I'm not really one to throw on some old clothes and head up to the gymnasium on campus to work out and exercise. That doesn't mean though that I'm against doing either of these things. Instead, I just prefer to sweat and look not as skinny as I would like to be while exercising in the comfort of my own home. I've gone up to the gym here on campus and it just always seems that the people who are constantly in the gym are the ones who probably don't really need to be there. The other people who have always struggled with their weight and self image, like me for example, tend to stay away for the sake of not being embarrassed about not being able to run or swim those extra laps or do that extra set of reps on the weights...or heaven forbid do a pull up. I do my best with exercising at home by doing my situps and pushups and of course going on long fat burning walks as often as I possibly can. I also ended up buying some simple exercise equipment, like the famous Ab Lounge a while ago, but it took up a lot of room and it didn't really do all that much more for me than I could do on my own with regular crunches or situps. One of the other problems is that the home exercise equipment that would really help out and work for cardio exercise is just too expensive and too big to keep in my normal sized apartment. I barely have room for all my clothing and books, let alone a stair climber or eliptical machine. I looked into the various fitness clubs around town to see what was available so that maybe I would be able to work out with a crowd of people with more diversified body types so that I wouldn't feel so bad about being there. In all honesty, the prices for a lot of these clubs really weren't all that expensive for a monthly membership, ranging from twenty dollars to thirty-five dollars depending on the establishment. I thought that that would be all well and good, but the problem that I ran into after learning about the reasonable prices was the fact that these gyms are only open odd and limited hours. One place that I looked at was only open until six in the evening on Fridays. On top of that, it even had limited weekend hours for Saturday and Sunday, opening at ten in the morning and closing at nine at night. Hours like those, especially for a graduate student are just not feasible. I surely don't have time between eight and five each day to be messing around going to the gym. I need a gym that is open early and late so that I can get there to exercise when I have the time. In the last city I lived in in Florida, we had several twenty-four hour fitness places where you can just head in any time you want to lift weights, swim, or do cardio. If I could find a place like that around here, I would probably be able to work out a lot more than I have a chance to now. I just can't bring myself to take the time to do extra exercise when it ends up being a hassle that cuts into work time, class time, and homework. It just falls lower on the list of priorities for me. If you try to figure it in, it just becomes a hassle rather than something that you enjoy doing to keep you physically fit.

Anyways, the whole point of all this is to let you all know that there are inexpensive ways to work out, even in your own town. The problem is finding a place that has the right fit for you. Finding the right place with the right price, the right equipment, and good hours of availability seem to be the key to finding yourself a great fitness club or gymnasium to work out at. As I mentioned above, one of the other good draws of off-campus workou facilities is that they draw older and more mature crowds. That way you aren't working out in the presence of tons of chiseled and toned bodies all the time that are reminding you about all the work that you need to still do to come even remotely close to looking the same way. Do yourself a favor, and if you've been putting off kicking up an exercise routine due to any of the reasons that I've mentioned throughout this post, why not look around town for a fitness club that is the perfect fit for you...for the right price.