Studies have shown that six out of ten fitness enthusiasts admit that they don’t do a full workout at the gym, despite attending the gym for an average of two hours a week. In fact, researchers have discovered that one in three of us spend just five minutes warming up and building up a sweat. Those questioned stated that the majority of their time is spent chatting with friends and reading on the treadmill. A quarter of those in the study admitted that most of their time is spent enjoying the hot tub or sauna, rather than exercising, as well as one in ten saying that they prefer to relax around the pool and watching music videos. In a more shocking statistic, one in twenty people use the gym as a place to watch football matches.
The study confirms why nearly two-thirds of those who join a gym don’t renew their subscription – in fact, the money spent on the initial gym membership is wasted as most people aren’t making the most of the facilities. A membership can mount up to nearly £2000 a year, which is a large expense for a service you aren’t utilising. The gym is a surprising place to meet a potential partner too, the study suggests – one in ten fitness fanatics joined the gym purely to forge a relationship, with ten percent just signing up as it seemed like a ‘trendy’ thing to do.
Nine percent of those questioned said that they would actually be embarrassed if they broke a sweat whilst exercising, and more than half of the 2000 people polled admitted that they don’t ever perform an extensive workout. Women are worse than men though, fearing that exercising or sweating will smudge their make-up or frizz their hair. While being self-conscious is normal when you’re exercising, as you will be surrounded people you don’t know, you shouldn’t let it stop you from making the most of your gym’s services.
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