2019-02-17 11:28:47

Hello all. I am quite an athletic person, but do mostly at home body workouts. However, recently, I got a gym membership. I often go with my sister, however, the thing is she always has to help me start the machines, which can be annoying at times. So, I was just wonderring how you all handled going to a public gym, if you had any tips or ideas to make it easy, not embaressing, and as independant as possible. In short terms, accessible, especially when it comes to machine equipment like tred mills, or bikes. Also, just being oriented and knowing where the different machine types are and how they are arranged.

Why didn't the Romans find algebra difficult?
because x is always 10!

2019-02-17 13:35:51

I'd suggest going in at a quieter time the first time,  a Tuesday at 11 ETC, with a friend and just walking around a bit, paying particular attention to head height obstacles (just last week I almost lost an eye by walking in to a pull down bar that was just floating around in the middle of nowhere ).
With machines, it really varies. I've been in gyms where all the machines are the same and so if you know how to use one treadmill you know how to use all of them, and some where literally nothing is the same, so it really comes down to luck.
Generally though, just make sure you know where the quick start and resistance/speed/inclination/emergency stop (depending on the machine) buttons are. If your gym has spinning bikes (the ones where you control the resistance with a nob), I tend to prefer those because then you don't need to deal with a screen at all.
Free weights, dumbbells barbells etc, tend to be a bit of a challenge, just because you can't grab a couple and just keep them for more than 5 minutes without seeming like an utter jerk unless it's a super big gym or it's just very empty. For those I'd really suggest finding a gym buddy, in your case your sister, because while dumbbells are pretty straight forward, it can sometimes be a pain to find other types of weights if you're looking for something specific. Plus, blind person alone with heavy weights and no cane walking around a generally semi crowded area which is how weight racks tend to be is just asking for something to go wrong. Also handy to have a spotter instead of asking a random person. I just take a friend along and ask them to hand me my weights while they're grabbing theirs.
When changing weights on machines, make sure no one else is using a nearby machine before reaching for the weights, sometimes machines are connected and the weights they use are close to each other, so you can get your fingers nicely crushed if you're doing it for the first time and aren't sure which plates you need. I tend to just ask someone to show me the first two or three times just to be safe, unless the machine is completely not connected to anything else.
Someone feel free to correct me if I missed something/if you disagree.

2019-02-18 19:50:45

some ideas are in post once, here

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