It’s January!
That means a greater number of people are making their way into the gym than usual to tackle that weight loss resolution once and for all. This year, I too became one of those people. After gaining 35 pounds from carrying and making food for my first small human, I decided that it was time to take a little better care of myself, so I can be the best Mom there ever was for this little guy.
Let’s be real…
Starting a new routine is hard! Especially if it means going into a new environment, learning to use weird torture devices, around people you’ve never met, and who have probably been doing this a lot longer than you have. Like I said, I am on that path this year, so I fully understand. I also understand spending $30 or more per month to use nothing but the cardio equipment, but let’s face it, gym people are terrifying! Specifically when there’s a large crowd of them and you can’t tell if someone is using that equipment or if they forgot to take their gear with them when they moved on. God forbid, you take the chance to step off of that treadmill, into the weight section and look like you don’t know what you’re doing, even for a second! You will have cell phone cameras recording your every move or worse, gym bro’s giving you every bit of advice that you never asked for.
I’ve found a way to make it a little easier though.
It’s an app called Fitbod and it has become my absolute favorite way to work out.
- It lays out my workout for me daily, making sure to focus on muscle groups that I didn’t use the day before.
- It bases the workouts on my goal and experience level instead of a general set of moves.
- It provides example videos for moves that I’m unsure of.
- It allows me to edit the equipment available, so I can move the workout to my apartment gym, or even my apartment, if need be.
- I can log my sets, reps, and weight to keep track of my progress.
- If you allow it, it will let you know every day what your workout is and in turn remind you to work out.
- Lastly, it allows me to edit my workout by making a list of moves that work the same muscle group (and that show any additional muscle groups that may be used). This has come in handy for me more than once when the equipment was being used or for the unfortunate event that I didn’t pace myself in the beginning with the weights.
I have been using this app for about three weeks now and it’s helped me to get over that awkward hurdle of getting familiar with my gym and it’s equipment. I still have some missteps (like forgetting what equipment I need or wandering around to find a specific machine to find that it is being used).
The downside is that it isn’t free.
Yes, it is unfortunate. However, it is one of the few apps that don’t have an obscene fee. I chose the annual plan and it cost me about $60. Most other apps like this that I’ve tried charge $80–100 or more annually. If you’re using it at least 3 times a week, it comes out to around $0.40 per day over the course of a year.
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Check it out for yourself!
If you signed up for a gym membership but don’t know where to start and don’t want to pay for a trainer, give it a try! It comes with a 14-day free trial, so what harm can it do?
