Going to the gym was too much effort, until I moved into one | Fitness

What’s stopping you from going to the gym?

For me, it’s that I can’t be bothered. The gym is too far away and the effort to get there is simply too great. Anyway, I don’t go there because I’m lazy.

But what would happen if you removed friction? What would happen if you literally moved into a gym? If you lived at the gym? As in: you slept at the gym, socialized at the gym, and ate all your meals there? Would that change anything? Do you want to become one gym person?

After a few months of traveling during which I didn’t give up alcohol and carbs, I decided to take drastic action to overcome my gym phobia.

I flew from France to Thailand, where I moved into a four-story gym adjacent to 17 hotel rooms. I lived there for a week, taking in as many classes, ice baths, saunas, and spoonfuls of protein powder as I could.

Unlike a wellness retreat, the gym at Action Point on the southern tip of Phuket is open to the public. It has a weight room, a yoga studio, a sauna, a cold pool, a swimming pool, a café and a cardio room. It’s so close to the accommodation that I was able to get out of bed at 7:20 a.m. and get to a class at 7:30 a.m.

“Rinse and repeat, all week”

A day at Action Point looks like this: Wake up at 7:20 a.m., grab a protein shake, and drink it quickly before a morning mobility class (stretching and movement) at 7:30 a.m. Then, it’s time for the café, with its swimming pool and view of Phuket. For breakfast? Eggs, of course! Or a protein bun as heavy as a shot put. Cross training starts at 9 a.m., while at 10:15 a.m. – one floor above – you can do power yoga.

For lunch, more protein. At 1 p.m. there is a personal training or individual Muay Thai session. The afternoon is reserved for recovery which may involve an in-room massage, a nap, an ice bath and a sauna, then an early dinner at 5 p.m. with your training buddies and, three times a week, a knowledge session on mindset or nutrition. In the evening there is yin yoga, maybe singing bowls or meditation, and an early bedtime at 8 p.m. Spending 11 hours in bed at night is easy when you’re tired from all the exercise.

Rinse and repeat all week.

When I arrived, my physical form was very poor. Yes, I had cycled in France, but it was an electric bike and I only rode to go to restaurants.

So I was always going to find the first few days a shock. My first personal coaching session focused on the correct way to do squats. I bounced up and down, trying to get down each time, moving away from my natural sitting position (barstool height).

The next day, I’m broken! The only way for me to get out of bed is to roll commando across the floor, then pull myself upright by grabbing a chair. Coming out of breakfast, I hold on to a railing to go down two steps, like an elderly person.

“I fear that I now consume mainly protein”

But my program also included recovery. Action Point manager Chris Lawless tells me it helps prevent injuries and I was grateful to return to my room for a massage. Or as Charli xcx said on B2b: “It took a lot of time, building up, building up, building up, repeating.” »

Then there’s the food. This wellness retreat is not of the White Lotus variety. Rather, it is white proteins. I try to get the recommended 120g of protein per day.

Gym residents ignore the siren song of pad thai and coconut milk curries and instead eat high-protein, low-carb, sugar-free versions of the same dishes, prepared on-site at the gym.

At the end of the week, as I eat eggs for breakfast again or face a huge plate of chicken or shrimp, I worry that I’m only consuming protein. If I do a plank, I can taste the return of the morning protein shake.

I’m never really hungry.

“Brig! You’re going to be full protein soon!” a worried friend texts me. But I need protein for all the exercises I do.

Towards the end of the week, I’m either exercising all the time, recovering from exercising all the time, or having another protein shake to try to “hit my macros.”

Staying at Action Point has definitely taken the friction out of getting to the gym.

Instead, I develop an opposite problem. Instead of not bothering to go to the gym, I can no longer be bothered to leave.

There’s plenty of free time if you want to take advantage of it (after all, you can’t train 24 hours a day – right?) but it’s all there, it’s so comfortable. I can get to my classes in less than a minute, I can work out whenever I want, I can go to the cafe and order a protein shake and be sure I’m about to hit 120g.

When I leave to go to the beach, it’s unpleasant. It’s the rainy season, the water is foamy and brown and when I enter the waves, a strong current deposits me at the other end of the beach, like I’m a packet of protein.

As I shake off the sand, I can’t wait to get back to Action Point. Life lived according to the gym schedule does not contain too many dangers or surprises.

“It’s easy to think about staying here forever”

I’m not the only one who feels this way. People continue to extend their stay. One week becomes two, becomes four, becomes “I’m moving to Phuket and I go to this gym all the time.”

It’s tempting. A storm crosses the sky. You watch the rain bounce off the pool while you sip your thick protein shake and gaze at an ice bath. Every day you get better at Muay Thai. You are planning to participate in a senior competition. The classes feel like a community – the people are friendly, a mix of Thais and foreigners – it’s easy to think about staying here forever.

Every day I get stronger, more flexible and fitter. I can go down the stairs again! But then again, I live at the gym.

The war in my head, which is always in my head – the battle to get to the gym – has subsided. Of course I will go to the gym today. I’m already here.