I've been debating whether to join a gym. Running - about which it appears I could bore for Britain - is free, outdoors and almost spiritual. A gym, on the other hand, costs a small fortune, is indoors in artificially lit rooms full of stale sweaty air and is more a case of man and machine than man - or woman - in tune with nature. I used to despise people who drove everywhere but had to go - by car, naturally - to the gym to get fit. I wanted to shout: "Get a bicycle! Cycle everywhere and save not only money but the environment!"
I'm not saying that I feel all that differently now, but there is something alluring about the idea of "working out". I had a week's free pass to a gym in January, and although it was nowhere near as cool as my sister's gym in Hong Kong, where you can choose from a library of DVDs to watch while you work out, I felt like I was part of some sort of exclusive club. It's hard to put my finger on it, but it made me feel like I'd joined another sector of society: successful professionals who care about their health. There's more to it than that-perhaps it's that gyms are full of people whose parents weren't poor artists. It's about conventionality, and there's something attractive about the idea of conforming.
As for joining the gym, I'll wait until they send me an offer I can't refuse.
1 comment:
Yes - that's an interesting observation - gyms are about belonging to an exclusive club, one which will only have you as a member if you are motivated to get fit. I read somewhere that both men and women find people who regularly go to the gym more attractive - not (as you might ahve suspected) thinking "you narcissist" but thinking "ooh, you sexy, gym going, healthy creature".
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