True Confessions of A Gym Bunny

WHAT I AM about to say may sound totally contradictory (it really isn't), but stop wasting your time going to the gym.

OK, I've said it.

Why, after more than 30 years of steady gym attendance, am I suggesting this?

Well, after careful consideration, I realized that gym membership was costing a great deal more than I ever thought.

I know it sounds crazy coming from a gym bunny like me, but, if we're perfectly honest, the gym doesn't work for the majority of people who have memberships.

For me, I just started thinking critically about what the gym was really costing me, and here's what I discovered.

As I was sitting impatiently, once again, in maddening traffic, I thought about how much time I was spending just driving to the gym. On average, it's about a 20-minute ride, on a good day. If all is well, that's 40 minutes round-trip. Then, of course, there's parking, which could take an additional 5 or 10 minutes, on any given day. So, now I've racked up 30 minutes and I haven't even gotten to the locker room yet. Then there's the line to check in, find a locker and, naturally, now it's time to go to the bathroom. Finally, now 40 minutes later, I'm running to get to the last treadmill or elliptical. Otherwise, there's another wait for the equipment.

Do I really want to expend this type of daily effort just getting to the gym? After 32 years, that's more than 7,500 hours (more than 300 days) of wasted time.

Then, of course, there are the gym fees. When I first started working out, gyms were rare and rather pricey, but, even with today's more moderate fees, I estimate that I've spent a whopping $16,000 on membership fees alone. Then there are the incidental expenses like parking, gas and the occasional protein bar. Since I went to the gym nearly every day, that daily $18 really adds up to a pretty penny.

Lest we forget, gyms attract all sorts of people (some who are mentally disturbed), and gyms are a virtual cesspool of germs. I have seen some of the worst of the worst behavior in the gym, from low-level offenses, like cursing and spitting, all the way to fistfights and gunslinging.

Apparently, there are no boundaries or codes of decorum in the gym.

Aside from the bad behavior, there's the filthy side of the gym. Sadly, most gyms are so busy keeping profits high, they forget about lots of the basics: sanitation, customer service, soap, toilet paper, clean showers, clean facilities and clean equipment. Oh, yeah, and who cares about broken equipment and broken lockers?

Now, those are my reasons for giving the gym the boot, but when you consider that 80 percent of gym members don't even use the facility, that is truly a waste. In other words, 80 percent of gym members are subsidizing the 20 percent who attend the gym regularly.

On the other hand, if you can walk to your gym in five to 10 minutes, are going to visit regularly (four to five times a week) and have a reasonably inexpensive membership, then go for it!

Stay tuned: In two weeks I'll offer my alternative tips to the gym.