To join a gym?

[likelysuspect]

Will I go?

Do people go?

Ive never even been inside a gym, I suppose I could go and visit to see how it feels

I dont actually like moving around.

Im an older lady who needs to get some muffin top off. HRT and AD's have done for me. I need to get a stone off I reckon.

Will it be like the countless exercise bikes Ive had over the years which make smashing clothes hangers?

Give it a go! The best thing you can do is get a PT for a month or so and learn how to lift weights. It so so important for women to maintain muscle and bone mass as we get older.

Your legs and back are the biggest muscle groups in the body and if they are strong then it will fire up your whole metabolism and help with the muffin top as well.

What @LiveLaughGoblin said. I started going to my local gym at 50, had some sessions with a woman PT who drew up a cardio & strength training plan for me & its been brilliant.

I am a total gym convert. At 49 i wanted to develop my flexibility and strength. The lad at the gym did a program for me and i have been going multiple times a week to lift weights and, and this is a real shocker for me, enjoying it!! It is hard, but in a fun way!! I have always been chubby and peri has piled on the pounds but because I am heavy I am also strong and looking forward to getting stronger. Make sure you get a proper program done! Good luck!

I'm 63 and go 4 times a week and lift heavy. I have a PT once a week. The people who go to the gym are lovely. Quite a lot of older ones and about 5 of my neighbours go which is fun as we encourage each other.
It's "The gym group" I go to and pay £20 a month. I can walk there in under 10 minutes which is great!

Please note I have not lost any weight as I probably eat too much but I don't put it on now. So do look at your diet if it's weight loss you want.

I would highly recommend small group style classes. Much easier to want to go back if you have friendly faces and an instructor safely guiding you, rather than walking into a room full of exercise bikes and weights not knowing what to do.
I’m
naturally lazy but once I force myself to go regularly and build the habit it just becomes part of your life, same as brushing your teeth or doing the grocery shopping does.

Depends on your goals. Exercise is a great way to keep fit and healthy, especially strength training. After your 30s your muscle mass declines with age unless you strength train, it’s a use it or lose it situation.

Exercise is not a great tool for weight loss though. It’s kind of like going swimming as a way of getting a wash. It’s better than nothing, but there are far more efficient ways of achieving that goal. I.e. sort out your nutrition.

My diet is good, generally speaking, I used to do a lot of walking and since I dropped that, and the HRT and the AD's I think the combination has caused this hang over the top of my trousers.

Plus Im not very fit so need to either get back to that (which is free of course) or do something with weights I thought.

Im not sure I could do 4 times a week

I’m in my 50s and I go 3 times a week plus 1/2 classes.
I haven’t lost much but I can feel massive changes in my strength and movement.

I go to a local authority gym, most people seem older than me when I go. I think all the teenagers go early evening.

Going to the gym won’t make you thin !! Get a couple of personal training sessions for confidence. Lift some weights and eat more protein and less rubbish then when you loose weight you will look and feel better xx. Try a class if it’s more motivating

Im thinking about PT, but how do you know if someone is any good?

Im not aiming to be thin, Im not particularly overweight by BMI, perhaps half a stone, but I would like to be stronger and lose the muffin top.

Interesting the local council gym is way more expensive than PureGym which is my closest gym

There is a PT gym, some little place in the other direction, that is quite expensive though, or a Bannatynes, dread to think how much that would be.

Our council gym is really expensive too. I only go 4 X per week as I'm retired now. It was harder before.

I've been on and off with gyms for years. I'm just about to start with a PT who, while self-employed, works under the umbrella of the local gym and was up on a poster with the rest of the trainers.
I chose him because he's the only who specialises in working with seniors - I'm 70. He looks about the same, but you can never tell with Australians. I'll be paying per session - no contract.

I'm reasonably fit and slim but want an exercise regime that acknowledges the utter fun of rotator cuff problems and other issues that can be a bugger as one ages.

@likelysuspect make sure you get a proper intro to the gym, where weights machines are demonstrated, with correct posture, etc.

Timing of your visits is useful - afternoons, especially Friday and Saturday sees off the gym bunnies who sit doomscrolling while pretending to rest between sets.

It might be worth investigating a women only gym, if only because I've never heard women banging the weights as they use weights above their capacity. Or grunting.

Good luck, OP.

Pure gym will have staff that will offer PT sessions.

Hi, I take AD's and have recently moved from the anti phsycotic Olanzapine (To Aripiprazole.). Both had really sedating effects, on the Olanzapine even brushing my teeth some days was a good day! I understand aboout the disliking moving!
The Aripiprazole, although with it's own side effects, are so, so much better with the fatigue and tiredness. I had been on the Olanzapine since 2011, so was very unfit myself!
I have started mounjaro and was informed I'd need to exercise to not lose muscle as well as fat. I started off very slowly. I got myself a treamill (I am housebound with agoraphobia.) and literally just started off on two minutes walking a day, then 5, etc. I have now built up to just over 20 minutes a day and a 7 minute Youtube beginners Tai Chi. That's been over 8 weeks now. I know some will find that slow bt it works for me and I'm doing it daily. I have dreams of lifiting weights and becoming defined but I know this will take a while.
I say this as someone I know wants to get fit and it was all. 'I'm going back to the gym. I'll do at least 3 days maybe 4?' Have they been near a gym since? 😂They told me they keep putting it off. So my advice is to start slowly so you don't get put off. Exercising when you're not used to moving is knackering! So little and often to start with is copeable and hopefully buildable. Good luck. 🙂

Do it OP. Book a few sessions with a PT and they will be able to advise you what is best for why you are aiming for and safe etc. You will reap the benefits!

In fact I weighed myself this morning and although I want to lose a stone, Im not actually overweight, I thought I was. Dont understand why my trousers are tight and the belly is hanging over, I dont seem to have put on any weight for 2 months and yet Im busting out of things. V strange.

If you want to go to gym to lose weight, you may give up soon. Exercise is not that efficient for weight loss, that's down to calorie deficit.

But yes you should absolutely go to gym and lift weights. Forget about exercise bikes and treadmills for now, you want weights. Having muscle will make a huge difference.

And yes, personally I go, it's quite addictive. I don't need to force me to go - I need to force myself to take a rest day. I am older, on HRT, totally jacked with a 6-pack.

I know weight loss is about calorie deficit.

I doubt I will get addicted to a gym. It would be nice. I would like to be addicted to housework for example.

Im mostly addicted to shopping and things like that!!

go and try it, gyms are very different in what they offer and the feeling in them. Pure Gyms are cheap but don't offer anything other than gym access and classes unless you pay for personal training sessions and the quality of PTs can be mixed in any gym. I pay a small fortune for my gym membership but as a result it makes me go to ensure I get value for money and I'd rather go somewhere nice than a budget place at a fraction of the cost. It's about my indulgence! You should be doing resistance /strength work to reduce your risk of osteoarthritis and keep you stronger for longer.

There are 3 PTs on the website for the Pure Gym, they all look quite young!!

Theres quite an expensive private person/gym up the road who do 1-1 sessions, you pay quite a lot but then I could start off with that to learn techniques I suppose.

Im going to try to do a walk this evening.

@likelysuspect doing a few 1-1 sessions isn't a bad idea to get you started. I'm always a bit hesitant of the very young PTs, they often have a "lift until your drop and live your life of protein shakes" type mentality ;)

Well exactly, Im not into 'shakes' and things, I cook all my own food (well about 90%) and dont eat anything artificial like sweetners or anything. I know what diet and nutrition works for me so dont want some whipper snapper trying to 'teach' me about that. What I dont know about and need motiviation to do is more exercise and movement. Which I hate.

I joined a gym 18 months ago and I have loved it. I’m so much stronger and fitter, also lost weight but mostly through diet.

I pay a lot for David Lloyd which I have loved but I’ve now given notice as I’ve got into hiking much longer distances so am going less and I am struggling with the traffic driving to the gym.

I’ve learned loads and I’m going to try home workouts and if that doesn’t work, I’ll join a more local and cheaper gym. Less facilities but what I’ve discovered I love is the strength training so that’s all I really need.