You can exercise almost anywhere. However, a gym membership enables you to obtain the exercise you need to stay or become healthy, and it provides other benefits. Some people prefer to exercise on their own, but they miss what gym memberships can offer. The most important part is that a gym membership is the ultimate motivator: Spending money on it will make you want to use it often.
Feel Better
Buying a gym membership gives you a feeling that you are doing something to feel better. According to "The Influence of Exercise on Mental Health," by Arizona State University Professor Daniel M. Landers, evidence shows that exercise corresponds with positive mental health and relief from depression and anxiety.
Look Better
Equipment and classes at a gym will help you burn fat and build muscle. Your gym membership will give you all the tools to tighten saggy and flabby parts of your body and turn them into toned, attractive attention-grabbers. A gym membership can make you much more appealing to the opposite sex, as well.
Live Longer
Using a gym membership will allow you to add years to your life. The Associated Press in 2005 reported that researchers discovered that life expectancy for 50-year-olds who engaged in high amounts of activity lived on average 3 1/2 years longer; those who engaged in medium levels lived 1 1/2 years longer.
Make Friends
A gym fosters interaction among patrons. Sharing equipment and space with others often leads to conversation. Classes offered at gyms provide opportunities to make friends, since people come to a common place consistently to engage in the same activity.
Learn About Exercise
Gym memberships include access to personal trainers, training programs and educational materials. Increased knowledge will give you more power and tools to improve your level of fitness and health. Part of what you pay for is the expertise of people who know how to improve health and fitness.
Competition
For those who love competition, a gym membership provides access to impromptu basketball and volleyball games, and possibly also orchestrated leagues. In addition, you can compete with others in the weight room to see who can lift more weight or on the treadmills to see who can run faster.
Efficiency
You can take care of all your health and fitness needs at the gym when you have a membership. Most gyms offer scales, body-fat meters and showers. Some have childcare and smoothie bars. Taking care of all those activities at separate places would take more time and possibly cost more money.
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