Accidental exercise.....try some today!

I went to the gym the other day.  I realise that in itself doesn't sound like a great feat, however I'm not a big fan of the gym.  In fact, I'm not a massive fan of  any "exercise on purpose".  I like accidental exercise, like the long walk home from the pub, having to walk up stairs when the lift is broken and building sandcastles at the beach (that wet sand can be mighty heavy).

Anyway, for some reason I joined a gym at the beginning of the year.  And I went regularly.  It took me a while to work out what I liked to do which quickly eliminated most things, however I did enjoy fart-arseing around on the cross-trainer while the Winter Olympics was on the big TV.  It made me feel like quite the athlete.  And being on the cross-trainer was a good choice cause if I closed my eyes and really, really concentrated, I could almost convince myself I was skiing.  Awesome, I know.

After quite a few months of going to the gym I have come to the conclusion there are 3 types of people who go to gyms.  The first group is the biggest.  These are the people who go to the gym on a regular basis, normally once or twice a week.  It's part of their routine and they have a particular class or activity that they're happy doing.  They go for no other reason than to maintain their fitness and health.  I like to think I fall into this category. 

The next group are the wannabes.  They turn up, normally really, really unfit or overweight and puff around pretending they're enjoying themselves when they are clearly turning purple and about to pass out.  They last a few weeks until the call of Oprah, a bucket of KFC and a gin and tonic is just too much to resist.

The final group are for me, the most disturbing of all.  They are the ones that are at the gym every time you go, no matter when that may be.  I reckon there's at least a dozen of them at my gym (and no they're not the staff!).  I could go at 10am on a Tuesday and they'd be there pumping up their muscles, I could go at 4pm on a Friday and they'd be there pretending to ride a bike somewhere.  I could turn up to the bottle shop next door on a weekend and there they are, standing at the door to the gym waiting for it to open.

These people are freaks but are clearly very fit and beautiful.  Good on 'em.  The one thing I haven't been able to work out is why these very same people are the ones who will wait 5 mins for a parking spot as close to the door as possible rather than walk from one of the myriad of empty parking spots less than 50 metres away.  Perhaps their leg muscles are so big that if they walk too far they get a rash? Who knows, but I'd suggest these gym junkies might like to practice some accidental exercise.  You never know, they might just accidentally get a life.