Getting the Most out of Your Health Club Membership

Here is a quick checklist to make sure you show up to the Health Club ready to go:

- Set Goals - Be aware of what you are trying to accomplish by taking time out of your life to spend in the gym. Examples of goals could be:

- Reducing fat
- Building muscle
- Improving flexibility
- Enhancing cardiovascular endurance

- Know your likes and dislikes - After you are clear on what you want to accomplish by your exercise program, you need to decide if the gym is the best place to pursue your goals. If you are an outdoors type and your goal is to increase cardiovascular efficiency, then your best bet would probably be to skip the health club and opt for a hike or a run outdoors.

- Set short term goals - If your goal is a big one, like loosing 50 pounds, set smaller short term goals that will allow you to see progress quickly and gain momentum. Remember the old grade-school saying, by the inch it's a cinch by the yard it's hard.

So you have decided that a health club is the best place to pursue your fitness goals. The next step is to sort through the dozens of possible choices to find a club that is right for you. These tips will help you do just that:

- Consider the location - Think about times when you will most likely go to the health club: in the morning on the way to work, in the afternoon on your lunch hour, after work on the way home or some other time in-between. Thinking through the logistics of this step will help you to locate health clubs that are on the way to your destination and have the hours you need to fit into your schedule.

- Ask for a complimentary day pass - Now that you have selected a couple of health clubs that fit your time and travel schedule, it's time to kick the tires and check under the hood. Most health clubs will give you a free day pass so that you can check out the facility. Here's what to look for:

- Time it right - visit during the times that you will normally workout so that you can check out how busy the club is and determine whether or not the machines you will be using are available.

- Take a few classes - see what they offer and take a class or two to gauge the level of knowledge and ability of the instructors.

- Take the tour - many health clubs have a large variety of machines and services and it would take you weeks on your own to discover and sample each one. Even if you are a real do-it-yourself kind of person, don't skip this step.

- Take in the vibe - is this a muscle club where guys grunt and drop the weights on the ground or is it a place where the women sport their new $2,500 sweat suits and workout in full makeup? These options may right for you or may make you uncomfortable. Health clubs have their own personality and character just like people do. Make sure that the vibe of the club matches your personality, going to workout should be a fun experience.

You made it to the Health Club, congratulations. Now it's time to get to work. Here are some tips to keep things fresh and get you moving toward your goals:

- Don't get intimidated - So the guy next to you is curling 100 pound dumbbells or the woman next you on the treadmill looks and sounds like she is about to take off through the plate glass window. We all have different goals, different body types and different temperaments. There are as many ways to achieve your fitness goals as there are to dress. Besides, very few people in the gym actually know what they are doing. Just look at how many people you see at the gym for months and months who make no progress at all.

- Experiment with everything - Try all of the machines, even the scary looking ones. Make sure you get instruction on how to use them first but be adventourous. This will not only give you more workout options but it will also keep your workouts from getting boring.

- Do cardiovascular exercise and weight training - If your goals are overall fitness or weight-loss, combining these two exercises will get you there faster. People with more muscle mass burn more calories and have more attractive fit body shapes. Don't worry about building bulky muscle if that is not your goal. This takes years of specific training to achieve this result and certainly doesn't happen by accident.

- Become a clipper - Read fitness magazines for motivation and clip out the interesting workout articles. This will keep you excited and prevent your exercise routine from getting stale.

- Form a habit - Behavioral experts say that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Be consistent in your workout schedule so that it becomes a natural routine for you. If your body knows that it should be at the gym at 6a.m. it becomes hard to make excuses for being anywhere else.

- Keep a journal - If life is important enough to be lived, it is important enough to be journaled. Journaling will allow you to track your progress, see what is working and what is not working. And an added bonus is that if you ever decide to get professional help, you have a handy reference of everything you have done up to that point to share with your trainer to speed speed your progress.

- Network - If you are consistent, you will begin to see the same faces again and again. Make new connections, share experiences, find a workout buddy, or make business connections. An added bonus is that coming to the health club now becomes a social event not just a physical duty.

- Don't over do it - Pace yourself and remember to set small incremental achievable goals. The New Year's syndrome throws more people off track than any other workout obstacle. This is when someone is all psyched up to workout, they get into the health club and workout like mad for a week straight. At the end of the week they are so sore or injured that they stop going.

- Don't worry if you gain weight initially - Many people get frightened when they start working out and they gain a little weight. In terms of the volume of space on your body that it occupies, muscle is more dense than fat. What this means is that as you gain muscle you may gain weight. A better way to gauge your progress is by how your clothes fit. If you notice that your pants are getting baggy but you are gaining weight, that is a good sign that you are gaining lean muscle. And this is great because the more muscle mass you have, the more fat you burn even when you are not working out.

So, now you have gone through all of the health club tips above and you still feel like you need more guidance. Check out these strategies for gaining more knowledge:

- Hire a trainer - Most health clubs will give you one or two free sessions with a trainer to see how you like it. Working with a trainer will help you to formalize a training plan, show you proper technique for the exercises and keep you motivated.

- Find a buddy - Through your networking or by contacting your fitness minded friends, consider working out with a buddy. Being accountable to someone at the gym will keep you from skipping workouts and add an additional level of fun to your exercise routine.