The 27 Rules of Conquering the Gym

Today the Wall Street Journal had an amusing list of rules for conquering the gym. It has a lot of good advice in it for newbies, and it will give people who have been going a while a good chuckle. I won't repost the whole article here (you can find it in the link at the end of the post), but here are some of my favorites:

6. Don't fall for gimmicks. The only tried-and-true method to lose 10 pounds in 48 hours is food poisoning.

This one could be a motto for this site too obviously, but it's important for people to know that there are a lot of people who will push unhealthy fads on you at the gym. The gym makes the most money when people sign up for an independent trainer or one of the nutrition/diet programs run out of the gym, so there are always plenty of people pushing their surefire quick fix methods to weight loss.

17. If you see an indoor rock climbing wall, you're either in a really cool gym or a romantic comedy starring Kate Hudson.

My gym has an indoor rock climbing wall, and it is a pretty awesome gym. Unfortunately, I've never been in a romantic comedy starring Kate Hudson while there. Cameron Diaz is known to work out at my gym from time to time though.

19. If a gym class is going to be effective, it's hard. If you're relaxed and enjoying yourself, you're at brunch.

Exercise is supposed to be challenging and not always fun. Find enjoyment not in the actual motion of the exercise, but in the feeling you get when you've conquered it.

25. Fact: Thinking about going to the gym burns between 0 and 0 calories.

Your gym membership doesn't magically burn calories. You gotta go and work hard for it to do that. If you don't, it just becomes an expensive recurring monthly charge to your credit card account. If you want one of those, there's plenty of internet porn to choose from.

27. There is no secret. Exercise and lay off the fries. The end.

If you're just starting out, this can't be emphasized enough. DON'T OVERTHINK THINGS. Don't be so concerned about hitting your macros or only eating the 10 things you're allowed to eat on some diet you saw somewhere on the internet. When you do that, you'll lose sight of the things that matter: exercise and eat healthy.


The full list can be found here (sans my snarky observations): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203471004577140900388728374.html