My 24Hr-Fitness Experience – Part 1 of 2

I just got back from a business trip.  As you might know yourself, getting your workouts in while on the road is a challenge.

Assuming time isn’t too tight, working in a run is usually pretty easy.

But weight training is more of a challenge.

(In fact, this trip gave me many ideas I’ll want to share with you over the next several weeks.  For today I want to give you some tips to consider if you are out of town and need to go to an unfamiliar gym.)

Bodyweight exercises are a great option if you are still a beginner for weight training, or if you are just going for fat loss, or if you really have no time.

But I really wanted some metal.

So I did what you would probably do first – I checked the hotel gym.

Uh-ugh. No freeweights.  Suffice it to say, that was a no-go for me.

(I still don’t get it how 5-start hotels can have crummy gyms. This one had a few sets of light dumbbells, one very limited “Universal” style resistance machine, and only 1 each of a bike, a climber, and a treadmill.  For over 400 guests.  Sheesh.)

Luckily, I checked this all out ahead of time.

All I did was call the hotel, talked to a few people and had them describe the gym to me exactly, piece by piece.

…

Going To The Commercial Gym

Next I went to the internet to search for fitness centers nearby.  The closest was a chain called “24 Hr Fitness”.  I’d never been to one before, but I saw that I could get a 7-day free pass online.  Cool.

So I called them and got a run down.  “We’ve got all you need,” I was assured.  Plus, they were truly open 24 hrs a day, which is important because I work out early mornings.  With the timezone difference, I was there at 4:00 in the morning!

Immediate Reaction To The Layout

So I get to the gym, and my immediate reaction was “Oh no, the place has way too many machines.  This can’t be good.”

Luckily I found the freeweights stuck in the back (which was fine by me).

And to my pleasant surprise, many of the machines were from a company called FreeMotion and were essentially cable machines.  (They ended up being great for various rows and pull movements I did.)

But it was clear that this was not a “lifter’s gym”.  There was only one squat rack in the entire place. All the benches were bolted to the floor.  Not just the bench press stations – I mean every single little bench.

Some other observations:

• Everything was pretty crowded in terms of the layout – almost no floor room for bodyweight warm-ups or ab exercises.
• On the plus side, they had a nice set of dumbbells, with 2 or 3 sets of every weight up to 120lbs, with increments by 5lbs and a few increments of 2.5 lbs.  Nice for drop sets.
• They also had (in addition to the aforementioned FreeMotion machines) 3 full cable setups.
• For cardio/HIIT, there was no Airdyne.  Airdynes are great for HIIT.
• But they had these machines called “CrossTrainers” or something that were kind of a cross between ellipticals and stair climbers.  I tried one out and loved it – I could really get my heart working (unlike I find with ellipticals) and the motion was so smooth on my knees (which take a beating on plane rides).

7 Tips For Unfamiliar Commercial Gyms

My workouts ended up being great, but here’s what you should think about when hitting a commercial gym that you aren’t familiar with:

1. Go during off hours, if possible. If I went when it was crowded, and didn’t know they had only one squat rack, I would have been ticked off.
2. Bring your workout journal with you. It’s too easy to show up an an unfamiliar gym without your plan and then wander around wasting time.  Serious lifters stay focused.
3. Have “backup” exercises. If you are expecting a particular piece of equipment, and they don’t have it, you need to be flexible and adapt your routine with the next-best equivalent.
4. Walk around the gym first. Before you lift a single weight, walk around the entire gym and make sure you know where things are.  And get your plan together for #3.  That way you don’t wast time in the middle of your workout.
5. Follow good etiquette and don’t break the Unspoken Rules.  Jason’s post pretty much says it all.
6. Try to get a free pass. Many gyms will give you a free one-day pass.  Also check the web.  But don’t lie – I’m not a fan of lying and saying you are thinking of joining if you aren’t.  Be honest.  And if you will be there for a few days, maybe a week pass is a better deal.
7. Call your hotel first. It’s rare, but not unheard of, that a hotel has a great weightroom.  So call ahead.  If they don’t have one, ask if they offer any discounts at local “real” gyms.

In a few days I’ll share another really important observation with you about my experience…

Have you had similar experiences?
What other tips do you have?
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Related posts:

1. My 24Hr Fitness Experience – Part 2 of 2
2. Sticking To Your Diet And Fitness Plan
3. 8.5 Fitness Mistakes People Make In A Down Economy

Tags: commercial gyms