sweasel.com

The gym works with bluetooth earbuds. Listen to audiobooks or Tune-In-Radio et al. Introduce yourself, and then pop in your buds and get to work. The trick to a gym is to avoid getting too friendly with others. They will want to talk …and talk … and talk.

Once you’ve agreed to talk a first time, it’s hard to avoid the second without being rude. So don’t start.

Now perhaps the reserved British don’t get chatty like Americans do. If so the above may not apply. Let us know!

Many gyms will do an orientation for new members, explaining how each piece of gear works, and perhaps suggest a simple routine after a quick evaluation of your condition (or lack thereof). If that’s not adequate, there are certain to be people who claim to be ‘personal trainers’ who will gleefully take your money and make you sweaty and sore. A few of them are competent and worth their fees.

Easy does it, especially at first. A little goes a long way. Please don’t hurt yourself!

Gracious! I hope you can end your membership with no hassle!

I had a friend who had a membership at a precious metal color-named gym (not silver or platinum) who had to explain at least 5 times why she wanted to cancel her membership which she no longer used because “otherwise busy.” I hope it doesn’t happen to you!

I’ve heard of gym rats, but a gym weasel?

I loved going to the gym. It was a city-owned community center, so not like the modern gyms. But eventually I felt pushed out by the men, so I ended up just swimming and walking.

“Anytime Fitness” in the US makes it easy to “drop out.” I pay for a six month membership on 1 November and use it until the end of April, at which time it is time to start water skiing again.

I had a grubby old gym in the States that I loved, but that was long ago.

And then they made a women’s weight room with new gear. I didn’t want to use it because I didn’t want the men thinking I wanted the gym to do it, but I didn’t want to use the men’s because I didn’t want them thinking, “why is she monopolizing our equipment when they built a women’s room?”

So I quit going.

@stoaty — It’s interesting how we rationalize stuff. Your explanation of why you stopped going to the gym (a) makes no sense at all, and (b) is completely understandable and reasonable.

All good!

Kettlebells are your friends. They are low stress on the joints and work a wide range of muscles. See if they have somebody there who knows how to do kettlebells correctly (or consult YouTube University for a crash course). Hurray for the Turkish Get-up!