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It's more relief than smugness. Gyms always seemed to let me down: onerous contracts, complex or buggy booking platforms/procedures, unhygienic, stuffy, rigid c
by nomilk 3y ago
It's more relief than smugness. Gyms always seemed to let me down: onerous contracts, complex or buggy booking platforms/procedures, unhygienic, stuffy, rigid class start times and open hours. Gaining self-sufficiency made me incredibly happy/relieved.
The final straw was when I wanted to pause the membership the gym required "supporting documentation" (i.e. flight or hotel itinerary). I cringed so hard. When I cancelled they charged 2 weeks because that's just normal. Stripe and apple subscriptions let you finish your currently billing period when you cancel, but certainly don't charge you for the next 2 billing periods. I found it so backward. Charging people for what they're clearly not using is kinda sleazy IMO (I know the article sheds light on why gyms do that - that's how they make most their money!)
Also, at least half of the utility of exercise for me is mental (as opposed to physical). So clicking on poorly made apps and dealing with contracts was the opposite effect I was hoping to experience, meanwhile breathing fresh air in nature while working out is very mentally relaxing and pleasant.
Tl;dr I got bitten a bunch of times by super lame or unnecessarily onerous gym processes, hence why becoming self sufficient made me so happy.
- Dr_Birdbrain 3y agoI also discovered outdoor calisthenics over the pandemic. Massive upgrade in every way :)
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- namaria 3y ago> onerous contracts, complex or buggy booking platforms/procedures, unhygienic, stuffy, rigid class start times and open hours. Damn. You pretty much just described civilization right there.
- prodent 3y ago> rigid class start times This one doesn't count. Can't have a class without a fixed start time.
- nomilk 3y agoConsider comparing to gyms that only offer classes. The gym might offer 10-20 time slots per day. Whereas self sufficiency enables infinitely many start times. Very useful under certain circumstances. Examples: finish work very late (when no classes are scheduled), intend to train but shortly before class recognise a need for more of a warm up (I've heard this happens with experienced gym goers, not just newbie folks like myself). With a class you can't always turn up late and you almost certainly can't delay its start time. But with self sufficient training, you can start late if your body requires more warming up; it can start any time you want it to.
- creer 3y agoNo need to go half way: It IS sleazy. The gym utility should be mental: encouraging you to go. But it's the incentive again: the gym owner feels they must squeeze money from any patron they get - and that includes not encouraging them to come. Making the gym more like home and a welcoming place means fewer memberships can be sold. Bad incentives all around. And so for me the answer has been to work out at home. Finding a routine that requires little equipment and doing THAT right.