Part 2A of helpful tips and methods on “defeating the Itis” pertaining to the daily fitness routines that many go through. This is the second suggestion that I have. It was something I was forced to do one day and I realized it was great for battling the “Itis” To go to the gym really late at night.

Pros to going to the Gym on the “Late Late” night:

The local gym becomes a completely different place late at night, especially if it is open past 12a or if it is 24 hours. The best part about going to the gym this late (around 10:30p or later), as you can probably figure out, is it is an utter ghost town. All those pesky little things that I wrote about so frequently during the “Do’s and Don’ts series” are almost irrelevant when it is only you and 1-3 other people in an entire section – unless of course you are the one who is committing these indiscretions. Every piece of equipment at your finger tips with absolutely no wait times. On many occasions when I want to go to the gym I crave that feeling of solidarity. The ability to be in my own world and get done exactly what I need to get done. Many times this desire gets lost among the mad house crowds, the ambient howl of busy conversations, the sharp clinking of machines, and the lack of being able to do what it is that you need to. It’s really easy to scrap a game plan and fall short of a new one if you are rerouted at the gym. If you set up this entire workout and by the time you are on your last leg someone is using your first and second options in machinery or weights, you are going to be more than inclined to skip it if you are in a pinch for time. But during the late night you don’t run into any of these little dilemmas because like T.M. “The World is Yours”, pertaining to the reality of the gym at least (don’t get carried away now). This is also perfect for anyone who is trying to get into cross fit type workouts because you have the freedom of using up three to six different things at one time because no one else is there, and you can’t be the ass that hogs all of the equipment if no one is there to call you out, right?

Another awesome thing about going to the gym on that late, late night tip is the switch up in atmosphere. There are only one or two employees at the gym and true personalities come out. At both of the main stream chain gyms that I go to, I have witnessed workers in their late night element and their normal hour element. And with out sounding too cliché, the difference is day and night (awful pun intended). During both of these shifts, employees are pleasant and nice, but during the day, you get that forged, almost forced smile and conversation with the staff that is written right into their contracts.  During the night shift people get real, like Chuck Klosterman, and it actually looks like they genuinely enjoy their jobs.  They are always doing batty things like dancing around and revamping all the equipment. Keeping real conversations around your workout and not trying to make what they say take precedence over your gym routine. They are helpful and offer a lot of different tips. This goes for both male and female co-workers at the gym. I have had this interaction with both. Grave yard shift workers of any kind know how to entertain themselves which from what I can gather makes them quite interesting people. I would think that you would be a little more reclusive if you worked one of these type shifts, but clearly that is not the case here.

Something else that I really enjoyed was that you let you entire day’s food intake have more than enough time to go through its proper digestion cycle before you workout. You essentially get the chance to work it all in at one time instead of splitting it. I can guarantee this is a mental victory and not an actual proven physical one, but I definitely feel more complete when I am able to finish a work out and know that I am not ingesting any more for the day, other than a protein shake to close it out.This state of mind definitely plays to the side of vanity though, in the sense that I like this because when after I am done working out and when I wake up the next day I know what my body looks like: it is not really going to change like it would if I ate two meals after I worked out. This might just be a personal satisfaction but nevertheless it is something that I see as being a positive.

The last thing that I noticed I appreciated about going to the gym late at night was the media controlling ability that you have. Because it is a ghost town you can ask the workers to put on any station you want on the T.V.s, any radio stations or Music lists that you prefer. I have been in there when I heard 10 songs in a row that I really loved. I asked the worker what type of mix that was and he simply told me that it was a CD that he had made. I know, everyone and their sister Jane (including me) has an iPod “so what’s the big deal right?” Well, sometimes I don’t feel like bringing my iPod to the gym. Sometimes, I feel like the iPod slows me down (on contrary, I also believe that it speeds me up a lot of the time) and when I feel that I will go to the gym without it. When that happens I depend on the music that is playing or the T.V. programs that are on, to get me through my workouts.  But this might not be for you, and the next blog might show you why it might not be for you. But no matter what, I believe that one of the four suggestions will fit your lifestyle.  Once again these are simply the opinions of a guy who has opinions about anything and everything, take it or leave it as you will.