It’s kind of a bittersweet experience that my gym membership at Anytime Fitness will come to end this month. It was a place where my habit and routine of exercising developed but somehow along the way, I felt that it was not exactly necessary for me. Let me explain:
I signed up for the gym membership a few months into my work because I felt that using the SGactive gym was a little too troublesome… The public gyms were often crowded, and this meant that I had to wait around to use the weights etc. It made sense for me to sign up for a gym membership if I were to use it regularly and cut down on the sharing time. So I signed up at ATF under the healthcare heroes promo and got a rather affordable rate for 1 year.
Initially, things were fun and diversified. There were classes for me to join and there was gym equipment for me to use. I didn’t have to ‘force’ myself to any routine and exercising was fun! I remember I could choose to attend kickboxing classes, yoga or HIIT classes whenever I did not feel like doing a ‘normal’ gym workout.
Unfortunately, all these group classes grinded to a stop due to COVID-19 and I only had the choice to do the normal workouts myself or use the track mill. As my goal of going to the gym is not really to lift a 120 kg of weight etc, it became somewhat a chore to me to head down to the gym almost 3-4 times a week out of obligation as I didn’t want to ‘waste’ my membership. This continued till Circuit breaker this year when all gyms were closed. Initially I was a little frantic because it was obviously a disruption to my weekly routine. What if I became weaker after a month?! Well, dengue happened so it didn’t really matter haha.
Even after I recovered from dengue, the gyms weren’t allowed to open yet! Thus, I reverted back to basics: HIIT and running outdoors. I found different YouTube channels which provided free workouts including HIIT, Pilates, yoga and weights workout. On days where the weather was cooling, I would go for a short run. These made me realize that hey! I do not actually need a gym to be healthy and fit! And to be honest, I was really getting bored of heading to the gym aimlessly for 3-4 times a week (ok, I still did proper workouts but just not as motivated before).
While going back to basics may take some time for me to grow accustom to, I’m confident that I’ll be able to enjoy those free youtube workouts in no time just at the comforts of my home. T&I also ordered a combined 105kg paired dumbbell set so that we can exercise at home as well. Well, I’m actually glad cb happened as it showed me the things which I could possibly live without and gym is probably one of them. Cheers to ~$1000k ++ savings per year from now on!
Questions to ask yourself when you are considering a gym membership:
1. Would you utilize it often enough such that the cost per visit is justified?
a. For me, each visit turned out to be around $7-$10 depending on the frequency I visited the gym. It was worthwhile when there were lessons because it was one of the main pull factors that got me signed up. However, with group classes put on indefinite halt, I don’t think $7-$10 for a normal gym work out (mostly dumbbell, machines and the track mill) is worth it for me.
2. Is the gym accessible?
a. IMO, I think the gym should be close to your house to save you some travelling time. If it takes an hour for you to travel, you might end up going to the gym less and less when life hits you.
3. Do you need the fancy equipment?
a. After trying out lifting and the squatting rack, I realized that I really have no passion to be those heavy weightlifters. Sure, they are really impressive, but I’m really not game for it haha.
b. If you are just like me, perhaps it would be less stressful and more cost effective to invest in a yoga mat and a set of dumbbells for home workout
If you are interested where I got my weights from, I got it from ezbuy: https://m.ezbuy.sg/product/51000600897119.html
I have not received it yet but so far the reviews are good! Will update once I receive it :>
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