresh.

And the ticks:
-Now, I am fully aware of how difficult it is to exercise when you're out of shape, but I couldn't help but notice a high frequency of users on the treadmills who were walking at a snails pace and not breaking a sweat. I would probably quit in 6 weeks, too, if I spent 2 hours at the gym everyday and wasn't seeing results (due to inefficient exercising).
-There was "stuff" everywhere. Draped across the carpet and on cardio machine (much like many folk's home machines :chin:)
So it did give me something to think about. I realized that people really are motivated and that's awesome, but I think the high failure rate is due to the lack of direction. The trainer on duty "assured" me that everything would be "back to normal" by mid-February, but I couldn't help but think if these "newbies" had some direction and assistance from the staff, that mid-winter drop off wouldn't be so severe?

In the meantime, I'm sticking to my late week nights.

So my long term running buddy and I decided to throw in some sprint intervals during our 7 mile run yesterday.

OMG! I thought I was going to barf/die/keel over/someone please call an ambulance!!

Nothing like some sprints to reminds oneself that one is not exactly the cats' meow one thought one was. :) Yea, I am a resolutioner---resolving to do more intervals and nearly collapsing with the effort!!

Well I'm glad you didn't collapse! And WTG for trying! That's awesome! I don't really mind the newbs too much. I am always nice to everyone @ my little Hole in the wall GYM. I show them how to turn on and program the machines and whatnot because we don't have staff and trainers there to show anyone unless you ask (which is what I did when I was a newb a year ago), and usually the newbs will try, fail, give up and come slinking back a few minutes later to try again...that's when I offer my assistance. :)

I did indeed go to the gym, but mine wasn't packed at all! However the guy at the desk (Who I had never seen) said to me, "you're brand new are you?" I tried to be friendly, but I was a bit offended LOL. I've been going to that gym since August.

We joined a new gym in December so we look like resolution members (hubby heard someone call them that tonight). But actually I've been at this for 15 months with some needed breaks in between. We did have a membership at the YMCA but we gave that up in the summer because we were doing so many renovations on the house we didn't need it and we could exercise in other ways. So, now were at the healthplex connected to the hospital. I am glad to hear it thins out in February. I didn't get to the cardio/weight room today but hubby said it was PACKED. The pool area wasn't full at all though. We have a track so I can walk or jog even if all the machines are full but I would like as few people watching me as possible. :D

The parking lot at my gym is packed constantly, I have gone at every imaginable time of day and even at 1-3 pm when its usually dead its been packed. The walk from the parking lot to the door is a hike now, its insane. However, there a lot of fresh faces and people working hard so it is very inspiring. I hope as many as possible are able to stick it out.

Ditto on everything! My gym has been packed! I talked to the guy at the front desk yesterday and he said on Monday they had 18 new members that day. That's a lot (my gym is on the smaller size). I'm going to spin class tonight, gonna get there early!

ROFL, Julie. I have had these same thoughts since New Years every morning when I run! I usually run early morning too (5:30 or 6) but today I had to go at 9. I have not seen that many "new" runners or walker out though. My guess is they are all at the gym.

ETA: I see your weight is still going, going, going! Awesome for you. Maybe someday I will catch up--(Sigh) once you hit goal and stop going down!

I was at the gym in this same situation. I had no idea what to do. The guy would hop on to the treadmill going at an insane speed and then hop off, all while grunting and being very very loud (i guess to motivate himself?). anyway, he was in front of me (I was on the elliptical). well, about the third time he hopped on, he tripped up and landed face down! I felt so bad for him(he was Okay, thank god) .
but, the next time I saw him on the treadmill he wasn't hopping on and off...

It was really busy at my gym on Monday too!! Will see about today - I joined in December (I had 2 goals, 1 to join a gym and 2 to meet more people - plus is is COLD and icy here, so indoor exercise is easier) We will see how long they all last.

I hope they all last. I want good health not only for myself but all those around me, including you.