As I step into the gym at Planet Fitness I noticed a lot of people doing many different things. There are young people and old people. All different nationalities of people, Spanish, Portuguese, Indian, French, Italian, German and many more. The walls are painted purple and white. I am greeted by a cheerful employee who asks if I would like to take a tour. He takes me to the machine room, where there is every kind of workout machine to think of. There are rowers, treadmills, stationary bicycles, elliptical, and arcs. Machines to work your arms, biceps, triceps, shoulders, and chest. Also machines for legs, abdominal machines, the bench press, and free weights. There are televisions all along the wall in front of the machines to watch if need be, with a different channel on every one. There is also a room that has a training obstacle course where every minute a different exercise is done for a total of thirty minutes. Another room with balance balls, kettle balls, medicine balls, stretch bands and free weights and yoga mats for yoga and stretching. And finally a quiet room where there are recliners that massage for relaxation, and of course the locker room with the lockers, benches, and bathrooms, an showers so that everyone can get ready and change and store their stuff away safely.

The Planet Fitness employee tells me with proper exercise and nutrition, you can control, manage or completely avoid 60 – 70% of illness such as high blood pressure, osteoporosis, heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, stroke, cancer, and the list goes on and on. Working out improves your self-esteem, confidence, and lengthens your life. It also aids you in getting better sleep, and giving you more energy and stamina throughout the day. Exercising can also slow down the ageing process, and helps improve your sex life. Last but not least, a healthy lifestyle builds and maintains strong muscles, joints, and bone structure, while simultaneously increasing your immune system. Being healthy is not just a lack of illness, it is a positive balance between mind, body, and soul.

The employee tells me to feel free to look around on my own for a few minutes.  As I walk around I notice a mother an daughter working out together, a group of employees from the business down the street working out together, there was also a group of elderly people doing stretch exercises.  I think to myself this is a good place to socialize, make new friends, and therefore maybe new patterns made that will get you to go more often.  In order for your social life to affect your life in a positive way, you need to create a healthy environment to socialize in, a physically friendly environment.  Which is what they have here at Planet Fitness, I believe they do have a nice environment to workout in, and they set up the gym nicely and keep it as clean as possible everyday.  So surround yourself with people who believe in this healthy lifestyle and encourage your friends and family to join you, think about how important keeping your body healthy really is.  I then thank the employee for all his helpful information and for showing me around, and I think to myself “Maybe I will join the gym after all”.