健康：有什么健身房不想你知道的秘密

What do gyms hope you don’t know?SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT Alex Cooper,CopywriterAnswered Oct 1OriginallyAnswered: What do gyms not want you to know?I workedat a gym briefly (as well as using plenty for the last 10 years on-and-off).Here’s a few things off the top of my head:They knowyou’ll probably stop attendingAs longas you keep paying that monthly fee they don’t care. They rely on it—if a largeenough percentage of members attended on any given day there wouldn’t be enoughspace in the gym!Mostproducts being sold are a waste of moneyThe arrayof protein drinks, snacks, supplements etc. some gyms peddle do little tonothing, and are horrendously overpriced compared to what you can get onlineanyway. If you’ve just signed up you don’t need to buy pre-workout then sip onAmino Acids between sets. Protein shakes (not the sugary pre-made ones you get)are fine but their benefits are exaggerated.Theydon’t care about serious liftersMost gyms(specialist bodybuilding/powerlifting gyms excepted) don’t cater for serious lifters.The heavy dumbbells are falling apart? Only two people can even use them.You’re not going to be paying for personal training (you know enough not tolisten to the trainers if they’re no good), so once you’ve signed up you’ll beignored mostly.Don’tautomatically trust everything your instructor/trainer saysIt’s veryeasy to get qualified as a gym/fitness instructor. I did a two-week courseinvolving an (extremely easy, for me anyway) theory test and a practical test.I’d had several years working out and doing my own research. Others on thecourse I wouldn’t trust to correctly answer even the most basic questions.(People I worked with weren’t all that knowledgeable either.) Some gyms won’teven bother to get qualified staff, they’ll just rope in their mate.Personaltraining qualifications are a bit harder to get but not a great deal…(I didn’tbother going for mine, I’d had enough!) but there are still plenty of PTs whodon’t really know what they’re talking about.Gettingfit isn’t as mysterious and difficult as gyms make outYou canliterally learn all you need to know about health and fitness from your ownresearch. Personal training lessons are only worth it if you need extramotivation or have zero time to learn things yourself.Moreequipment isn’t always betterThosefancy machines aren’t superior to free weights exercises (and in most casesaren’t even as effective). Having 12 different machines for lat pulldownsdoesn’t make a gym superior, or some massive “functional training area” whichis just a kettle bell and some ropes, but magically justifies a big increase inmembership costs.