Fitness Thread

[Sten Guns]

In this case the fault is with the gym.

 

Is it the one at Ocean T? They've got plenty of space but they squander it with loads of cross-trainers and bikes. Pandering to middle-aged women as always.

 

My gym is about the third the size but has two racks and three smith machines and as I live next door, I can go at the quietest times. I hope my next one serves me as well as this one has.

 

Agreed.

 

And they just spent the rest of their budget on more kettlebells.

 

 

Give us free weight space and more racks / bars.

 

PLEASE!!!!

[The People's Chimp]

It's not so much middle aged women as women generally - don't see many middle aged women at pure in glasgow anyway, but loads of younger women and they do tend to love the cross trainers etc. Definitely more girls hitting the weights though. :pinilla:

 

They have also spent a bit on kettlebells but just got a whole load of new dumb bells in, which is decent. They could easily sack off all the cardio machines they have downstairs and put in more free weights and racks, and you'd still have more than enough machines to go round.

Edited December 20, 2013 by The People's Chimp

[djf]

Can't understand why with a good selection of gyms in Edinburgh the reason anyone chooses to train somewhere with one rack and one smith machine. Maybe just been lucky with my circumstances but i've been training for a decade plus in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling and I think i've had to wait an irritating amount of time for a rack once in my puff. And that was just because I was stupid enough to go at peak time.

 

For something that is a decent chunk of expenditure (hundreds of quid a year) some people are really unpicky about where they sign up.

 

My current gym is a 20 minute drive away but i'd train there any day over the cardio heaven place that is within walking distance of my house.

[djf]

Not had an "arm day" in years.

 

Wee bit bi's at end of back and tri's at end of chest.

 

A session without compound lifts? Yawn.

 

This was me for long enough but i've recently started throwing in a dedicated day for arms and it's quickly became my favourite day after back. Training arms with no prior fatigue is a strange feeling and it definitely takes a going to feel you've put a decent work out in but i've seen pretty good results.

[JamboUpNorth]

Seen earlier there was talk of songs to listen too...

Daft punk - one more time

Avicii - levels

Flo rida - good feeling

Always really help me! (Obvious reasons apply)

[Konrad von Carstein]

The Lifters moaning about Gym's catering to their main market (ie not serious Lifters)

[djf]

The Lifters moaning about Gym's catering to their main market (ie not serious Lifters)

 

You say that as if most gym managers / programmers are the brightest bulbs around

 

Most are reactive to a fault and most gyms reflect this. The latter half of 2013 has seen a huge upsurge in female weightlifting but how many gyms have you seen recently that have even paid lip service to it?

 

A lot of gyms seem to go on the basis of what is the highest amount of cross trainers we can squeeze in and lets pray for a successful January.

[Konrad von Carstein]

You say that as if most gym managers / programmers are the brightest bulbs around

 

Most are reactive to a fault and most gyms reflect this. The latter half of 2013 has seen a huge upsurge in female weightlifting but how many gyms have you seen recently that have even paid lip service to it?

 

A lot of gyms seem to go on the basis of what is the highest amount of cross trainers we can squeeze in and lets pray for a successful January.

 

I disagree, (I think and it's only my opinion) that the money maker for gyms is cardio and the spend on equipment reflects that. The fact that the free weight area in most gyms is not exactly welcoming* to the newbie or female doesn't help.

 

*Whether the Lifters agree or not, this is a perception that is hard to break and places like Pure don't help in this regard.

[djf]

I disagree, (I think and it's only my opinion) that the money maker for gyms is cardio and the spend on equipment reflects that. The fact that the free weight area in most gyms is not exactly welcoming* to the newbie or female doesn't help.

 

*Whether the Lifters agree or not, this is a perception that is hard to break and places like Pure don't help in this regard.

 

There's not really a right answer. Every gym is different and should obviously be designed as such. That's what I think a lot of gyms struggle with. Outside of proper power-lifting gyms or gyms designed for performance athletes which tend to be pretty well thought out, there's little variation within 90% of gyms particularly in chain gyms.

 

Even then, i'd still say having only a single squat rack is pretty shameful for any gym which has an interest in member retention.

[BigC]

There is definitely a shortage of gyms that are aimed at heavy lifters.

 

But it's true that lifters are in the minority and most gyms will try to be all things to all people, which means a lot of cardio.

[BigC]

 

Most are reactive to a fault and most gyms reflect this. The latter half of 2013 has seen a huge upsurge in female weightlifting but how many gyms have you seen recently that have even paid lip service to it?

 

A lot of gyms seem to go on the basis of what is the highest amount of cross trainers we can squeeze in and lets pray for a successful January.

 

Most gyms will be constrained by architecture and budgets.

 

Most gym managers would love to create a new space that catered for females taking up free weights, but almost all won't have the space.

 

If you have spent thousands on cardio machines with a 10 year life cycle that are 2 years old you are not going to chuck them in the skip to add in an extra bench/rack in the hope that the dames are all going to migrate.

 

The fitness industry is so cut throat (especially the big chains) that you'd be out on your ear if a few of the cardio girls joined the gym up the road and your figures suffered.

 

There is a lot of short sighted thinking in the places with high staff turnover, but for the established gyms it's more likely to be complicated problems like building design that slow down adaptation to fitness trends.

[djf]

Most gyms will be constrained by architecture and budgets.

 

Most gym managers would love to create a new space that catered for females taking up free weights, but almost all won't have the space.

 

If you have spent thousands on cardio machines with a 10 year life cycle that are 2 years old you are not going to chuck them in the skip to add in an extra bench/rack in the hope that the dames are all going to migrate.

 

The fitness industry is so cut throat (especially the big chains) that you'd be out on your ear if a few of the cardio girls joined the gym up the road and your figures suffered.

 

There is a lot of short sighted thinking in the places with high staff turnover, but for the established gyms it's more likely to be complicated problems like building design that slow down adaptation to fitness trends.

 

I agree with all of this, all i'm trying to say is that it is the cut-throat nature that allows gyms to fall into a race to the bottom in terms of invention and creativity. Of course if 90% of your equipment is cardio based you aren't going to let it go to waste but the question is why is that what your inventory is comprised of in the first place.

 

Build it, market it and use it and they will come, or something or the other.

[Ray Gin]

Didnt know about this huge upsurge in female weight lifters. Do you have figures showing the percentage of women who even lift?

[Konrad von Carstein]

Didnt know about this huge upsurge in female weight lifters. Do you have figures showing the percentage of women who even lift?

 

 

Now you are just being silly.

There are exercises that women could get benefit from in the "Lifting" area of the gym, but at a guess* I'd say 99.9% are put off stepping in there for the perceptions already outlined. This perception also puts off novices, but you know this already.

 

So in effect, people feel uncomfortable in the Lifting area, so they go to the Cardio, therefore the gym sees cardio m/c's s the cash cow to the detriment of free weights.

I must stress this is ALL perception - although some of the poor etiquette described above surely confirms the perception.

 

No biggy for me though I'll still do my barbell curls in the squat rack to pee off the meatheads

 

 

 

*cos that's all it can be

[Creepy Lurker]

Lol

[Sten Guns]

Watching the darts on sky.

 

Commentators suggesting they have energy drinks on stage as well as water.

 

[Ray Gin]

Now you are just being silly.

 

What's silly about asking for some facts that back up a statement?

 

I'm not saying such stats don't exist, I would just like to see evidence of it and would be keen to know what has suddenly influenced this massive upsurge in female lifters.

[Konrad von Carstein]

What's silly about asking for some facts that back up a statement?

 

I'm not saying such stats don't exist, I would just like to see evidence of it and would be keen to know what has suddenly influenced this massive upsurge in female lifters.

 

Read my post again, I have no "facts", my point of view is simply, the perception many people have of the weights area of a gym is not a good one, leading to a bias to cardio, which leads to this area of the gym being exploited to the max by the management.

 

I'm now out as I see CL is preparing to flame me and ICBA

[Ray Gin]

Read my post again, I have no "facts", my point of view is simply, the perception many people have of the weights area of a gym is not a good one, leading to a bias to cardio, which leads to this area of the gym being exploited to the max by the management.

 

I'm now out as I see CL is preparing to flame me and ICBA

 

Read my post again. I didn't disagree with anything about perceptions. I just asked for some stats that backed up djfs claim that "the latter half of 2013 has seen a huge upsurge in female weightlifting".

[Konrad von Carstein]

Read my post again. I didn't disagree with anything about perceptions. I just asked for some stats that backed up djfs claim that "the latter half of 2013 has seen a huge upsurge in female weightlifting".

Apologies, I'm an erse, thought you were being obtuse with my posts.

 

Carry on

 

ETA: unless there is a culture change at mainstream gyms, there will be no "upsurge" in female weightlifting...IMO obv

Edited December 21, 2013 by Bruce Willis

[Ray Gin]

No worries.

[BigC]

Of course if 90% of your equipment is cardio based you aren't going to let it go to waste but the question is why is that what your inventory is comprised of in the first place.

 

Because it's what people want.

 

Same reason shit loads of gyms have vibration training platforms.

 

They all know it doesn't work (anyone with half a brain anyway - there are some who will believe anything the salesman says).

 

But you get prospective members who believe the hype and won't join unless you have one. (I've lost many a sale because of it).

 

Cardio fitness at least does have a lot of benefits.

 

The gym I work at was specifically designed to be less intimidating to women.

 

As a result, it's not ideal for serious lifters. I have to train on the Smith machine because we don't have anything else. It's not what most people on this thread would call a "real gym" but our membership figures suggest there is a demand for what we offer.

 

We are also very successful at getting middle aged people who have never exercised before fit for the first time in their lives, including many women who have walked out of every other gym they have joined because it was too intimidating. (That can be immensely satisfying - I had a women in tears at the thought of joining a few weeks ago. She'd just had heart surgery and needed to exercise but was genuinely scared of gyms. A few weeks later she's loving her workouts, seeing massive results and can't believe it took her until her 50's to enjoy exercise, having been put of by an over zealous PE teacher in the early seventies).

 

When I get a guy who obviously lifts in to check out the place, I know he isn't going to join. But only about 1 in 20 people are advanced enough that they need/want squat racks etc. We have enough for the other 95%.

[Creepy Lurker]

Riveting though the above discussion is, I'd just like to ask a quick question: does anyone know a gym in Edinburgh which lets you pay for individual sessions? Back home for a couple of weeks over Christmas and would like to get a few lifting sessions in during that time.

[Konrad von Carstein]

Pure do day tickets I believe

[Creepy Lurker]

Pure would be perfect. Cheers.

[Stuart McNeill]

Pure would be perfect. Cheers.

 

would be better signing up for 1 month mate, there about ?5 each

[Creepy Lurker]

would be better signing up for 1 month mate, there about ?5 each

 

I've been a member of Pure before but cancelled rather than freezing my membership, so on top of the monthly fee I'd have to pay the signing up fee. Also won't really be in the gym that many times in the two week period anyway partly because it's Christmas and partly as I'll be doing a bit of Muay Thai as well as lifting, so reckon I'm probably better off with the day passes.

[djf]

Riveting though the above discussion is, I'd just like to ask a quick question: does anyone know a gym in Edinburgh which lets you pay for individual sessions? Back home for a couple of weeks over Christmas and would like to get a few lifting sessions in during that time.

 

All Edinburgh Leisure gyms do pay as you go sessions. There's also an offer on at the moment for 12 days entry for ?12.

[Stuart McNeill]

I've been a member of Pure before but cancelled rather than freezing my membership, so on top of the monthly fee I'd have to pay the signing up fee. Also won't really be in the gym that many times in the two week period anyway partly because it's Christmas and partly as I'll be doing a bit of Muay Thai as well as lifting, so reckon I'm probably better off with the day passes.

 

if you're going to the one in edinburgh. Use this code " PGE23 "

 

get the joining fee 100% free

 

 

 

 

EDIT : now for the reason why I came on here. When losing weight, I'm meaning 1.5-2.5 stone, is it better to work purely on that and forget about muscle gain? and if so, is the best way doing it through cardio ?

Edited December 22, 2013 by Stuart McNeill

[BigC]

 

 

if you're going to the one in edinburgh. Use this code " PGE23 "

 

get the joining fee 100% free

 

 

EDIT : now for the reason why I came on here. When losing weight, I'm meaning 1.5-2.5 stone, is it better to work purely on that and forget about muscle gain? and if so, is the best way doing it through cardio ?

 

The best way to do it is by sorting your diet. For me, training is the easy bit. Avoiding bad foods is hard. If you can avoid sugar, reduce your intake of starchy carbs and increase your consumption of protein and vegetables, you're off to a good start. If you can count calories and make sure you eat 500 less than you burn you're guaranteed to lose weight.

 

You'll get differing opinions on the training you should do.

 

When you say you want to lose weight you probably mean you need to burn fat and change your body shape from a podgy one to a more toned one.

 

Cardio should be a big part of that but I would add in a bit of weightlifting too.

 

Having more muscle mass speeds up your metabolism, making it easier to burn calories. It's also more enjoyable IMO and you can see big improvements quite quickly in the early stages.

 

Your other option is to swim - swimming is aerobic and anaerobic so it works your muscles and cardio at the same time. If you don't like the water then metafit or a similar circuits based class will have a similar effect on dry land.

 

If you are overweight then there is a good chance you haven't trained 3 x per week for a consistent period of time. Getting that habit absolutely nailed is the key. That is the minimum.

 

To get to that point, doing what you enjoy should take priority over what works best, because unless you're putting no effort in and not getting your heart and lungs going, most exercise is much of a muchness.

 

You will get other people comparing the effectiveness of one vs the other, but get yourself to the point where you're disciplined enough to go 3 x per week, then you can worry about that.

 

I've not really concentrated on one thing this year, taking gaps out of weight training to do a big swim challenge etc. but I've still lost a stone and kept it off (would have been more if I'd eaten better). My only aim was to get a minimum of three sessions in and I achieved that for about 45 out of 52 weeks of the year, stopped only by a sprained ankle, a 2 week holiday and now Xmas (but I'm still getting 1-2 sessions in).

 

Next year I'm going to try and make sure I do three gym sessions a week, every week.

[djf]

You'll lose weight and build muscle in a far more efficient (and enjoyable) manner doing a beginners weight training programme such as 'starting strength' than you will doing any amount of cardio.

 

If you are certain that you only want to do cardio then the best cardio programme is any you will stick with, i.e do what you enjoy doing. For me this is trail running but it will be different for you. There's no point going swimming for instance if you'll pack it in 2 weeks down the line.

 

But as BigC says, diet, diet, diet. Count your calories and watch your macros. The effect of exercise in weight loss is over-stated to the point of being laughable.

[Creepy Lurker]

Thanks guys, think I'll go with Pure. Wasn't impressed with Edinburgh Leisure when I went in the past.

 

Weight loss is all about being in a caloric deficit. Diet's the most important factor but regular exercise will lead to more calories being burned, which makes it easier.

 

Resistance training as a comparative beginner will be useful in that initially you'll be able to gain muscle and strength at the same time as losing fat (you can't do both forever, but as a beginner you'll ne able to). A proven programme like Starting Strength or Stronglifts is perfect, imo. Alternatively if you just want to do cardio then that's fine too: try to find a type you enjoy.

[djf]

Thanks guys, think I'll go with Pure. Wasn't impressed with Edinburgh Leisure when I went in the past.

 

Weight loss is all about being in a caloric deficit. Diet's the most important factor but regular exercise will lead to more calories being burned, which makes it easier.

 

Resistance training as a comparative beginner will be useful in that initially you'll be able to gain muscle and strength at the same time as losing fat (you can't do both forever, but as a beginner you'll ne able to). A proven programme like Starting Strength or Stronglifts is perfect, imo. Alternatively if you just want to do cardio then that's fine too: try to find a type you enjoy.

 

What EL gyms have you used before? The one at the Commie pool is pretty good and the one at Ratho climbing centre is one of the best in the city IMO but the others i've visited have definitely left a lot to be desired.

 

I'd say to a complete beginner to ignore calories burnt through exercise. Whilst they obviously will, I think people can fall into a trap of over-estimating the number they are actually burning and it ruins their figures when calculating a deficit. Work on the weight loss through diet and enjoy exercise for all the other benefits it brings is my stance.

[Creepy Lurker]

 

 

What EL gyms have you used before? The one at the Commie pool is pretty good and the one at Ratho climbing centre is one of the best in the city IMO but the others i've visited have definitely left a lot to be desired.

 

I'd say to a complete beginner to ignore calories burnt through exercise. Whilst they obviously will, I think people can fall into a trap of over-estimating the number they are actually burning and it ruins their figures when calculating a deficit. Work on the weight loss through diet and enjoy exercise for all the other benefits it brings is my stance.

 

Used the Dalry one and another, can't remember which. Both were pretty poor, but admittedly writing them all of on that basis was a bit harsh. Might check out the Commie pool.

 

With the second bit do you mean in terms of a calorie counting diet? I'd say that trying to work out calories burned through exercise is a waste of time for basically anyone. Equations like Harris Benedict and Katch McArdle plug in activity levels so I'd say they're a good place to start, although people do still tend to overestimate how active they are (non exercise associated thermogenesis having a greater effect on weight loss than calories burned through gym sessions).

[djf]

 

 

With the second bit do you mean in terms of a calorie counting diet? I'd say that trying to work out calories burned through exercise is a waste of time for basically anyone. Equations like Harris Benedict and Katch McArdle plug in activity levels so I'd say they're a good place to start, although people do still tend to overestimate how active they are (non exercise associated thermogenesis having a greater effect on weight loss than calories burned through gym sessions).

 

Exactly. And yet people will. Which is why cross-trainers have a little counter to tell the person how many calories they have "burned". One of my favourite pieces of fitness related advice is "don't over-think it".

 

If someone is looking to lose weight then they should of course be exercising productively but i'd suggest completely ignoring any calories they may or may not have burned in doing so. Its a recipe for disaster and it really isn't difficult to work out a substantial diet that operates at a deficit for anyone.

[Konrad von Carstein]

I like knowing how many calories I burn at the gym, lets me know if I've had an off day and encourages me to stay until I "burn" a minimum amount so I'm having reasonably consistent workouts. I prefer cardio however so perhaps if you are doing resistance it is less useful

[Creepy Lurker]

I like knowing how many calories I burn at the gym, lets me know if I've had an off day and encourages me to stay until I "burn" a minimum amount so I'm having reasonably consistent workouts. I prefer cardio however so perhaps if you are doing resistance it is less useful

 

The wee readers can be a useful tool for measuring progress, ie if they show 200 calories burned in 15 minutes one week and then 220 the next week then you know you've progressed, but I don't think that's what djf is getting at. It's a problem when people start thinking 'well, I should burn 2500 calories a day, but today I burned 300 on the treadmill so that makes 2800. Today I need 2300 to lose weight but tomorrow I'm not training so I need 2000'. That's just pointless overcomplication, and doesn't even work anyway as the calories listed on these inevitably include a certain amount you'd have burned anyway doing whatever you'd have been doing had you not been at the gym.

[Konrad von Carstein]

I'm not talking bout the machine readers, I have used a Polar and now have a Beuer, the machine readers on their own aren't accurate (I suppose the Polars etc aren't perfect either mind)

[Creepy Lurker]

I'm not talking bout the machine readers, I have used a Polar and now have a Beuer, the machine readers on their own aren't accurate (I suppose the Polars etc aren't perfect either mind)

 

The same applies to machines measuring calories burned. Total waste of money imo.

[BigC]

Is it not the case that recovery is not fully taken into consideration with the counters?

 

If I'm training 3 times per week that's basically six days out of seven that I'm in recovery.

 

Although I have a fairly good background knowledge from working in the fitness industry i do have gaps in my knowledge because I've never qualified as an instructor, so correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that in the recovery period your metabolism is working faster, so you burn more calories than you normally would, even if you are sitting still.

 

That's why weight lifting can be almost as effective as cardio for fat loss, even although it burns a fraction of the calories during the time you actually do it, you're burning calories in your sleep.

[Creepy Lurker]

Is it not the case that recovery is not fully taken into consideration with the counters?

 

If I'm training 3 times per week that's basically six days out of seven that I'm in recovery.

 

Although I have a fairly good background knowledge from working in the fitness industry i do have gaps in my knowledge because I've never qualified as an instructor, so correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that in the recovery period your metabolism is working faster, so you burn more calories than you normally would, even if you are sitting still.

 

That's why weight lifting can be almost as effective as cardio for fat loss, even although it burns a fraction of the calories during the time you actually do it, you're burning calories in your sleep.

 

If you train three times a week you're basically always in 'recovery mode' to some extent. The thing with these machines is that people who've calculated how many calories they burn per day think that they're adding 'exercise calories' on top of that when a decent estimate will include calories burned during exercise anyway. A good estimate also gives an average daily figure, so it takes into account that in practice you burn more on training days than you do on rest days.

 

The 'afterburn' effect of weight training is exaggerated to an extent in that you do burn calories at an accelerated rate afterwards but only very slightly. It'll account for a pretty negligible amount of calories per day, and the same goes for HIIT. What's more relevant is that lean tissue is a lot more metabolically active than fat, so by building muscle you increase your metabolism.

[Snake Plissken]

Cardio...

 

[Konrad von Carstein]

Cardio...

 

 

that made me laugh this morning, probably cos it ehoes my thoughts on when I go to do work with weights

[Sten Guns]

Cardio...

 

 

[Sten Guns]

[Guest GhostHunter]

Cardio...

 

 

One of the best gifs ever.

 

Sums up my feelings exactly.

 

PS - my 5 weeks off cycle is complete - back to the slog starting boxing day.

 

Wish me luck

[Sten Guns]

my 5 weeks off cycle is complete

 

Jesus!

 

Dex is on the roidzzz!

[Guest GhostHunter]

Jesus!

 

Dex is on the roidzzz!

 

LMAO

 

Just reread that post.

 

Oops.

 

 

My previous posts clearly show my work precluded me from getting to the gym

 

Honest guvnor

 

Roids ?

 

[Sten Guns]

Merry Christmas BRAHS.

 

 

[Creepy Lurker]

Do you even gift?