Are you getting the most out of your apartment gym?

Just In Time Personal Training Residential apartment developments are increasingly spending more on the fit-out of their gyms and making them so much more appealing than in years gone by. Not only by way of the quality equipment and more spacious layout of the gym but even looking at improved ways of swaying potential apartment buyers with add-ons. One example in a residential apartment complex that I know of has its gym staffed for 35 hours per week and that includes fitness assessments, program designs and daily exercise classes for all gym-inducted residents. So, as you can see, there is becoming an increasingly reduced need for residents of apartment complexes to leave the confines of their own building. Gym inductions are also moving away from the once per week visit from a personal trainer that comes in and delivers a group gym induction to 24/7 accessible video gym, pool and facility inductions. There are many choices to join local Southbank gyms such as SNAP, Genesis and F45. But living in a Southbank apartment, unless you don’t have an adequate gym, have a specific need or desire for a certain piece of equipment and/or want a little music and an upbeat vibe, I would have to say, “why would you?”. To join any of these gyms will be an extra expense and the cheapest gym membership you will find these days sits at around $12.95 per month (just over $670 per year) but can extend out to as much as $3000 per year (don’t forget the extra expense of joining and exit fees – seriously why are you being charged for their admin time and/or banking fees? It should be included for gaining your custom!). While body corporate fees cover your “free” gym membership, it is fair to say that the saved $670 to $3000 a year could be used to hire the services of a personal trainer. And for as little as a once-off $100, they can design you a personal program to make the very most of your apartment gym. The trainer can consider your posture, your health, pre-existing injuries or conditions and tailor a program that is right for you. The sad reality in this day and age is that any gym you go to these days, instead of advice, guidance and program design forming part of your gym membership, you actually have to hire the services of a personal trainer for this which I think is wrong (but that’s another story for another day!). As a result of this it is fair to say that the techniques and correct application of exercises continues to get worse! As an established mobile personal trainer in Melbourne who frequents many residential apartment complexes, my team and I see some seriously bad and increasingly regular, dangerous exercise movements. There is no guidance for the general gym user in an apartment gym and in commercial gyms the service, from my experience and helping people, is close to non-existent! Everything has become about a financial transaction before advice, guidance or help is offered. Back to the point of this article and that is to advise you to please take the time to have a fully-qualified and experienced personal trainer come to you and your apartment gym and help to not only show you through a personally designed program, but also educate you as to why you should be doing the devised exercises and ensure that you can do them well on your own. Injury is an all-too-common occurrence from following a “one-size fits all” generic program that you can pick up off the internet or by following some amazing “attractive” male or female Instagram trainer! Avoid injury, minimise poor posture and poor exercise technique and get a safe, specific and relevant exercise program for you and then make the most of what your apartment gym has to offer! For a free 12-point checklist to help select the right personal trainder for your needs, feel free to send me an email and I will send it to you. I hope this has been helpful and I urge you to make the most of your apartment gym! For a more information, exercise guidance or if you have any questions feel free to contact me by heading to justintimept.com •