Did you know that 43.4 million Americans have a gym membership? That’s 43.4 million people in this country who prefer to pay money to work out in a gym, rather than exercise outside for free. I think about this point often because: I have a gym membership. And periodically feel the weight of having to justify it to my a-little-on-the-thrifty-side self.
I tell myself that due to weather considerations, you can’t always go for that brisk walk/jog/run outside, which means no exercise at all. And that would be a bad thing. But then, I live in California. Near the coast. Not exactly known for long stretches of blizzard-like conditions. Frankly, I don’t even remember the last time the weather was so bad around my house that I couldn’t go outside and take a walk at least three times a week. Hmm.
Of course, if you don’t count the dog, the walks are pretty solitary. On the other hand—the gym is rife with all kinds of constant entertainment. It starts with the “groupings”. Most of us “gym rats” can be put into three groups:
But I have to admit—the real entertainment is in the parking lot! There are days that I feel I should just bring some popcorn and sit out in the parking lot and watch all the activity. Out in the parking lot, there is no group division. Everyone pretty much acts the same when it comes to deciding on where to park their car.
There are always parking spaces out in the back which is about a 60 second walk to the front door, but it doesn’t make any difference. At the peak hours , the gym rats in every group will circle and circle and circle, looking for the closest spot. They will even invent parking spots next to short curbs and in other strange, hard- to –maneuver- into places, just to park closer to the door.. at the gym.. where you have come to exercise. Apparently—walking in from the parking lot doesn’t count as exercise.
Watching the parade, short tempers, blocked traffic—somehow always makes me laugh. Here are very smart people, who most likely hold responsible jobs or get good grades in shcool (depending on that group they are in), and they will not walk 1 minute in order to get into a building to exercise! It’s really something to ponder on- as I am walking out to my car—in the back of the gym. I need the extra exercise!
Share ]]>I’ve always wondered: who are all those people who make up “Average Americans”? You know those people. The ones cited by some random statistic which is then faithfully thrown about as if it was written in stone? Take watching television, for example. I watch television. So how hard can it be to figure out if I can fit into the “Average American who watches television” group? But the most quoted “Average American”, television-watching-statistic, (from the AC Nielsen Company no less), is that this group watches 4 hours of television every day.
Hmm.. I would like to belong to some group that is the average American, after all, I’ve lived my entire life in the USA, so you would think I should fit into the “average American group” pretty easily. Still, I’m not sure whether or not I actually fit that TV watching statistic. My television is very likely on for 4 hours every day— probably even more than that–but “watch”? That part I’m not so sure about.
“Watching” sounds as if you are actually paying attention to something. I would guess that 50% of the time the TV is on, I am actually reading—a book, a magazine, internet blogs. This is probably a left over from college when we all studied with the TV on, unless of course it was a “do-or-die” grade-decider of a test. Then we would go to the library.
For the rest of the time the TV is turned on, I’m usually folding laundry, doing housework or taking a nap– because most television shows tend to put me to sleep. Right now I’m writing this article while the TV is droning away—in another room. So out of that 4 hour average, I would guess I actually “watch” about 7.2 minutes or so.. give or take 30 seconds.
How much TV you watch seems pretty important. Apparently, if you are parked in front of the set for more than 2 or 3 or 4 (depending on who is doing the reporting) hours of TV per day, it’s not just bad for your health, but will actually shorten your life span. According to those reports, the risk of being obese and developing diabetes, heart disease and a host of other health problems greatly increases with the amount of television you watch. That’s what happens when you are just lying on the couch and aren’t moving much. Which makes you wonder why those same issues aren’t pointed out about people who take afternoon naps, or who read quite a bit (so the headlines would scream: Give Up Reading! You will be healthier if you are ignorant!).
All in all—very confusing. Does it really mean “watching what’s on the TV”, or just having the set turned on? If the issue is really about lack of moving around— then maybe I should give up reading so much. I actually read more than I watch TV. Or maybe I should start a letter writing campaign to the networks to put on more interesting programs so I don’t nap so much. And what about that time I put in so grudgingly every day at the gym? Doesn’t that entitle me to some extra TV/reading/nap time? Isn’t there some kind of cosmic point tradeoffs for that kind of thing?
Or better yet—maybe I should just find another statistic to prove I can be an “average American”. TV watching is kind of hard to figure out.
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