By Terry Boyd
The GYM Trenton
Some of my least favourite phrases: “Time’s up,” or “we’re out of peanut butter,” or worst of all, “summer’s almost over.” It was a comment made by a passerby as my family and I started packing up on our last visit to North Beach. It was a gorgeous day on the bay side – no wind, and bathtub- warm water. When it’s windy we go on the lake side, and when it’s calm and nice we would go to the bay side. Any other beach, we’d go close to the bathrooms and canteen. Not so with North Beach, as it has the worst bathrooms in the history of bathrooms (if you’ve been there you know what I mean – even the men have utilized the skill of the “hover”). Our choice was made strictly on the water conditions.
But here we were packing up an old frisbee, sand buckets and shovels (one of which we accidentally lifted from another family the visit before), and yes, summer indeed was almost over. Given the weather this year, was it ever truly here? It’s the first time that my Irish skin color went from white to red to tan to white and back, all in two days. I watched the same flock of Canada Geese change direction 6 times, and finally give up and nest in Smithfield. They say that time flies when you’re having fun. That’s not it. They also say that as you get older, time goes more quickly. I’m guessing that’s it. Could this be why this summer went so fast?
The end of summer isn’t all doom and gloom however. It’s the start of school for children. It’s a time when kids are anxious to get back to friends and school, and parents are just as anxious to get back to routine. It’s the start of hockey season, and the start of fall – one of four amazing seasons that many countries don’t enjoy. It’s also the start of the busy season for Gyms. It used to be that the busy season was January, but times have changed.
The rule of thumb for Gyms a number of years ago was that January, with people making all kinds of resolutions, resolutions, was the time to get a gym membership. Gym regulars would brace themselves for the onslaught of new members. This migration of sorts lasted usually a couple weeks with the “very committed” few staying on as regular members. Similar to “yo yo” dieting, people found the results to be disappointing, and some never came back. As people became more educated, they understood that consistent training and activity was the key to success. A lifestyle change with consistency and commitment did breed success – and people’s thinking changed. This is why September is so important.
September became the new “January.” When people could get back into regular routine, they made the gym a part of their lives. Rather than start off the new year in January with unrealistic goals, they now sign up at the gym in September as part of a lifestyle change. When the kids are in school, the parents are going back to the gym. More more realistic goals are the result, leading to success, which spawns more success. The closer you are to your fitness goals, the easier it is to maintain a commitment. There’s no “yo-yoing”.
While we register our kids for sports, programs, activities and walk them to their first day of school, our minds should also be considering getting back into the gym, or heading there for the first time – for ourselves. Another way of looking at it – if you start now, how much closer to your goals could you be in January?
Are you going to make this September, your new January?
Visit THEGYM.ONE
The GYM
421 Dundas St. Trenton
613-392-1825