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We will all benefit from putting our fitness first – or, rather, from putting our physical health and wellbeing first. Benefits include (though are far from limited to):
- aiding healthy weight maintenance
- improving mood
- reducing stress and anxiety levels
- improving energy levels
- improving cardiovascular and respiratory health
- improving cognitive function
- improving mobility and flexibility
- reducing soreness from weak and/or imbalanced muscles
If you’re living a sedentary lifestyle at the moment, you should seriously consider bringing in some form of physical activity as a New Year’s resolution.
It doesn’t need to be much: a daily walk, a few trips to the swimming pool every week or a few games of soccer or squash per month will do it. If you’re doing a little at the moment, that’s great: see if you have the time and energy to do a little more.
It can, however, be hard to get started on your fitness journey. For this, it’s always best to approach a local gym, preferably one with a reputation for welcoming newcomers and beginners. They will allow you to try out multiple fitness classes and styles of exercise, will have the expertise to begin you on your journey, and will keep you safe as you do so.
In fact, there are a great many benefits to be gained from joining a local gym this New Year. These include:
- Accountability
- Safety
- Expertise
- Variety
- Company
- Comfort
Choosing a gym
If you’re wondering about looking at either gyms in Dubai or gyms in Abu Dhabi, there are a few good ones to choose from. However, if you’re looking to fulfil a New Year’s resolution as something of a beginner, GymNation would serve you very well.
You will find their gyms welcoming, with an active policy of no-judgments in place. In fact, nearly a third of their members are first-time gym users who are only just starting on their health and fitness journey. There tends to be a good uptick of new members each New Year, so you’ll find yourself in good company.
Cost is also a concern when you’re just starting out. If you’re a beginner, not yet sure where your journey will take you or what facilities you will need longer term, you don’t want to be locked into an expensive, year-long contract, as can often happen.
GymNation is the UAE’s most affordable and flexible gym, with gym memberships starting from AED99 per month and no-contract-cancel-anytime membership options. They are incredibly flexible.
GymNation are also demonstrably passionate in supporting everybody towards their health and fitness goals, whatever they are, whilst keeping costs low at no sacrifice to quality. This is why they offer affordable, flexible memberships that keep you in control as you embark on your training journey. Theirs are some of the largest gym facilities in the UAE, with state-of-the-art Matrix gym equipment. They also offer virtual, on-demand fitness classes, giving you a degree of flexibility over your training and allowing you to take back control.
It is a perfect place to go if you’re looking to shake up your life and begin to put your fitness first.
How to make the most of your gym membership this New Year
It’s no use simply joining a gym and hoping for the best – you need to get yourself down there, and there are some things you need to bear in mind to make the most of it all.
- Go, regularly
If you want to put your fitness first, then you need to show up. Put in the time – there are no excuses.
For example, GymNation’s venues are open 24/7/365. This means that you can work out to your own schedule whilst making the most out of everything their venues have to offer. There is no need to stick to a schedule, just make sure you’re getting down there every couple of days.
A good goal when you’re beginning is to hit around 150-180 minutes of physical activity per week. Don’t worry about what those minutes include, or about hitting any goals (at first), just put the time in.
Try for 3-4 sessions per week, clocking in 45 minutes or so each time. Try 2 sessions in the weights room and 2 classes.
If you simply prefer shorter workouts, their accessibility will allow you to break it down into as many visits as you want, whenever you want. Go for half an hour five or six days per week, or even 20 minutes every day!
- Try a bit of everything and see what you like
Given the variety of classes and equipment that venues like GymNation offer – over 200! – these 150-180 minutes could look very different person to person.
You should feel welcome to keep things varied and eclectic.
Try going for a mixture of styles, if this suits you. Enjoy the cardiovascular health benefits of steady-state training. Build some muscle in their weights areas and work on mobility and flexibility with some yoga. Push and build your aerobic fitness by taking part in more challenging activities like boxing or HIIT.
Variation will keep you from getting bored and uninspired, whilst giving you all the benefits of multiple disciplines and helping you to find what you like to do. A centre like GymNation will facilitate it all.
- Set some achievable, worthwhile goals
There are two phases to beginning this journey. First step: just get involved. As above, just aim to complete 150-180 minutes of activity. This is your first achievable, worthwhile goal.
It won’t last you long. As soon as this activity is a habit (4-6 weeks or so), it stops becoming a goal. It’s an accomplishment. Now you enter the second step: finding SMART, achievable, measurable, specific goals.
If you want to lose weight, aim to lose 6kg in 12 weeks. If you want to put weight on, try aiming for 3kg in 12 weeks. If you want to get stronger, aim to put 40kg on your squats and 60kg onto your deadlifts over six months to a year.
If you do all of these things, you will likely succeed in putting your fitness first this New Year. Make your goals, find a good gym in which to realize them, and commit. Then, it’s just a matter of time until the health benefits start to appear.
