Time to Join a New Gym ??

I am thinking of joining a new gym… Not instead of my current gym (12Rnd Fitness – which I LOVE)… but as well as.

I look forward to going to the gym so much (Endorphins are a wonderful thing), that sometimes at night, I am tempted to go to bed early, just so I can go to sleep, wake up, and go to the gym again… I am actually considering joining a 24×7 gym so I can sneak in some quick after dinner/late night workouts 🙂

OK.. I admit… it may be a little obsessive…

Endorphins – the Happy Hormone

When you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain and also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine (apparently)….

After 20 to 30 minutes of hard aerobic exercise, endorphins are released and will result in a mood and energy boost for two to three hours, and a mild buzz for up to 24 hours.

“Traditional” Gyms

It’s been many years since I have been to a “regular” gym (I used to be an aerobics junkie in my early 20s)… but the thought of rows of treadmills and spin bikes, and dozens of scary exercise machines with dubious (possibly torture related) purposes simply does not appeal any more…

These days 24×7 gyms seem to be popping up all over the place. These are largely “exercise machine” based, and convenient in terms of locality and time of day for workouts, but rely a lot on your own commitment, and tend to lack supervision and guidance from trainers.

A 24×7 Gym may be useful for me as an extra to my 12Rnd membership – to help focus on exercising particular body parts, and also at times of the day when my 12Rnd gym is closed…. although I can’t see myself going anywhere near a treadmill.

12Rnd Fitness

12Rnd Fitness is very different from the traditional Gym model… It doesn’t depend on a bunch of exercise machines, but is based around more traditional boxer training strategies, and exercise “stations” with a never ending variety of exercises that change daily (with a trainer always on hand to fix/improve technique and push you harder).

You can start a 12Rnds session anytime you like, and exercise your way through 12 different “rounds” or stations, of 3 minutes each ( each with 2 or more excises ) – with 30 second recovery/changeover time in between… A bit like a cross between Rocky and F45 I suppose.

At the moment I am currently averaging 5 or 6 sessions a week, but have (during challenges… see below) managed 8 or 9 sessions a week.

6 Week Challenges

Every few months 12Rnds run a “6 week challenge” which is a way to increase motivation and push yourself a bit harder for a short period… They liken their challenges to getting “fight ready” and they follow a pretty defined structure involving different types of food and exercise at different stages of the challenge.

I have participated, with various levels of commitment in 2 challenges so far – but am looking forward to getting “serious” about the next one starting in October.

MyZone

I have very recently started using a Myzone Heart rate monitor (I was given one for my last birthday). It is great to get proof that those times when I “think” I am working hard… that I usually am… and although it is early days yet (the Myzone monitor apparently takes a while to calibrate maximum heart rate), I was very surprised (shocked actually) to discover that I am consistently in the top few of the exercise leaderboard.

So … Time to Join New Gym ? … maybe… but maybe not…