Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Boutique vs. Mall

I'm having a little bit of buyer's remorse about my gym membership.  The problem is that it's just too far away.  Before I joined, I google mapped it, and found out that it's only 5.2 miles away.  That seemed a reasonable, quick distance to me.  Just hop in the car and you're there in maybe seven minutes, depending on traffic.

In reality, the bridge that I need to cross has been under construction since I signed up, it takes me 20 minutes at least to get there and I keep getting lost both getting there and coming home, which adds on extra time.  This is a first world problems situation, to be sure, but it's certainly stopping me from going to the gym more than twice a month.

Instead of going to the gym, I've been going to my yoga place going running contemplating a groupon for the fancy gym near my house that I can bike to and looking forward to zumba classes that my local running store is going to start.  It's like I'm intimidated by the one-stop-shopping aspect of my giant gym, and gravitate toward smaller, more boutique fitness experiences.

Apparently, I'm not alone in this.  According to an article in the New York Times that I read last week, there is a phenomenon there of women who work out at up to three different places sometimes three times a day. "Most are professionals with full-time jobs, yet they manage to spend some two hours a day — and upward of $500 a month — exercising. (By comparison, a membership at the upscale Equinox gym chain ranges from $149 to $183 a month.)"  Yeah, I'm spending ~$8 a month for my gym membership, but am more than willing to shell out $200 for yoga classes and $5 a pop for zumba.

The problem, for me, is twofold:

  1. It takes so damn long to get to my gym, that it takes twice the effort to convince myself to go
  2. I'd like to go to zumba class at my gym, but it starts at 6:30, I work til 6, see above.
I have gone to the occasional spin class at my gym, and I do intend to start using the pool, but perhaps the time has come to admit my mistake.  Since I actually do love working out, I didn't think a slightly longer drive would be such an issue, but I guess I was wrong about that.

Has anyone else ever encountered this issue?

1 comment:

  1. Considering it's often 40 below here in the winter, I can't see to drive in the dark, and winter is mostly dark, I keep a stationary bicycle and a rowing machine set up facing the TV and exercise whenever I watch.

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