Gimme Gimme Gimme A Really Great Workout

Gimme Gimme Gimme A Really Great Workout

There is something about the clock striking midnight on New Year’s Eve that inspires some sort of positive attitude in everybody. And although many of us really mean it when we say we will “stick to our guns this time around”, the truth is, there is something we love more than resolving our lives: temptation. And thus, with the top resolution being to lose our holiday weight, and with the willpower of Augustus Gloop in a candy store, we often end up stuffing our faces with leftover After Eights and subscribing to a gym which we will never even enter. Grade for effort, A. Grade for accomplishment, F.

This is so much of a widespread trend, that January 5th has been named as National Gym Joining Day, when more self-conscious Brits sign away their hard earned cash; more than any other calendar date of the year.

And this comes as no surprise. On average, we put on 5 pounds of extra weight over the short Christmas period, sat on the couch watching festive favourites and it’s only natural to want to shift the adopted Santa wobble ASAP. The month of January appears to signify a new beginning, a new year, and a new “you” and 2009 is sure to be no different. But with the economic climate as depressing as our increasing waistlines, a gym membership can really only be considered as a luxury for many. So what’s the alternative?

Many faded soap stars suddenly re-emerge with a workout DVD to exploit this ongoing insecurity throughout Britain, and it is often difficult to know which are genuinely effective. However, the announcement of National Gym Joining Day has come after ABBA based workout DVD Gimme Gimme Gimme A Really Great Workout conducted a survey to over 2000 people.

The survey asked a series of questions regarding festive habits, and health plans for the year ahead, proving an interesting insight into the attitudes and behaviours of the body conscious for 2009. A whopping 31% of the surveyed claimed that the first day back at work in the New Year is the day they intend to sign up to the local gym with 7% joining solely because a work colleague had suggested they had put on weight.

Generally speaking, approximately half of those questioned stated that by the sunny months, their gym card was merely collecting dust in the wallets. 52% of those who have previously joined the gym admitted to throwing in the towel after only six months, and 49% state that they now visit less than once a week. Because of this, many are throwing hundreds of pounds down the drain, and not the pounds you want to be losing. 25% of those polled admit to being contracted to an annual membership wasting a huge £600 on average.

So to stick to the resolutions this year, it would appear the gym membership should be scrapped now and not later, despite the National Gym Joining Day title. The survey indicated that although a majority of people genuinely joined to lose weight, the reality of a gym is that it isn’t in your living room. After a day at work, home is where people want to be.

Although a social environment, for many who are not already in shape, the pressure of looking good is often enough to drive many away. In fact, 58% of those surveyed stated they would be more inclined to work out if it were in the comfort of their own home. Enter the workout DVD.

With the past 12 months fuelled with ABBA fever after the musical film Mamma Mia (now the highest grossing film of all time), the theme is certainly one bound to be noticed amongst the hundreds of other workout releases.

On offer from Boxing Day from Fremantle Media, Gimme Gimme Gimme A Really Great Workout is the first exercise regime to be crafted around the celebrated musical of ABBA as performed by Björn Again, ABBA’s most famous tribute act. At a fraction of the cost of the average monthly gym membership, any workout DVD, when done little and often will slowly, but surely, shake off the unwanted weight that has come from gobbling a selection box in five minutes. A minute on the lips no longer has to be a lifetime on the hips.

Rebecca Candler, of Fremantle Media, responded to the survey saying: “The gym clearly doesn’t fix it for all Brits, so it’s great that we can offer those looking make a fresh start in January, a fun and energizing alternative. From reviewing our poll results, it would seem a more effective way to start a fitness programme would be from home, perhaps going for a run, using a local pool or an exercise DVD; this way if the fitness fatigue sets in, no money has been lost.”

So if you want to shed the pounds like the rest of the nation, don’t throw away your money. Save up for a nice holiday in the summer for when you’re back to your pre-Christmas self. Invest in some jogging shoes, get down to the January sales for a new DVD and make a resolution that you will really stick to.

By Karen Asbury