What Are The Benefits Of Joining A Gym?
Joining a gym can have many positive physical and mental health benefits, and going to the gym regularly can also help you to stay focussed, committed, consistent and accountable, all of which are key for achieving your health goals.
Joining A Gym
Joining a gym at any time of life can be a daunting experience.
However, this post is about to show you 20 positive benefits of joining a gym that might just convince you to sign up.
Especially if you’re over forty!
So if you’re wondering if a gym membership is worth it or not, let me help you decide by showing you the vast benefits that can be enjoyed.
Let’s get into it.
By the way. I think you’ll like the last one đ
Contents
The Obvious Benefits of Joining a Gym
1. Improved Health
Let’s start with the obvious. When you start going to the gym regularly and are smashing the cardio and weights, you’re definitely going to see an improvement in your overall health and wellbeing.
This includes a stronger, healthier heart and set of lungs and improved muscle strength – great if you want to live longer đ
Working out regularly can also reduce your risk of injury and illness as well as preventing osteoporosis (bone weakness/loss).
Your efforts may also lower your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes (type II).
Additionally, lifting weights regularly can be a more effective way to lose weight than only doing cardio such as running, cycling, or swimming.
There are three main reasons for this.
- Your metabolism stays higher for longer after a weights session
- Muscle regeneration. Your body uses calories to rebuild your muscles after a weights session (when your muscles ache)
- BMR. Once you have stronger muscles, you use more calories to feed them
2. Equipment & Expert Knowledge
Most gyms are going to be full of everything you’ll ever need for your workouts. From rowing machines to saunas, treadmills to free weights, whatever fitness goals you want to achieve you’ll find the equipment to get you there at the gym.
Additionally, there should always be a qualified instructor in your gym to help you use the machines and exercise correctly. Priceless when you’re just starting out.
Regardless of the equipment and space you have at home, you’re going to struggle to compete with the resources and expertise of any gym.
3. Classes & Community
Then, of course, there are the classes and a community of people all with the same intentions as you. Getting fit.
Spinning, Yoga, Crossfit, you name it…
Most gyms offer loads of classes these days at different times of the day to suit your needs. They can be hugely motivating and help you move closer to your health goals more quickly.
As adults with jobs and kids, it’s often difficult to expand our social circle outside of the usual places; work, school, the local pub.
However, hitting the gym regularly will allow you to make friends with a variety of different people with similar health goals to you. Having friends to meet and work out with can be one of the most motivating factors in reaching your health goals.
Of course, getting to the gym in the first place is going to take time, energy and planning, which might be easier than you think when you get these steps right.
The Additional Benefits of Joining a Gym
4. Increase Your Chances of Actually Getting Fit
A recent study (2017) at Iowa University found that people who belonged to a gym not only exercised more â for both aerobic activity and strength training â they also had better cardiovascular health outcomes. Those health benefits were even greater for people who had a gym membership for more than a year.
The report’s author Duck-chul (DC) Lee, said: âGym members were 14 times more aerobically active than non-members and 10 times more likely to meet muscle-strengthening guidelines, regardless of their age and weight.â The results were similar in both men and women.
The study also discovered that 75% of study participants with gym memberships, compared to 18% of non-members, met current health guidelines (about 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity each week).
Proof that joining a gym will dramatically increase your chances of getting fit!
Additionally, while you could argue that any of the following benefits could be achieved from keeping up any exercise routine, either at the gym or not, this benefit alone makes the following all the more possible.
If you’re now wondering how often you should be going to the gym, this article will answer that.
5. Increased Energy Levels
Fact. Exercise increases energy levels and helps you feel more alert.
If you often feel tired throughout the day and can only dream of having the energy levels of a 5-year-old, then Iâve got news for you.
Only by running and skipping around like a 5-year-old will you feel like one! (Catch22).
Yep, all that huffing and puffing as you workout in the gym is going to improve your lung capacity, which will allow for much more oxygen to be pumped into your brain and bloodstream helping you feel more alert and ready for action (or like a 5-year-old).
In addition, regular exercise helps your blood to circulate oxygen to your muscles more efficiently giving you a heightened level of energy production.
6. Reduced Hip & Back Pain
My own journey to joining the gym began when a crippling back pain saw me head to a physio for answers.
She told me about the benefits of joining a gym and also advised me to start running, swimming, and stretching.
She was right, and although Iâm in no position to give you medical advice (consult your doctor, okay) by regularly working out and strengthening my hamstrings, core, lower back and overall body has improved my back pain immeasurably.
But donât just take my word for it, The Arthritis Foundation recommends physical activity and strength training as the main defence against hip and back pain â and although you could achieve this at home â see point 4.
7. Improved Balance & Flexibility
I recently asked stretching and flexibility expert Brad Walker from The Stretch Coach what happens to our bodies as we age and what we can do to keep ourselves flexible, well-balanced, and pain-free? His response:
âIf you donât use it (your body), youâre going to lose it.â
âAs we age all of our muscles and soft tissues begin to shorten and shrink and we lose a lot of elasticity so everything from the ligaments, muscles, and tendons start to shorten, contract, and tighten up (which is why old people shrink in height and appear bent over).
âBy keeping our muscles strong and stretching (as you should be doing before and after your workout) itâs really going to help you move around without restriction and without aches or pains. What most people donât realise is that most of their problems can be solved with just a little bit of relief from that painful area.â
Naturally, when your body is stronger, more flexible, and better aligned, youâre going to benefit from better balance too.
Perfect if you donât want to fall over whilst doing your âDad Danceâ at family parties or when you hit the playground with your kids.
8. Improved Physique & Posture
It goes without saying really, but regular exercise and strength training will (eventually) change your body shape, help you lose weight (when combined with a healthy diet â see point 12), and improve your posture.
If like most middle-aged men, you sit and work at a desk all day, then youâre probably going to suffer from upper and lower back pain at some point, as well as rounded shoulders (upper crossed syndrome) too.
There are plenty of YouTube videos on this subject, such as this one from Athlean-X which has more than 14,000,000 views.
For me, this is one of the biggest benefits of joining a gym and getting fit and strong in my forties. If I donât fix my hideous posture and physique now, itâs only going to get worse and cause me more problems in the future.
9. Motivation, Commitment & Accountability
While working out at home has its benefits, it can also spell disaster for your motivation and commitment to getting your routine done.
Plus there’s little accountability.
With a million distractions and the kids around your ankles, excuses like âIâll work out when the kids are in bedâ or âIâll do it after dinnerâ will most of the time turn into âIâll do it tomorrow.â Which of course, never comes.
Without real focus and a solid routine to follow, your motivation and commitment to really getting fit and strong are going to be in jeopardy from day one.
Hitting the gym a few times a week, with no other distractions, and really committing to that program will not only help to keep you on track but keep you firmly motivated and committed to the cause.
Additionally, when you’ve paid your membership, you’ve made yourself more accountable to actually turning up or that money is just going to be wasted.
Plus, if you’ve made friends at the gym or are going to the gym with friends you’re more likely to show up as they’re going to be expecting to see you!
Accountability is one of the major factors in being consistent, and consistency is definitely what counts!
10. Create Positive Habits
You are what you do.
Although working out can be tough and a lot of times we just donât feel like doing it â sometimes just getting through the door of the gym can be motivation enough to do a little bit.
But that can be the difference between doing something or doing nothing.
And that means everything.
When you stick to a routine and live by it, youâre creating a positive habit that is eventually going to define who you are.
After all⊠what you do today, defines your tomorrow.
James Clear has great resources all about creating good habits and breaking bad ones.
11. Stress Relief, Decreased Anxiety & Better Sleep
For reasons that are still not completely understood, research suggests that exercise can significantly improve sleep while reducing stress, anxiety, and depression.
Whether it be from the action of actually tiring yourself out through exercise, a change in your body temperature, or the time that you work out, it seems that building a good workout session into your daily routine is going to help you sleep better at night â helping feel more rested during the day.
Through increased oxygen levels in the blood, endorphins, and a change in focus, exercise has been proven over and over again to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression.
Thereâs a reason why the phrase âHealthy body, healthy mindâ is still going around.
12. Drink More Water & A Better Diet
Iâve no idea how much water we should be drinking on a daily basis but know this; Drinking more water every day is going to make you feel better. After all, our bodies are made up of 60% water, so we sort of need it.
When youâre in the gym working out, youâre going to be thirsty so do yourself a favour and drink plenty of water before, during, and after your gym session to dramatically increase your water consumption.
Although youâll be sweating during your workouts, therefore, negating the increase in water somewhat, by making it a habit to drink more H20 your skin and organs are going to thank you. Check out these stats:
According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are watery: 31%.
Point taken, Dr. Mitchell.
I donât know about you, but when I finish a good work out and I’m feeling fitter and stronger, I’m much more likely to nourish my body with goodness rather than junk food.
So naturally, just by hitting the gym and feeling positive about your health is going to help you make better choices in what you feed your body.
Drinking plenty of water, eating a healthy diet plus exercising is the only recipe you need for a strong, healthy body and mind.
13. Improved Sperm Quality
This obviously only applies to us blokes, but moderate exercise three times a week can improve the amount, quality, and health of your sperm according to this 2016Â study.
In addition to your regular workout (about 30 minutes on a treadmill three times a week), losing weight, less alcohol, and stopping smoking could help you get the bun in the oven quicker.
14. Weight Loss (or Muscle Growth)
If youâre combining a healthy, balanced diet, drinking plenty of water with regular exercise at the gym (see point 4, point 9, and point 12) youâre more than likely going to lose weight (if thatâs your goal).
Or, if like me you want to improve your strength, physique, posture, and gain weight then smashing the gym is the place to work towards those goals too.
15. Better Skin
Exercise stimulates blood flow and nourishes skin cells with oxygen and nutrients making your skin clearer and reducing ageing. This improved blood flow also helps carry away waste products and free radicals from working cells.
Plus it promotes a healthier diet, getting more sleep and drinking more water.
Before you know it LâOrĂ©al will be asking for your phone number!
16. The Geel-Good Factor â Endorphins
Simply put, exercise increases the production of endorphins which is known to produce positive feelings and in general improve happiness.
Gotta love those endorphins, man.
17. A Sharper, More Focussed Mind
Exercise directly results in improved in brainpower and memory.
All that oxygen and increased blood flow hitting your brain will do wonders for your cognitive state. And, the more you do it, the sharper youâll become.
With sharper brain functionality, more energy, and focus, which other parts of your life might see an improvement?
18. The Gift of Time
One of the biggest excuses that people use for not going to the gym is that they donât have the time. This can be especially true when youâre middle-aged with work, a home, family, and ageing parents to look after.
But what if we think about it like thisâŠ
What if the few hours per week that you spend in the gym now could actually add years to your life? Would that be worth it?
What about the extra energy and zest that exercise will give you? Youâll be quicker on your feet, more agile, sharper â and what if that sharpness was to improve your ability to work harder, smarter? Could you retire earlier?
What about those serious health issues you could avoid later down the line because of your new healthy lifestyle? The time wasted sitting in waiting rooms and collecting pills?
What if those few hours per week that you sacrifice now could give you the gift of time later in life. Would that be worth it?
19. Increased Testosterone
Even in older men, exercise can increase your testosterone levels â the hormone that feeds your fire as well as many other âmaleâ characteristics â and so can increase your sperm levels, sex drive, and your overall mood.
Which is lucky if youâre thinking about benefit 20.
20. Better Sex!
As middle-aged men with families, work, and stress on your plate, sex may not be as regular and as fun as it was before the kids came along.
Your romantic evenings have been replaced by just staying awake long enough to watch the news before falling asleep on the sofa with a can of beer and a few crisps squashed between your legs. Sexy!
However with improved health, flexibility, and stamina, a stronger body, better skin, more energy, and more testosterone you might just find yourself hitting a few more home runs than usual!
If I still haven’t convinced you that joining a gym is a great way to get fit and stay fit (especially when you’re over 40) then check out this article:Â The 5 Most Effective Dumbbell Exercises You Can Do At Home.
Conclusion
So there you have it.
Some pretty strong evidence to suggest that joining a gym might just make you fitter, stronger and healthier than you have been for years.
But not just that.
There’s the increased flexibility and better skin.Â
More energy, endorphins and testosterone pulsing through your blood could mean your wife/partner is going to find your new appetite for life irresistible, and it could add years to your life!