Fitness Matters

June 7, 2012

Fitness Matters

Expert answers to your health and wellness questions

 By Dawn Gilday

 Question: If I want to get in the best shape of my life, is a gym membership required?

Answer:  That’s an interesting question. Despite the fact that I work for Anytime Fitness, I have to tell you the answer is no. A gym membership is not required to get into great shape. In fact, you can get a fantastic workout doing just bodyweight exercises in the comfort of your own home. That said, having a membership to your local club does increase the number of tools in your toolbox. In other words, gyms typically have a lot of high-quality equipment that you simply wouldn’t have access to otherwise, and the culture and environment in the gym can be very motivating. You’ll typically also find fitness experts that can help you determine the best path forward in terms of reaching your goals. So based on these benefits, and many others, do I recommend you join a gym? Yes. But do you absolutely need to join one in order to get in great shape? No.

Question: My wife thinks she’ll get big and bulky if she starts lifting weights with me. How do I convince her otherwise?

Answer: This comes up all the time, and it’s one of the biggest myths out there. First of all, women simply don’t have the proper hormonal balance to put on large amounts of muscle tissue. Secondly, even if they did have the right physiology, it would take some serious training to do it. Getting bigger muscles requires high-volume workouts (lots of sets and reps) and a pretty high intensity as well. Picking up a few weights here and there isn’t a recipe for building mass—it’s what you do and how you do it that really makes the difference. Remind your wife that weight training programs can always be tailored to specific goals, so if she doesn’t want to put on large amounts of muscle, that’s just fine. Generally speaking, a full-body circuit with higher rep ranges a few days per week would work well if she’s just looking to tone up or maintain her current level of muscle tissue. If she wants to get an individualized program based on her goals, look for a qualified personal trainer in your area.

Question: I train for a lot of endurance events and I’m getting tired of the same old sports drinks. Are there any alternatives that would work just as well?

Answer:  Absolutely! There are many other engineered sports nutrition products that are designed for consumption during training sessions and races. Gels are a popular choice and so are Sharkies, Sports Beans, Clif Shot Bloks, and Cytomax Energy Drops. All of these essentially function in the same way, and provide carbohydrate for energy and some much-needed electrolytes. Some may include other ingredients as well, including caffeine. Your best bet is to experiment with several options during your training to find out what’s most palatable and well tolerated. It’s also important to remember that these products are very concentrated, so they need to be consumed with plenty of water to help with the digestive process. If you fail to do this, you’ll likely end up with gastrointestinal distress, and no one wants that in the midst of a training session or race. Lastly, let’s not forget about good ol’ solid food. Some people perform really well consuming bananas, pretzels, and even candy like M&M’s. The issue here is finding something that’s both easy to carry and will keep well throughout your event. Good luck!

About the author: Dawn Gilday is the club owner at Anytime Fitness in Uncasville. To submit a question for future articles, please contact the author at uncasvillect@anytimefitness.com.