Environmentally Friendly

How environmentally friendly is your gym? Is it a place that accepts you for who you are? Is it a place that makes you work hard whenever you enter?

I realize that everybody has different goals, but if you're going to a gym to exercise, should you really be inundated with pizza and tootsie rolls as you leave? Theres a very succesful chain gym that does this. Great business model, not exactly great at changing anybodys life for the better.

I suggest finding a place where the people and the overall environment of the place is in line with your goals. For example, are you looking to put on some muscle? You need to be able to squat or deadlift. Are you looking to shed some fat? You need to be able to jump rope, push something heavy and strength train with free weights.

If you dont have a place to hit your goals, figure something else out. Go to a playground and hit bodyweight and sprint circuits. Find an old tire, tie a rope around it and put something heavy inside it and drag it around. Throw a medicine ball, heavy stones or empty kegs around. All of these things will lead to better progress than sitting on the "strength circuit" at the previously mentioned gym, no matter what your goals are.

The best thing you can have is a group of people who have goals similar to you. This creates a brotherhood (or sisterhood, of course) type of feel. I know what you're going through and you know what I'm going through when were struggling to push out one more rep.

The take home points: Find a great place to train, gym or no gym. Find a group of people you can share your training ups and downs with and push them to get better every time you work together.

If you need any tips or pointers on finding a place for you or for ideas if you're making your own "unconventional" program, post on my facebook. I'm also now at twitter @BobbyFisk. Post comments on facebook as well. I'd love to hear about your training environment stories.