I wasn’t sure what to think of when I saw that my gym has free wifi in the weights room. My initial reaction was seriously, can’t anybody live with checking emails, IG likes, WhatsApp for 5 minutes?
If your like me time in the gym, out running or practicing yoga, is a place to escape. It’s just me and my music. If I’m pushed for time, no music. No time wasted skipping tracks. If I train at home, no music. If I’m honest I have better workouts when I’m not listening to music, but in the gym it blocks out the wanna be silverbacks grunting. I’m not against training to music. If a good track comes on I’m in my zone. I concentrate training more with music less workouts. That’s just me. No skipping tracks I don’t like or feeling that day. Running, depending on the type of run, always music unless it’s a trail run, then no music.
I leave the internet out the gym. I’ll admit, sometimes I Google an exercise I can’t remember how to do, but as soon as I’ve checked it out, I switch off ‘mobile data’. I take a screen shot if I know I need to refer back to it. Pre gym free wifi, sometimes people were on their phone, but I noticed they rested less in-between sets. Now I see guys (girls aren’t excluded, they just can’t check as much on the cardio machines. Few girls in my gym train the weights and free weight area. Those that do, they don’t spend much time on their phones) slumped over benches, ‘resting’ on machines on their phones, scrolling or typing away much more than before. I swear they spend less time lifting than pre gym wifi. I can’t help but think if the Rock was around he slap them all to ‘FOCUS!’. If you follow him in Instagram, it’s photo and videos before or after training and randomly shouting ‘FOCUS’. You train, you FOCUS, you check the phone later. You don’t get to be the Rock’s size working fingers on a screen. You get to be the Rock by training hard with sh*t loads of FOCUS.
I’m not against it per se. It did come in handy this week, when I need to check an exercise I couldn’t remember how it went and I didn’t use up any mobile date watching the instruction video. Now every time I enter the weights room, it connects. I have my phone on silent for all settings (but not the multiple wake up alarms!). The few notifications I got, I never noticed as I was too busy concentrating training. There’s no wifi in the changing rooms which I think would be a better place to have it, especially for the ladies. So many girls and myself included, check phones, messages before or after classes, swimming and working out. It makes more sense than in the weights room. If you’re not putting in 100% training and just spend the time in the gym on your phone, why bother being there? You wouldn’t get your phone out in the middle of a lap swimming, a fitness class or martial art class. If it’s an emergency, waiting a call or important business that’s different. But just to sit, check likes, messages can’t they leave the phones for just 1 hour and use the gym for what it’s meant to be used for?
Yay or nay to free wifi in the weights and free weights room? I’m kinda against it. Leave the phone and escape for an hour!