Are you doing enough work in the gym?
Despite spending an average of two-hours a week at the gym, researchers found for one in three of us less than five minutes of that time is spent building up a sweat.
The remainder of the time is spent chatting with friends and reading whilst on the treadmill.
A quarter even owned up to spending more time relaxing in the sauna or hot tub than they do on any of the exercise machines. One in ten said they like to ‘chill-out’ around the pool, and some even watch music videos. Even more bizarrely, one in twenty head to their local gym to watch football matches on a big screen TV.
It’s no wonder then that nearly two-thirds of gym members claim to not make the most of their subscription.
A spokesperson for Kettler, makers of home sports equipment, who commissioned the research said:
”This research appears that not all gym users are making the most of their time at the gym.
”There seems little point in paying high membership fees if you are not making use of your time at the gym.
”Some gyms fees can cost up to £2,000 a year which is a huge amount of money to shell out, especially if you are reading whilst on the treadmill or cross-trainer.
”Whilst you need to warm down and chilling around the pool is great, it does seem a little pointless paying for the use of high-tech machines if you are not using them properly.”
The research also revealed one in ten fitness enthusiasts said they only joined the gym to meet the opposite sex, while 10% signed-up because it’s the trendy thing to do.
Furthermore, one in twenty only attend the gym because it’s part of their benefits package at work.
More than half of the 2000 gym goers polled said they don’t do extensive work-outs, and 29% said they never break a sweat. In fact 9% said they would actually be embarrassed if they did start to sweat.
Women were the worst offenders, saying that they were concerned that their make-up will smudge or that their hair will frizz if they perspire too much.
40% of people agreed that women were definitely the sex more guilty of not using the gym for a proper work-out.
More than one in ten said they are too self-conscious to do a proper workout and wouldn’t want people looking at them.
It’s easy to be self-conscious when you get tied up in a machine- 39% said they weren’t sure about how to use some equipment so didn’t want to look stupid.
The Kettler spokesman continued:
”It’s understandable that people feel self-conscious at the gym, especially if you have joined up to lose a large amount of weight.
”It can be intimidating standing next to really toned bodies or hardcore fitness fans, especially if you are unsure of how to operate equipment.
”You don’t necessarily have to join the swankiest gym in town to get fit, plenty of exercise can be done in the comfort of your own home without prying eyes.”
The study also found that 29% of people head to the gym just to get out of the house.
A crafty 13% will even claim to go off the gym, but in actual fact go somewhere else entirely.
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