That is this guy who likes to read in the gym. I see him reading when he is riding the stationary bike. I see him reading on the leg extension machine. Then, I find him reading on the stretching area. Don’t get me wrong. Reading is good.
I watch movie shown at the LCD screen too at the elliptical trainer. But, exercising casually, without even have a single sweat may defeat the purpose of working out.
That guy may have spent an hour on the bike while reading magazine. No doubt, it is good to kill two birds with one stone. But, I seldom see that person exercising like one who has exercised hard enough. What is the point of doing it longer if he does not seem like exercising. I rather focus on the quality than quantity. In other words, ride with passion and push yourself to the limit once a while. By doing this, instead of cycling casually for an hour, you just have to ride for shorter period, say 30 minutes, and go back home earlier to enjoy your books or magazines.
As for the guy I mentioned earlier, I feel annoyed when he hogs the leg extension machine. Every time he extends his legs once, he will pause to read, then extends another time and read for another page. When he is at the stretching area, he will lie down and read his book again after one set of crunch. May be he feel good to tell people, “Yeah, I was in the gym for 2 hours today.” His friends may say, “Wow, that’s great!” Only he knows that he spent one and half hour reading in the gym.
So, the next time, if you plan to read a book while you are riding the stationary bike, think about what I just share with you. Focus in what you do, enjoy it and sweat it out so that your time is actually better spent. We all like to see results of our hard work, so try out the method and see how it makes the difference. Let the reading being done in library and let’s exercise harder!
Category: Gym Going 
Email This Post
If you like this or other articles in this blog, Subscribe to MunFitnessBlog.com today. It is free.
Related Posts
- Top 5 Bike Riding Tips To Reduce Injuries Due To Bad Posture
- See How Easily You Can Live Additional 14 Years Longer with 4 Healthy Habits
- Do You Really Need Bike Helmet While You Are Cycling?
- Running Beside Someone In Gym May Make You Exercise Harder
Scroll down to leave a comment. I really want to know what you think.
Found what you were looking for? If not, try searching for it below.
Subscribe in a reader
Mari // Jun 18, 2008 at 7:21 PM
I don’t understand the bike readers either. my gym is big enough that if a few people stroll along on the bikes, there are others available for the ones that really want to work out.
maybe these people dont have time to read at home. maybe when they are home, its a nonstop race with kids and cleaning and cooking. maybe after a long workout, taking it easy on the bike and getting a few chapters of their book is the perfect extended cool down.
mang0 // Jun 18, 2008 at 10:30 PM
I used to watch TV while doing hula-hoop. That’s because I feel bored just doing hula-hoop. But I totally agree that, we should like the exercise we are doing and enjoy it, not feeling bored and try to distract ourselves with something else.
Lisan // Jun 19, 2008 at 1:43 AM
Yes very true, when we do multitask the quality is usually not as good as single task we do. That’s why I gave up reading or watching the TV provided by my gym while working out, because I find that can’t concentrate well and have a tendency to slow down on whatever machine I’m doing! So I rather give myself 100%, sweat myself out!
Very occasionally when boredom hits me, I’ll kill time by motivating myself like: “Ok, done 20mins, just another 20mins more to go, good at least you’d finish half workout already. Let’s play counting game, after every 100 steps you did, take a look at the watch or change intensity/speed. etc.etc.” This do help me from boredom.
durai // Jun 20, 2008 at 12:18 AM
To make their gym wel facilitated and different from other gym they are keeping tv in gym but because of this no benifit and their mind only diverts while working.No use of coming to gym.
sylvesteR // Jun 20, 2008 at 12:21 PM
Yea, not everyone can multitask, especially when you’re doing something intensely then you’ll lose focus on the other. I’ve not seen anyone reading on a stationary bike but most will be watching the tv though.
Mun // Jun 20, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Watching TV is not so bad, because you don’t really have to focus the way you do it in reading. Imagine you try to capture small little fonts printed on the book, page by page.
foongpc // Jun 22, 2008 at 10:54 AM
I agree with you – reading and exercising don’t mix. We are supposed to concentrate when we exercise. Reading needs concentration too so you’ll lose focus on either one. I find that even talking with others during exercise distracts me so what’s more with reading.
muchacha // Jun 22, 2008 at 5:35 PM
People who bring their mobile phones into group x classes get my goat. These folks show a lack of respect to the instructor and the participants. Not only are they inconsiderate, they are also compromising on their own safety.