Getting Fit in Carlow

FitFor2013

Hi Happy New Year to all in Carlow.

I am looking to get fit for 2013 and I am wondering does anyone have advice about which would be the best gym in Carlow for a middle aged totally unfit male and gym novice who has never been fit before. (well in 20 years)

I like the idea of a pool and gym together so I think the only ones in Carlow Like that are in The Talbot and The Seven Oaks.

Has anyone used both and have any adivce for me.

Thank you in advance and sorry if this has been asked a hundred times before.

MyBrokenKnees

Hi FitFor2013 Happy New year to you.

I was in both yesterday myself with the same idea. I am one year a non smoker now and felt this year I want to get fit and lose the weight I put on.

The young girl I spoke with in the Talbot Hotel was very friendly and gave me a tour of the gym and the pool answered any question I had and said to come back and try the gym out for free before deciding if I wanted to join.

The lad I spoke to in the Seven Oaks wasn't all that friendly just handed me a couple of sheets and said I could ring and get a free trial. There was it no offer of a tour around the place or anything.

I know which one I will be trying now.

I think that's what you should do go and have a look for yourself

Best of luck in getting Fit For 2013..

doughef

Have you heard of fit to go bootcamp?

I have never tried it nor am I in any way involved with it but I do something similiar and I find its ideal to train with other people.
Gyms can be very frustrating places and you can very easily lose the motivation.

I'm not sure how much it costs, probably more expensive than the gym but they have a facebook page and seem to be very interested in team work and getting the best out of people.
They also get involved with adventure racing and road races etc and they cater for all ages and fitness levels.

As I said, I'm not involved with them but I think this kind of thing is great for getting people off their asses and on the right road.

Check them out and best of luck!!

Carlow2011

Did the gym thing 3 years ago, limited success. This year got out on the road and ran/cycled to 3 stone weight loss.

Use the money for a good pair of runners and enjoy the fresh air. If you look around the roads any night you'll see hundreds doing the same thing.

strokeslover

If you just wanna lose weight, I'd recommend a couch to 5k sort of program and avoid a gym.

It's really helped me and within a year I had ran a half marathon, and without any gym fees.

I'd only join a gym if i wanted to build muscle, but that's just my two cents.

Best of luck and Happy New Year!

FitFor2013

Thanks for the replies everyone. Sadly my knees are not the best for running that's is why I i was thinking gym. For pool and bike and rowing machines.

The Royal Scam

I was where you were about 3 years ago. My knees are'nt the best either . I just finished my second marathon in a time of 4:05. The gym is in my opinion a waste of time. Ask anyone who joins in the new year with all the best intentions and they will say they did not last more than 3 months.

Spend your money on some physio for the knees and a decent pair of runners. Or a bike and get out and enjoy the fresh air. Pop up to Mt. Leinster or around some of the other lovely ameneties around carlow and take a walk , it will get you fit and healthy in no time.

In my opinion , getting fit should be part of a lifestyle change , that includes diet, exercise and changing the way you think. I'll be honest , it's hard and it takes time. You will never ever look back though.
Good Luck.

Essien

The Royal Scam wrote: »

I was where you were about 3 years ago. My knees are'nt the best either . I just finished my second marathon in a time of 4:05. The gym is in my opinion a waste of time. Ask anyone who joins in the new year with all the best intentions and they will say they did not last more than 3 months.

The bolded bit is a tad unfair imo, the gym is considerably more effective than running/cycling if you know what you're doing (depending on your goals that is).

If you want to get fit, in the traditional sense, then cardio is indeed your best bet and cardio (running, cycling or even walking) is waaay more fun outside than holed up in a gym on some stationary bike or treadmill.

However, if you want to lose a lot of fat then you simply won't beat heavy compound weight lifting. If done right, nothing (that I know of) comes close to it's fat burning effect. This will obviously need a gym.

So really it depends what you're after, but I wouldn't go writing off the gym. The reality is though, most people who join up in January are gone after a few months when they fail to see any great improvements. In my experience, the gym users who I've seen make the best transformations are almost always those who are committed to proper weights training.

Hailhail1967

Being a tad cheeky here but there is pro's and cons to all of the above. Maybe getting yourself a personal trainer will give you the best of both worlds :-)

You should decide for yourself, some people really enjoy the gym experience, i'm not really one of those and generic gyms can be a nightmare for people like you who need to get plenty of instruction and advice. If you have bad knees I would be aiming to deal with those first, why are they bad etc etc

Anyway best of luck with the journey.

Be well and win

You don't have to join a gym if you are after a pool, nothing wrong with the pool in Graigue. Also try the Eire Og gym, small but a lot cheaper then the hotel ones. Also if you want to take up running/walking and are worried about your knees, you see plenty of people lapping the pitches there, might be easier on the knees not to start on concrete

Mr E

Don't forget that nutrition is as important than exercise (if not more so).
If your food intake is crap, then you'll wonder why exercise is not working for you and you'll be more likely to give it up.

Good luck with the training.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

ive been pondering the seven oaks gym for a while now, ankles hate it when I go walking on them so rowing machine/swimming pool would be what I'd be after. weights too I guess but I have the upper body strength of a 12 year old girl so I might just stay at home and bench bags of sugar for a few months.

just not entirely sure about paying a tenner a week just for the privelege of using a rowing machine and the occasional swim.

tommycahir

I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago (@107kgs and very unfit) and decided in Aug 2011 to be dragged along to a bootcamp with my wife and sister in law.. It was a real mix of people of different ages (20's to 60's)and fitness levels (crap like me to relatively decent fitness levels)! It was the best decision in regards my health that I have ever made!

The bootcamp I joined was Fit2go (link) as mentioned above and in the 1st session of circuits I completely ceased up with cramps in my hamstrings and it just showed how unfit I was, over time I gradually got fitter and fitter while not actually loosing more than a couple of kgs but I could really see a difference in my clothes as I was burning up the fat and turning it into lean muscle.
The bootcamp is great as it is a social outlet aswell and they organise to head to events together as groups (runamuck, 10km runs, tinryland road race, waterford half marathon, walks up Mount Leinster, etc) and everybody is supportive of each other no matter what the fitness levels are.. I have done the Gym thing before and i found that there was not the motivation there to push myself hard enough and slacked off somewhat, having other people there encouraging you on and depending on you in team orientated exercises is much better.

I am now out running/jogging 2-3 times a week and have just dropped to 93kgs been a long and slow process as my diet is not ideal but that is another debate! but I have absolutely no intention of ever letting myself get back to anywhere near 107kgs again! and am now in the process of starting to train for my 1st half and full marathons in 2013 along with some other 10kms etc.

I also have to support what MR E. said the diet is the key and Joe in the bootcamp will reiterate that to you over and over! I know I could have lost alot more weight in the 17th months since doing the 1st bootcamp but as pointed out above my diet is not the greatest but I am taking it step by step and making lifestyle changes! There's no point bursting your balls exercising only to have a takeaway and beer after you workout undoing your good work.

I guess I have somewhat rambled on but from my experience don't just opt for the gym and pool as that is the traditional route for new years get fit resolutions

FitFor2013

Thanks you all again for your replies!

It's seems most people are not fans of the gym. I was not looking at the gym just for gym as such. I though gym memebrship came with access to health classes run at these gyms like Pilates, Fitness classes with instructors etc.

I could wrong about that. I think as someone said I should call around to all these place and see and ask question myself what each offer.

Hailhail1967

FitFor2013 wrote: »

Thanks you all again for your replies!

It's seems most people are not fans of the gym. I was not looking at the gym just for gym as such. I though gym memebrship came with access to health classes run at these gyms like Pilates, Fitness classes with instructors etc.

I could wrong about that. I think as someone said I should call around to all these place and see and ask question myself what each offer.

Your best bet is to c\ll and ask plenty questions. Some gyms give you free access to classes, it all depends on the place.

In most gyms access to instructors is very limited.

Be well and win

FitFor2013 wrote: »

Thanks you all again for your replies!

It's seems most people are not fans of the gym. I was not looking at the gym just for gym as such. I though gym memebrship came with access to health classes run at these gyms like Pilates, Fitness classes with instructors etc.

I could wrong about that. I think as someone said I should call around to all these place and see and ask question myself what each offer.

don't forget that the VEC runs nightclasses and does ones for things like yoga for beginniners

MyBrokenKnees

Be well and win wrote: »

don't forget that the VEC runs nightclasses and does ones for things like yoga for beginniners

I for never new that. Thanks for the that info I'll be checking that out for myself anyway always wanted to try yoga out.