There is hardly a week that passes without an article or study touting the benefits of exercise. Exercise to cure cancer, exercise to lose weight, feel better, livelonger, and stop dementia, the list appears endless. The benefits of exercise sound fantastic but there is just one problem. You have to exercise to gain the benefits! For many, this is a big problem.

So, what can you do to get yourself motivated to join the wonderful world of exercising? A great solution is to join a gym where you are in the company of like-minded people. Joining a gym for the first time or after a period of inactivity can be a little scary. I hope this article will make your fitness journey a little easier.

Aren’t all gyms pretty much the same?

The short answer would be. . NO. Every gym has it’s own personality both in the equipment and the type of people it attracts. Some gyms cater to weight lifters with lots of free weights and little else, while other facilities might cater to working women and offer activities such as yoga, spinning or aerobics. There are locally owned gyms and nationwide chains. Small gyms as well as mega fitness centers. There is a gym for everybody but it will take a little footwork to find your perfect fit.

What’s the most important feature when looking for a gym?

In my opinion, location must be considered before anything else. Absence will not make the heart grow fonder. A gym more than 10 minutes from your home or office will end up not getting used. If you like to work out in the morning you might want to stick with gyms close to home. If you’re a lunchtime sweat maven then a gym near work could be a better option. Some of the larger chains may have facilities by both work and home. In addition, if you travel, gyms with multiple locations may let you work out for FREE, or at a discount, if they have a facility at your travel destination.

Other Features to Consider

Membership Clientele – Check out the other patrons in the gym you are considering. Each gym has it’s own personality. Is it mostly women or men? Is everybody wearing fashionable workout gear or is it a shorts and t-shirt crowd? Does it cater to families or is it an adult’s only gym?

Equipment – The quality and variety of equipment is very important if you plan on starting a comprehensive fitness program. Is the equipment well maintained? Check to see how many machines are “out of order”. Check to see if free weights are offered as well as machines. Is there an adequate cardio section with plenty of bikes, climbers and treadmills? These tend to be high use pieces of equipment so it is important that the facility have several.

Hours – Everybody has different times for his or her workouts. Make sure the gym you choose will accommodate your schedule. If you are an early bird and your gym opens at 10:00 a.m. then you are probably going to end up not using it despite the other features you find appealing.

Price – Don’t get fooled by a low-ball price. Make sure the membership includes the use of everything of interest to you. Some gyms have a low membership fee and then charge extra for using the tennis courts, pool, classes etc. Read the fine print. Also, there are all-inclusive low priced gyms that are in the business of selling memberships and don’t really care what happens after you sign up. You may find that half your town has a membership and you have to wait in line to use the equipment.

Management – Is there an active owner or manager on the premises? What is there policy regarding restacking your weights and the playing of loud music? In some gyms, anything goes and you may hear 3 or 4 different stereos playing at the same time, weights are thrown around and you can never find the equipment you would like to use. This is a sign of poor and inattentive management and should probably be removed from consideration.

Everybody is different and there is not a single solution for picking the ideal gym. The key is to find a place that you feel comfortable and that you will use on a regular basis. Working out is a habit that takes time to form. Don’t make an impulsive decision that will cause you to lose your desire to get in shape.

Before making a commitment, visit and workout at a few gyms that you are considering. Most facilities will let you try them out for a few days. Make sure you go at the times you would if you were to join. This will give you a feel for how crowded the equipment is at that time. Now, the only thing left to do is just go out and GET STARTED!!

Here is a list of several gyms with nationwide locations. These will offer a good starting point on your quest for the perfect gym. Check for locations in your area.

http://www.powerhousegym.com/

http://www.goldsgym.com/

http://www.worldgym.com/

http://www.ballyfitness.com/

http://www.24hourfitness.com/

Mike Brooks is a life long follower and proponent of the fitness lifestyle. Mr. Brooks believes that being healthy is a choice and includes not only a proper diet but total fitness of the mind, body and soul. His column appears weekly at http://www.ultimatehealthreport.com

Elliptical trainers are a great way to stay fit and because they exercise the arms and the legs as well as giving you a very good cardiovascular workout they are fast being seen as one of the best ways to stay fit. It is also time saving to use one of these machines because you are exercising everything at once there is no need to use a variety of different machines. In fact, you can get a really great workout in around half an hour using an elliptical trainer.

Interestingly enough, many people use them not so much to keep fit but instead to effective lose weight so naturally one of the most important things to them is the amount of calories burned on an elliptical trainer during a workout.

Of course there is no one set in stone answer to the question on the amount of calories burned on an elliptical trainer. It is actually very dependent on how well you use the exercise machine. After all, if you just use the machine on it’s lowest setting for a short amount of time then it is not likely that you will burn that many calories. Even so, some exercise is better then no exercise so it is still a good idea and even if you do not burn too many calories you should still get some benefit from it actually performing the exercise. The real fitness and weight loss comes from exercising for around 30 minutes then you will really begin to see some advantages to using an elliptical trainer over a treadmill or stair climber.

A good workout on an elliptical trainer can give you real benefits to both your health and fitness and you can begin to notice a difference in your overall health and physique rather quickly. If used properly an elliptical trainer can tone your body better and significantly improve your fitness level. When trying to determine how many calories burned on an elliptical trainer per person the truth is it can depend on your size as well as how you use the machine. An average sized woman can expect to burn around 400 calories on a good workout while a small woman may burn as little as just over 300. If you are bigger then you are usually using more energy to do the same thing as you have more weight to move.

So the calories burned on an elliptical trainer can depend both on how use the machine and what size you are but they are, as well as being good for weight loss, some of the most efficient machines that you can use to raise your fitness level and they can also do it with less trouble and quicker than most other forms of exercise.

Timothy Gorman is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Elliptical-Trainer-Solutions.com. He provides more elliptical trainer ratings, recommendations and information on the amount of calories burned on an elliptical trainer that you can research in your pajamas on his website.