With my job being particularly mentally draining recently, I've made a real effort to get to the gym at least twice a week to help eliminate stress. I've also been motivated by a few extra kilos I've gained since my job started.
One of the things I noticed early on about my gym is that there are no treadmills. In the States, those are a regular fixture, or even the core of gym equipment. Instead, people "run" on ellipticals in my gym. I like to think of gym time as double "me" time so I always bring a magazine to read that I wouldn't have time for either, but this means using the stair-stepper because it has a ledge I can set the magazine on.
I've started going to an abdos-fessiers class (abs and butt), and one of the regulars is a guy who wears maybe the shortest shorts I've seen on a guy. If he wasn't wearing tight fitting underwear underneath, things would be dangling, if you know what I mean. He also likes to wear close fitting v-neck t-shirts, but I won't draw any conclusions yet.
Just after my class is a total body workout (or similar) class, and there's a woman who comes every time dressed like it's 1987. She wears patterned leotards, some with integrated shorts, as if Jane Fonda were her idol. I don't know if she wears white Reeboks.
Luckily most people just wear sweatpants and t-shirts.I have noticed though that there are often people with what seem to be "street" clothes: guys working out in cargo pants, women with heavy jewelry, people with non sports shoes.... The swimming pool rules require you to wear a cap (to limit the amount of hair floating in the pool) and occasionally I'll see someone just wearing a shower cap as if it would fool someone.
The swimming pool area includes a hammam, which I've been wondering about. Why are hammams considered essential to gyms in France, and always vaunted as a big selling point? I've never used one, so I can't write about my experience, but I don't get why just about every gym has one. I would have preferred my gym to forgo the hammam and leave a little more room for the aerobics classes.
Speaking of aerobics classes, I find it interesting which ones are all/mostly female, and which ones have a fair number of men. Step classes often have a significant number of men, which I really wouldn't have predicted. Abs-butt classes are almost all women, as is stretching. The weight machines are always monopolized by men, of course, and they are also majority users of the stationary bikes. Ellipticals are 50/50 and stair masters are probably 70/30 women to men.
Like I said, I usually bring a magazine and always have my iPod so I don't have to listen to the techno music from the step class, but the stair masters are right in front of the TV. I don't really follow what's on, but sometimes I can't help but look at the screen. That's when I realize that there are some really bad shows on French TV, starting with 'N'oubliez pas les paroles". I've been lucky enough to never listen to the people sing. Other times I've seen the M6 "news" where they report on self-absorbed teenagers who spend an hour styling their hair in the morning, or other important issues like that.
I don't know if this is due to people having a shorter distance to travel to get the gym, but I have noticed a fair amount of people arriving or leaving in their work-out clothes. I know from Sam that you don't often see that in Paris. So, what's your gym like?
3 comments:
My gym only had women in the class, and the weights were all around the classroom area-- so those beefy, disgusting guys would all stand around the edges and watch our fitness class. Gross. Women would be fully made-up or wearing tons of jewelry and my friends and I always felt shabby. Needless to say, we don't go there anymore.
I just wanted to add that the woman in the front of the picture in the yellow and black striped get up -- she must have been sponsored by Speed Rabbit :)
Invading the weight training area of a gym as a woman is always strange. Back when I was using the brand new gym at Ohio State, the guys there would look at me like I was some sort of alien. Which at first was pretty off-putting but later became a defiant act for me. Have you ever noticed how many of those guys are lifting incorrectly or have horrible posture?
Since I've come to Toulouse though I've just been running along the canal. I miss the gym a bit and checked out the one next door to our building, which is small and over the top luxe. Needless to say, too expensive.
Do you recommend your gym? I took classes a lot like you decribed before and loved them.
I go to Euforie, which has the advantage of not being terribly expensive (about €400 a year), and having multiple locations around Toulouse (well, near/in downtown) which are convenient for me, plus classes and a pool.
That said, it's not wonderful: the equipment tends to be older, some locations have tiny lockers in the locker room, and there are little extras missing that would make it nicer.
I went and checked out Movida (rue Gambetta) because a friend goes there and loves it, but it was €50 a month (so €600 a year) so I decided not to join. They have much better facilities, instructors with mics (at Euforie the teacher just yells over the music) much more space, and everything is just nicer and kept up. They're also open earlier and longer.
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