A friend in his 30s works out every morning at a Planet Fitness. Our conversation:
Him: At least 25 percent of the customers at that time of day are attractive women from [adjacent university].
Me: Why don’t they work out for free at their school’s gym?
Him: I don’t know.
Me: Haven’t you talked to them? Have you ever been out on a date with one and asked her why she subscribes to this commercial gym?
Him: I’ve never asked one on a date.
Me: You’re a real gentleman!
Him: It would be too much work. With Tinder and Bumble, I can [be in bed with a woman] an hour after opening the app.
(I’m sticking with my gym. It costs a lot more than the $10/month that he pays, but we are not weight-shamed by fit 20-year-olds.)
I feel I need to break news to you you can do press ups, sit ups, and pull ups for free in your house and/or in a nearby park. Running in the park is also free, as I understand feet came complimentary on the day of your birth. People complaining about the snow, the cold, the heat, whatever, are just simply weak.
For the life of me I just cannot understand how people pay for something they can do for free.
Coaching. Encouragement. Instruction.
Like Ron White, I have a lot of quit in me. I benefit greatly from instructor led classes where I am encouraged to do a few more reps and am surprised when I can and do.
I highly recommend Shaun T’s “Insanity Max 30” dvds/online videos. I got better results with 2 months of his no-weights 5x30min/wk workouts at home, than I did in the previous year going to the gym. The program is *hard* (was already running 12mi/wk), but the gains in fitness, strength, and muscle were noticeable.
Can say that at UVA (in 2014 anyway), the college facilities were great, but classes were very limited (spin class was 4-5 times/week and never offered weekday mornings,) so if they wanna do Pilates or similar, they might join an outside gym. This was Family Weekend, so we were using the excellent facilities. Gotta say I felt bad for a couple of the middle aged women in the locker room who turned out to be spouses of professors. The female “sorority sisters” ( what my son termed them) on the gym floor in droves would cause any 50 yo male professor to drool. My own husband claimed he didn’t notice them, but he likes to joke.
@Frederico easier said than done during a blizzard. But buying a spin bike of one’s own is a cost-effective option (I chose that route for days when it’s too cold to bike outdoors). But the camaraderie at a gym is helpful to a lot of people, including all the Au Pairs each morning after school run at a gym in DC which I loved (until it closed).
I bought a refurbished (but I think it was brand new), good quality “V-bike” spinner bike off ebay for $700 delivered fifteen years ago. I ride 30 minutes per day/7 days per week. It’s a great workout, pedals & spins perfectly smooth, and doesn’t take up a lot of space or look out of place in a room. It’s required very little maintenance, other than replacing both pedals and the friction pad. I highly recommend.
Seriously doubt Tinder & Bumble ever got anyone in bed. More like the guy didn’t have any dialogue in the gym for fear of getting kicked out or told to get lost, as usually happens to men who are luckier in fitness than finances.
This question has been explored in https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/close-encounters/201706/is-tinder-really-hookup-app
Excerpt: “What about those infamous hookups? Well, these participants did do plenty of hooking up. Of those who met a Tinder match in person, only 21.8% indicated that they had never hooked up. Another 12.6% said they had hooked up but it didn’t involve sexual intercourse and another 65.6% said their hookups did involve sexual contact. In addition, the average number of hookups reported by the participants was just above 3. … Those who were looking for love or casual sex were more likely to go on Tinder dates. Not surprisingly, the more that participants indicated casual sex as a motive for using Tinder, the more likely they were to have a one-night stand with a Tinder match. … Tinder-initiated hookups are quite common, but the notion that Tinder is primarily about hookups is overstated. Tinder users are more likely to be seeking relationships than casual sex.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2018/05/27/if-you-are-looking-for-casual-sex-tinder-will-not-help-study-says/#7846ad3d6b68
reports on what seems like a flawed study (Tinder users who are students so they have plenty of other ways to meet other young people).
Weight shamed???? They are not looking at you, they are looking at themselves, lol.
Around here Planet Fitness doesn’t even have real barbells, so the only reason for a man to go there is to look at and hit on chicks. It’s no place to show off weightlifting.
Why would a man’s exercise regime be limited to free weights?
Four letter answer: Y-M-C-A. I’m not kidding. If your workout is more about your head trip than your workout, you should go to a local YMCA and work out there. Set a schedule, go with a friend, and have a great workout.
I’ve never used Tinder or Bumble, but briefly and unsuccessfully tried Match.com about fifteen years ago. I’m convinced that all of the attractive woman are fake profiles. Oh, and Match made it cumbersome to cancel my account and the monthly auto-pay.
I have met several attractive, younger females for romantic interludes through my fake Facebook account.