personal trainer Archives - Lazy Man and Money

A few years back, I had a gym membership. I always wanted a place where I can go and lift some weights do a little treadmiling… you know the stuff that I don’t nearly write often enough over at Lazy Man and Health. When my wife and I moved into my current apartment complex I noticed that they had a free gym. It’s not great, but it has 3 cardio machines and a couple of weight stations.

I always considered that gym I currently have a great value until this past weekend when my wife coerced me to go to her gym. She wanted me to try her Body Pump class (read my Body Pump review). It was probably the best workout I’ve had in months. (My body isn’t shy about reminding me of that with every move I make).

The experience got me thinking, “What are the advantages and disadvantages of paying for a gym over the free one I have?” I made up these two lists. Maybe you can tell me if I missed something.

Pros of a Gym Membership

Forced Workouts – If I’m paying for a gym, I’m going to want to get my money’s worth
Superior Equipment – I like elliptical trainers (low impact), but that’s not an option at my free gym. Everything is upgraded.
Free of Distractions – When go to my close gym, I sometimes have a idea that I get too excited about. Sure I can bring a pen and paper and write it down, but the excitement of the idea is often greater than the excitement of the workout. If I’m at the paid membership, I’m far enough away to not to be tempted to come back.
Classes – I really think the Body Pump class could put me in good shape. As my wife says, it’s a lot like a personal trainer. Once you are there, you are going to do the workout.
Motivation – There are always a few people in tremendous shape at the gym. That reminder to see what I’m working towards is a bonus.

Cons of a Gym Membership

Cost – I don’t need to explain this one…
Potential Commitment – I don’t know if the gym is going to work out for me, but memberships often make you commit for a long term before you’ve had a month or two see if you are going to stick to it.
Inconvenience – This is the tang to the “free of distractions” above… I can get to my gym in about 3 minutes. I could do so circuit training and get a decent exercise in around 20 minutes. I would mention that going to the gym in the winter would be a hassle, but with mild winters in Northern California, it really isn’t that bad. It’s not like it was in Boston where there are days you just don’t leave the house if you don’t have to.

In the end, I think this is going to be a tough personal choice to make. It’s hard to say what the right move is – it depends on pricing. If the gym is $100/mo., I don’t think it’s going to be worth it to me. If it’s $10/mo., it’s a no-brainer. My wife pays $29/mo., but I’m not sure they’d extend the same rate to me as she’s been there for two years. On the other hand, perhaps I benefit from a family plan and get a good deal. I’ll have to look in to details and see if the devil is in there.

A few readers responded to my recent post Is Eating Organic Food Worth the Money? by saying that you can’t put a price on your health. I’ve seen a similar argument come up time and time again in my MonaVie article (For those who don’t know, MonaVie is a juice that people have suggested may give great health benefits – at a price of $32-$40 a bottle – which they get a cut of). It sounds like a pretty straight-forward argument. Shouldn’t our most primary goal be self preservation – to keep breathing, keep healthy? I’m not so sure… and I have spent 18 months writing Lazy Man and Health. I think that as usual, the devil is in the details.

What is healthy?

That is a loaded question. You ask 20 people you’ll probably get 20 different answers. In general many of us know the “eat right and exercise” routine. It’s a good start, and I think if more Americans followed that along with “stop smoking”, we’d see our collective health get a whole lot better. It is my opinion (and perhaps your doctor’s) that unless you are doing things, it doesn’t really make sense to look into other things. You can still eat right without necessarily eating organic. You can still exercise even if you don’t belong to a gym. Oh and don’t forget to take care of your teeth, reducing plaque in your mouth can help your heart.

Money can buy you good health

If you have an extreme amount of money, you can buy yourself a good measure of health. My wife has admitted to looking at Gwen Stefani in the past and thought, “Wow is she in shape!” I’ve looked at Brad Pitt’s six pack and thought the same thing. However, I’m quick to point out that it’s part of their job to look that way. They can pay for a personal trainer, nutritionalist, personal chef, and Jamba Lights with Whey Protein Boosts at Jamba Juice. I think the average person has to really think if they can afford these things. It is my opinion that many can not (with the exception of the Jamba Juice, but that has it’s own Latte Factor).

In addition to the above there are a whole host of things that you could do with a big enough budget. One could buy an water ionizer. Some professional sports players have hyperbaric medicine chambers in their home. Perhaps that could help one’s health. There are probably about another 100 things mentioned in Ray Kurzweil’s Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever. A successful inventor like Ray Kurzweil can afford the pile treatments and tests he mentions.

Is there a limit to how healthy I can be?

Perhaps they are even subject to the law of dimishining returns. For instance, as I’ve been working to do 100 pushups, I’ve found that I made great gains in the beginning, but gains have gotten harder to come by. I’d be exstatic if I could run a 6-minute mile. However, I would have no desire to put in the incredible amount of exra work to run a 5-minute mile (if it’s even possible for my body physically).

Medical Bills: The Leading Cause of Bankruptcy

It may surprise you, but medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy from this Harvard Study. I see two paths you can go with this. You can spend your money trying to prevent everything that might physically happen to you. Or you can take reasonable preventative measures and continue to grow your money for the day that you might need it. If you go with the 100% prevention plan, you better hope you’ve got all your bases 100% covered. If something heriditary slips in that you couldn’t prevent, you probably won’t have the funds to get by it. If you take the more balance approached, you might prevent all but a few maladies, but still have the money for treatment later down the line. I can’t say what’s right for you, but I will choose the balanced approach, that leaves money for treatment down the line.

Measuring Cost-Benefit

Like any purchase decision, I think you have to run a little cost-benefit analysis. If I’m already eating lots of good fruit, am I going to get value by spending $5,600 a year for a family of four to drink MonaVie? However, if a doctor says that a enteric-coated baby aspirin can prevent me from getting a heart-attack or a stroke, that’s something I’m going to pick up immediately.

I’ve put a price on my health and it’s very high. Part of that price is investing and amassing enough wealth for treatment tomorrow as it is for today.

Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk

Ask The Readers: Evaluating a Gym Membership