Gold’s. Yeah the Gym. And Me. Wow, right?

Gold’s 2x a week – By some amazing stroke of luck I was able to score an annual membership GC for Gold’s Gym which I am promptly using 2x a week. Gold’s is amazing, especially when coming from this:

Don’t knock it though. From that lowly garage I turned out pretty ok. It’s just the space is tight and of course, everything stops when the car is there.

I was hoping to post pics of Gold’s to compare that against, but I don’t even wanna try taking a pic inside. Like most ‘serious’ gyms it has a ‘sacred’ feel to it, with people not paying any mind to one another and trying to completely concentrate on what the hell they’re doing.

I’ve avoided the constant come ons by the staff to get me to hire a personal trainer, which I would, really, if I had the extra dough, but I’ll pass at the moment. I’ve devised a kind of ‘all around’ program starting with 10 mins. treadmill (not running, just walking fast up a 9 degree incline), then upper body stuff, then 10 mins at a bike, then mid section stuff, then finally another 10 minutes at either the bike or a treadmill, then lower body stuff. Then it’s the sauna, the showers, then get out of there by 8 – 830 (I’m there by 630 or 7am) before the crowd starts.

Some observations:

  • A trainer taught me how to work the treadmills but I’ll be damned if anyone understands that hella complicated piece of (obviously expensive) machinery. You can program that thing with your weight, age, horoscope and favorite post-modern novelist. It even has a fan and the only thing missing is a place to put your beer on and an ashtray.

    I’m pretty wowed really, and would probably try all the fancy stuff if I didn’t feel like a tool so much everytime I try to program it.

  • People trying to work out with iPods is an accident waiting to happen. Those Nautilus machines are complicated feats of precise engineering with tons of moving parts and I can’t imagine what’d happen if someone’s wires get caught in a part or two. Personal music really won’t work unless you go bluetooth or something. Anything with wires near a Nautilus is scary in my book.
  • The sauna is what I’d imagine hell like to be on Earth. I didn’t last 10 seconds the first time and the second time, I made sure to take a shower at super hot temperature first to prepare myself, but even then I didn’t last a minute. Those movie scenes where you have people talking leisurely in a sauna is impossible here. Here, you’ll need an oxygen tank if you think you can breathe let alone talk. But honestly, I got the hang of it by the 3rd time, by developing the technique of sitting near the floor, where the air is cooler and more breathable. The higher you sit the hotter it is. It’s so hot, you’re still sweating hours after. Seriously.

I then enjoy the leisurely drive home drinking some juice while the opposite direction is packed with cars at a standstill from the daily jam. Heck I enjoy the drive going there while the sun’s coming up.

I look forward to it constantly and I can’t wait to start with the free weights. I need help though, but I really wish the trainers would stop (subtly or otherwise) hinting at a personal trainer program. Just teach me because I wanna be taught please, and I’ll hire you when I earn enough to pay you, especially with something like free weights – which needs guidance.

I don’t wanna go that alone, because its scary with my bad back and bum left knee. I feel so strongly about that so much so that I’ve been sticking with the Nautilus machines, which are great, especially at isolating the muscle you wanna develop, but I’m a free weights guy and I miss it.

Anyway, that’s it. If I had lived nearer it, I’d probably be there right now, figuring out the treadmill or dealing with the sauna. As a result I feel much lighter, I don’t get as much headaches, I bound up the stairs two at a time and feel generally better about myself and my outlook about life, and even the heat is easier to bear – all of which are good enough reasons to keep it up I think.

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