I always find it interesting when I see folks make comments about all of the “new people” at the gym this time of year. The new year has started, and the masses are out. It happens. January comes, and the guilt of the holiday indulgence overwhelms, and a gym membership is started. The marketing is strong, and the promise of 6 packs and lean, muscular builds, gets people to sign up. I’ll be the first to admit… I was someone that complained about the “newbies” at the gym. “Why is it so damn crowded?” “I can’t wait till all of these ‘new year resolution’ people quit, and this place is back to normal.” I get it. I don’t like waiting for equipment either. I’m impatient in the gym as anyone. However, after seeing so many people complain about the “gym newbies” in various forums; I gave it another thought. We’ve got it ALL WRONG. It’s the EXACT OPPOSITE. We should be encouraging these people, and hope they stick it out, and get healthy. ( Just because I’m saying this, it’s not a ‘free pass’ to do curls in the squat rack. That’s just immoral and wrong). It’s far easier to demonize the folks coming into the gym for the first time, and root for them to fail, so the gym goes back to “the way it outta be”. It’s easier to do that, then it is to say “hello”, possibly make a friend, encourage someone to actually hit their goals, instead of becoming a New Year’s Resolution statistic. But.. we often forget, that there was a time that we stepped into the gym for the first time. We were ‘newbies’ once. We were likely intimidated as anyone can be. Wondering what the ‘regulars’ think of us. Thinking “hey, am I doing this right?” We should want them to be in the gym. ESPECIALLY if they have health issues. Actually, we would be a much better country and population if everyone had a gym membership on January 1, and crowded the hell out of the gym. Yup. There will be people that fail, and don’t make it very long trying to get healthy, and go back to the same habits that led to bad health in the first place. But you know what… if everyone went, and were encouraged, some ( maybe even more) would make it, stick with it, get healthier, and make better choices. EVERYONE should want this; there’s a lot of reasons why.
Right now, 1 out of every 5 dollars in the US economy is spent on healthcare. That’s not just alarming and sad, but I’ll use a favorite buzzword here… It’s not “sustainable.” The costs don’t look to go down any time soon (unless we make some changes, which aren’t as major as one would think; more on this later). It’s no secret that health insurance costs have gone up in recent years, and no matter what you believe politically, most folks don’t love the idea of their insurance costs, prescription costs, and drug costs, all going up simultaneously. However, for insurance companies, drug companies, and other healthcare organizations to stay afloat, they have to raise prices. This is because we’re a very sick population, which is largely our own doing, through lifestyle choices.
Our population is extremely sedentary, and on top of that, we eat and drink terribly. Right now, everyone reading this has a 70-80% chance of dying from one of the following: atherogenic diseases ( heart and cerebrovascular diseases), cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases ( like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s). Alzheimer’s, in particular has been on the rise; over the 50 years, this increased in incidence 2.6% per year. I’m guessing some of the increase is due to being able to better diagnose the disease, but nonetheless, it’s a scary increase. What do all 3 of these disease areas have in common? ( Besides costing an obscene amount of money to treat), the all have metabolic indications, and lifestyle choices are implicated in the disease state. What does this really mean? It means that if we lay off the sugar, and move our bodies in a smart way, we might be able to prolong and improve our quality of life, and possibly nullify, or delay the onset of these shit diseases. That’s really an oversimplification, but not by much. What changes can we make as a population to significantly reduce our healthcare costs, and risk of death? We can start by encouraging that new guy or gal at the gym. We can do it be encouraging them to make better lifestyle choices: to read, to educate themselves. These steps are pretty small, but could lead to a pretty big impact on our economy and quality of life. Now… does this mean that they guy that eats kale and works out 7 days a week won’t get cancer and die? Of course not. However, kale guy ( and by the way, kale tastes like dirt, but dear lord is it nutrient dense.. but I digress) reduces his risk by doing so.
So, enough whining about the gym being crowded with the New Year’s resolution folks. Nobody likes waiting for a bench. But…nobody likes paying so much in health insurance, nobody likes cancer and Alzheimer’s. Nobody likes seeing people suffer. If you’re one of the genetically gifted freaks that can eat carbs and stay lean,… good for you; but it will likely catch up to you one day… you should still move your body, and lay off the sugar. If you’re new at the gym, and struggle with your weight, stick the eff with it! It’s worth it. You’re reducing your risk of disease just by being there ( as long as you’re not licking the dumbbells, but that’s probably some other disease entirely). Let’s be happy to see the people in the gym, and let’s hope they stay; if not for just being a good person, then for the sake of your own wallet. However…whatever you do… don’t do curls in the damn squat rack.
Andrew L Hamilton 