Jam-Packed Gym

There were a few free cardio machines when I arrived at the gym but they were soon occupied. I go to a fitness club that has quite a few locations in the STL area. I went to one of the more spacious of those gyms today and just about every elliptical trainer, stairmaster, AMT and treadmill were taken. Even the class, Drills to Make You Sweat, was jam-packed. Then, I had what Oprah calls an "aha!" moment. I had forgotten that we were in resolution month. January alone explains why the gym has been packed even on weekends.

There were so many folks in the fitness club that you could feel the heat of so many bodies in motion. I like seeing other people in the gym, though, since it inspires me to keep moving. The people run the gamut from young to old and from people with subtle muscles to muscles that look like sculptures. There are people with singular tattoos and ones with full body coverage.

You never know when something is going to jump off in the gym. I've seen people start doing jumping jacks in the middle of the weight machine rows and when I was participating in the National Body Challenge last year, this guy was doing "crouching tiger, hidden dragon" style stretching in itty bitty yellow shorts in front of, not only the mirror, but in front of the elliptical machine that I was on. It took everything in me not to explode with laughter -- especially when the woman in the row ahead of me caught sight of the guy in her peripheral vision.

The New York Times has a very insightful article, "New Year, New You? Nice Try," about why resolutions are, by and large, unsuccessful.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/fashion/01change.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&em