One of the most important factors in determining the best fitness centers for you is to make sure it is close enough for you to go frequently; therefore, either close to home or work. So before using the checklist below make sure you have an idea of your weekly workout schedule. will the fitness center be close at hand when you go to use it. The evaluation form below is made to be printed out. If you know of other things you want just add them to the list. Take the chart with you as you rate the various fitness clubs.
If printing from pdf is easier, use this form to determine the
best fitness centers for you.
Fitness Center Evaluation Checklist
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Facility 4 |
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Physical condition: Is the facility and equipment neat and clean? |
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Time: Is the Facility open when you can go? |
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Crowded: Is there plenty of showers, lockers, courts tracks, equipment? |
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Air: Is the temperature and ventilation conducive for exercise? |
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Training: Are programs offered that educate one in how to exercise? |
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Special Programs: Are there special courses in weight loss, health…? |
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Staff: Are some of the staff certified? Are they friendly? Are they role models? |
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Cost: How much? Are there hidden costs? Are there contracts? |
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Safety: Do the trainers emphasize safety? Are there written procedures? |
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Encouragement and Support: Is there friendly competition? Are there teams? Are awards given? |
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I prefer to workout at home, but in order to get a good workout, I have to know what I am doing. I have to have a plan. I have to do something I love. I love what Mike Geary has to say about exercise:
The Best Fitness Centers may be
the Workouts you do at Home or the Office
by
Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
Author
- The
Truth About Six Pack Abs
Before you spend your money on what you think is the best fitness center, remember that you will save a lot of time if you can work at the home or office.
Warning: this style of workout is WAY different than anything you've ever tried before and may result in a dramatically leaner, stronger body so that your friends will no longer recognize you in a matter of weeks!
Alright, I exaggerated about your friends recognizing you, but this workout is still great for busy people that always use the excuse that they don't have time to go to the gym, or even for the normal gym rat to try out for a few weeks to break out of a plateau.
Please keep an open-mind and don't worry so much about what other people think, because this is quite different and you may get some funny looks, but you'll get the last laugh with your new rock hard body! To be honest, most people are too self conscious to try something like this. If that's the case for you, then that's your loss.
Here's how it works (these workouts can be done at home or even in your office):
Instead of doing your traditional workouts of going to the gym 3-4 times a week and doing your normal weight training and cardio routines for 45-60 minutes at a shot... with this program, you will be working out for just a couple minutes at a time, several times throughout each day, 5 days/week.
The program will consist of only bodyweight exercises done for about 2-3 minutes, 6-8 times per day, throughout each day. Now obviously if you work a normal office job, you are going to have to not be shy about doing a few exercises in your office and having your cube-mates watch you. Actually, I've found that some people that have tried this have actually gotten their co-workers to join them!
If you have a private office, then you don't have to worry about anybody watching you. If you work from home, or are a stay at home mom, there's no reason you can't fit these in throughout the day while at home. If you end up having a busy day with meetings and so forth, and can only fit a couple of these 2-minute workouts in, then so be it, but try to get as many done each day as you can.
If you're on a normal 9-5 office schedule, I recommend doing your 2-minute workouts every hour, on the hour, with the exception of lunch. For example, you could try 9 am, 10 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm, and 4 pm.
Some of the bodyweight exercises that are the best to focus on are:
This list is not fully comprehensive, but I wanted to keep it relatively simple. If you know other good bodyweight exercises, you can add those to your routine also. If you want to keep it real simple and don't want to get down on the floor for anything, you can stick to squats, lunges, and pushups and still get great results.
The good thing about these workouts is that you do enough in 2-3 minutes to get your blood pumping, heart rate up a bit, a large portion of your body's muscles worked, and body temperature raised. However, it's usually not enough to break a sweat in only 2 or 3 minutes, so you don't have to worry about sweating in the office or where ever you may be. At most, you might just get a little moist on the skin.
Here's an example workout routine at home or the office (adjust the reps up or down based on your capabilities):
Mon/Wed/Fri
9 am - 10
pushups/15 bodyweight squats, repeat 1X for 2 sets
10 am -
plank holds (hold the planks as long as you can taking short rest
breaks for a total of 3 minutes)
11 am - 5 pushups/10
bodyweight squats, repeat for 4 sets
1 pm - plank holds (hold
as long as possible in 3 minutes)
2 pm - 8 pushups/12
bodyweight squats, repeat for 3 sets
3 pm - plank holds (hold
as long as possible in 3 minutes)
4 pm - max pushups/max
bodyweight squats in one set (no repeat)
Tues/Thurs
9 am - 6 fwd
lunges each leg/6 rev lunges, repeat 1X for 2 sets
10 am - one
legged bw Romanian deadlifts (RDL) 6 each leg/floor abs for 20 sec,
repeat 1X for 2 sets
11 am - 3 fwd lunges each leg/3 rev
lunges, repeat for 4 sets
1 pm - one legged bw RDL 3 each
leg/floor abs for 20 sec, repeat for 4 sets
2 pm - 5 fwd
lunges each leg/5 rev lunges, repeat for 3 sets
3 pm - one
legged bw RDL 10 each leg/floor abs for 30 sec (no repeat)
4
pm - max fwd lunges each leg/max rev lunges in one set (no repeat)
In order to progress on these workouts, you could either add 1 or 2 reps to each set per week, or you could progress to more difficult versions of each exercise each week (for example, close grip pushups, one leg raised pushups, squats with arms raised straight over head, etc.).
The above routines are just a couple examples of how you can use this very unique style of training. Use your creativity and come up with your own. Think about what you've accomplished with these "mini" workouts completed throughout each day... You've increased your heart rate and pumped up your muscles 6-8 different times throughout each day, burning a lot of extra calories and stimulating your metabolism.
Even though each "mini" workout was a very short duration, you've accumulated lots of repetitions for almost every muscle throughout your entire body, and you didn't even have to break a sweat during any of the "mini" workouts. And there's hardly any excuse for not being able to take a 2-minute break once per hour and do a couple of exercises.
Another benefit of this style of training is that now you don't have to devote any time before or after work to going to the gym because you already got your workouts little by little throughout the day. You've now got some extra free time on your hands!
Try this type of time-efficient workout routine out for 3-4 weeks and then go back to your normal gym routines. I think you'll find that it was a great way to break out of a plateau and stimulate new results in your body. You can try mixing in a cycle of these "mini" workouts every couple of months to keep things fresh.
Keep in mind that this is only one method of training and doesn't mean that you should only stick to this method for eternity. You will hit a plateau on any given training method, so I'd recommend just rotating it into your arsenal of various training methods. And by all means, don't worry so much about what other people think...have the courage to try something a little different. In the end, you'll be the one laughing back at all of the "blubber-bellies" at your office that are giving you funny looks while they eat their donuts!
Is it posable that the best fitness center is the one that is in your home?