Five reasons going to a big gym sucks and why CrossFit is a better choice.

So you belong to a Big Box gym and I bet it’s beginning to suck right about now. I bet the crowds are bigger than normal, which is usual for this time of year. You have to wait for an open bench, squat rack or even a set of dumbbells to complete your workout. That’s right it’s the yearly migration to the gyms for all the New Years resolution folks. Basically, January through March is gym hell for anyone that calls the place home on a regular basis. If you’ve been going to the gym for more than a year you’ll know what I mean.

If that were not motivation enough to leave right now, let me give you four more reasons to drop your membership and run as fast as you can into the waiting arms of your nearest CrossFit affiliate.

1. Sardines - The big gyms pack people in like sardines. They don’t care how many folks they sign up for a membership, cause it’s all about the money. If you have to wait forty minutes for a piece of equipment because they oversold, it’s no skin off their backs cause they’re rolling in dough.
   
   
2. Trainers - Good luck finding any knowledgeable staff members or “Trainers” to assist you or answer any fitness questions you may have. If you’ve been to most gyms lately you know what I mean. You can instantly tell that the lady/trainer sitting at the desk hasn’t worked out in years. Heck she probably just got done popping a few doughnuts before work and would run out of breath tying her shoes, yet she’s the trainer you have to ask for advice? I don’t think so. Even if you did find someone who looked the part of a trainer, you’d have to pay extra for the privilege to get any help.
   
   
3. Social Hour - Most folks aren’t there to workout, they are there for social hour and they hog up equipment and waste your time. Nothing says intense workout like a newspaper toting, coffee drinking, chatty Cathy.
   
   
4. You must conform - Try and do Overhead Squats, Clean and Jerks or try tossing a Medicine ball at the wall and see how fast you get lectured. The Big Box gyms want uniformity, it’s safe and invites less lawsuits. As long as you only use the equipment in their acceptable manner and it fits their mold your fine. Try to step outside that mold, or give them the feeling that what your doing is unsafe, to you or others and your through.

I’m not saying making the switch is for everyone either. Just yesterday I found out that my workout partner is calling it quits. I was told that the CrossFit workouts are just to hard and they leave her to sore, which makes her unable to function the following day. All I have to say is it ain’t for everyone. But if you want to push the limits of your body and achieve more than you thought possible, maybe it’s time to make the switch.

See you in the hills.

Lance