7 Reasons

Tag: gym

  • Guest Post: 7 Reasons To Have A Home Gym Instead Of A Membership

    Guest Post: 7 Reasons To Have A Home Gym Instead Of A Membership

    Are you tired of your blood pressure going through the roof every time you step foot into your gym due to the smorgasbord of annoyances on display? There’s something to ruin the day of any appetite. Why not avoid ever having to return there by creating your own gym at home? As if you needed them, here’s seven reasons.

    7 Reasons To Have A Home Gym Instead Of A Membership

    1.  The Smell. If you’re walking into a room filled with 50 other sweaty individuals in the various stages of a workout its unlikely that it’s going to smell like you’re visiting the body shop. Unfortunately this is an occupational hazard that is associated with the gym, and unless you want to hover around every machine spraying the seat cushions with Fabreeze you might have to grin and bear it. If you set up your own gym at home at least you can bang in the old Glade Plug in Fresh and work out until your heart’s content. If you get Lavender and Vanilla you can even shut your eyes and imagine that you’re working out in a sun basked meadow.

    2.  The Changing Rooms. Where to start with the changing rooms? The over familiar fellow gym members strolling around the room, determined to get that last bit of water from their ear with the corner of their towel? The bags hiding just out of sight, peeking out from under a bench and only making themselves known when they cause you to trip over, sending your Lynx Africa skidding across the floor in the process? The guys who seem to just like hanging out in their, bro-ing it up with all the other bros. Bro. At least in the comfort of your own home you can have a shower and get changed without feeling like you’re living in a mixture of Top Gun and a Butlin’s Strongest Man competition.

    3.  Equipment Hogs. There’s nothing wrong with someone getting full use of a piece of equipment. It’s their right. They pay membership fees just like anyone else. It’s when someone feels the need to simultaneously work three pieces of equipment at once, and then have the temerity to stare you down when you ask if they need that extra dumbbell that it can try your patience a little bit. If you have your own gym at home you’re unlikely to run into this predicament.

    4.  Grunting. Every gym has at least one. A grunter. Lifting weights doesn’t mean that you have to attempt to suck every litre of oxygen out of the room and then scream like Maria Sharapova fighting a Silverback Gorilla. Unless it’s you that is doing the grunting. In which case you should probably stop. I’m not sure people like it.

    5.  Sweaty Equipment. There is nothing more irritating than getting onto a machine only to discover that it is literally dripping in sweat. Guys, I’m looking at you for this one. No disrespect, but I’ve yet to see a woman leave a piece of equipment that looks as though it’s been used as a prop in the Flashdance chair scene. This won’t be an issue if you have your own gym at home. And if you don’t wipe your equipment down after you’ve used it at least you’ll only get drenched in your own sweat. Everyone like’s their own brand anyway. Don’t they?

    6.  The People Who Stare. Of the many gym personalities that you are likely to encounter, this one will put you on edge the most. Lurking around the equipment, watching you workout and perspiring more themselves than you ever could. As soon as you make eye contact with them they will slink away or pretend that they have been sent a text. It’s only upon closer inspection that you realise that they are trying to read a text message from their iPod. They NEVER seem to actually work out either. When you’re working out at home they are unlikely to be there. And even if they are you can just close the blinds.

    7.  Hoverers. You know the ones. You’ve been on a machine for a matter of seconds and they are hovering around it, shooting you ‘hurry up I’ve got to get back to the office’ looks. Too ‘polite’ to actually ask you how long you’re going to be, but not so concerned about time that won’t move onto another machine. You can’t even grab a drink of water because they will steal your machine on account of them being serial grave jumpers. Known to loudly chat on their phones about how they’re ‘stuck at the gym’. The annoyance that they cause is reason enough to take out a second mortgage so that you can afford your own gym. They will obviously be refused membership.

    This post was written by Richard Hughes on behalf of the home fitness equipment distributor Orbus Leisure.

  • Guest Post: 7 Reasons To Rent A Self Storage Unit

    Guest Post: 7 Reasons To Rent A Self Storage Unit

    If you thought self storage units were just for storing stuff in, you’d be wrong. Yes, you can use storage to stow your furniture when moving house, hoard your bric-a-brac from yesteryear or safely store those family heirlooms, but a growing number of people are finding all sorts of other clever uses for self storage units. Check out these inspirational reasons why you should bag yourself a self storage unit.

    7 Reasons To Rent A Self Storage Unit
    It’s a little known fact that The Beatles used to practice in a self storage unit. Somewhere near Liverpool.

    1.  Really Good For Rockers. Accessible 24 hours a day, and with no neighbours to upset, more and more bands are turning to self-storage facilities as a place to practice. As well as offering a consistent venue – removing the worry of where you’re going to get together every wee – a storage unit means you can lock up your kit in a secure location as well as providing some awesome acoustics! So good are the sound qualities in fact that in 2006, up-and-coming rock band Mohair actually recorded a track at south Safestore London and, although the song never charted, critics loved its “squally” tone.

    2.  Brilliant For Business. With no business rates and no utility bills, self storage units are ideal for businesses. Literally thousands of small business owners already make use of self storage, with business customers believed to account for up to a third of the UK’s rented space. So, if you’re selling online and you’ve no need for a physical store front, or your home business has outgrown the garage, self storage provides an excellent solution and, with everything included in one monthly bill, it makes budgeting simple.

    3.  Ideal For Pumping Iron. Take a storage unit, add some weights, a running machine and even a punch bag and you have yourself a fully functioning gym. Small units can be utilised for private gyms when space at home simply doesn’t permit. Larger facilities can be made into fully functioning gymnasiums and martial arts gyms, meaning that, as a business grows and cash flow increases, more space can be added without the concern of spiraling rates and utility bills.

    4.  Wonderful Workshops. If you’re into repair and restoration, a self storage unit can make an excellent workshop. From antique furniture to engine rebuilds, storage units provide the perfect venue for any restoration projects without the need to clutter up your own home with random spare parts.

    5.  Awesome For Art. Many folk look at a storage unit and see space, but show it to an artist and they will see something altogether different. Some see the ideal studio space where they can create their next masterpiece, whereas others see the ideal venue for their next exhibition. With floor space for stunning sculptures and wall space for passionate paintwork what better location for an edgy art installation?

    6.  Delightful For Dancers. From ballet to street, storage facilities up and down the country are being utilised by all kinds of dancers and crews. Affordable and dry, storage units make the ideal rehearsal studios for those on a tight budget. All that’s required are the addition of a few mirrors and an audio system and your unit is good to go. No more fighting to book slots at the local studio or practicing routines in the park.

    7.  Superb Studies. When home life is a little hectic and there’s just no where to get away from the hustle and bustle of modern family life, why not retreat to your own personal den. From novelists and poets to copywriters and freelance journalists, many professionals have chosen to rent a self storage unit simply for a spot of peace and quiet. Kitted out with desks, lamps, filing cabinets and a laptop, these unique dens provide a veritable haven of tranquility from the outside world – ideal for those who simply must concentrate without interruption.

  • 7 Reasons To Get A Winter Beach Body

    7 Reasons To Get A Winter Beach Body

    It’s the summer, and chances are that, right now, your thoughts are turning to holidays, with all of the indolent ease, languor and sheer carefree bliss that they entail.  Unless you’re standing in a branch of WH Smith and gazing at a magazine stand consisting of dozens of covers featuring airbrushed pictures and article titles such as “How To Get The Perfect Summer Beach Body”, in which case you’re probably experiencing something akin to terror.  But don’t panic, you don’t need the “perfect summer beach body” for your holiday; in fact, it’s infinitely inferior to the winter beach body.  Here are seven reasons why.

     white sand, blue sky, blue sea

    1.  A Winter Beach Body Is A Safer Option.  And safety in the sea is important.  When I was a svelte child, learning to swim, one of the things that all of my friends and family spent many hours teaching me to do was float.  “It’s simple”, they would say, “you just stretch your arms and legs out and relax”, and then they’d just lie there, on top of the sea.  Then it would be my turn: I’d stretch my arms and legs out, relax, and soon I’d find myself floating serenely.  To the bottom of the sea.  I would sink like a stone every time.  But if you have a winter beach body, you’ll be difficult to sink and, should you get into trouble and find yourself floating away from the shore, you’ll be easier to spot from the beach or a helicopter.  Your chances of surviving your beach holiday will be manifestly better than those of summer-bodied people.

    2.  A Winter Beach Body Makes A Statement.  Getting a summer beach body is easy, anyone can do it.  But getting a winter beach body takes a considerable investment of time and money and requires technology too.  You can use it to flaunt your wealth and status.  What does your winter beach body say about you?  A winter beach body says that you can afford to dine well; a winter beach body says that you’re a car owner; a winter beach body says that you live somewhere modern festooned with lifts and escalators; a winter beach body says that you can afford twice as much suntan oil as anyone else on the beach; a winter beach body says that you might own a Segway.  A winter beach body signifies affluence and ease.

    3.  A Winter Beach Body Is Practical.  You might be holidaying in Britain and for that, a winter beach body is the better option.  On British beaches, where people consume ice cream to warm themselves up, you’ll at least stand half a chance of not dying of hypothermia or exposure.  What’s the last question that any family in the UK asks before they head off to the beach?  “Have you remembered to pack the blanket”?   In this country, insulation is most important thing that you can take to the beach.  Winter beach bodies have more of that, built-in.

    4.  Getting A Winter Beach Body Is More Fun.  You don’t need to starve yourself or drink eight litres of water a day to get a winter beach body.  You won’t have to visit a gym either, unless you’re going there to use the horizontal bar (the one with the bottles on it). You won’t have to spend the months leading up to your holiday eating only beetroot during daylight hours (except for every second Tuesday, which is miso soup day) and you’ll never, ever have to eat celery.

    5.  A Winter Beach Body Requires Less Hair Removal.  As the possessor of a winter beach body you’ll be less inclined to wear a bikini made from a shoelace or a pair of budgie smugglers so small that they can barely contain your budgie.  This means that there’ll be less hair removal, which is good as hair removal is the most painful experience known to man (and the second most painful known to woman).  I would sooner break my fingers with a piano lid than tweeze a nose hair, let alone pluck one from down there, beneath my trousers.  A winter beach body means less pain.  Or fewer pain, to be correct about it.

    6.  A Winter Beach Body Frees You From The Beach.  With a winter beach body, you might find that you’ll want to spend less time on the beach, away from all of those preening show-offs.  This is brilliant, as no one actually likes the beach.  It’s uncomfortable, being made of either stones (which hurt) or sand (which chafes).  It’s boring, as the number of people busy ignoring it and burying their noses in their books demonstrates and it’s frustrating, as your chips will be stolen by a seagull.  If you spend less time on the beach, you’ll have more fun, and you’ll get to eat all of your chips yourself.  Unless you’re a man.  Your winter beach body will liberate you from the beach.

    7.  It’s Too Late To Do Anything Else. Having blithely ignored every magazine at the supermarket checkout and every other daytime television programme telling you how to get the perfect summer beach body for the past five months or so, there’s very little time left.  This is good, as getting a winter beach body is quick and easy.  It won’t be the perfect summer beach body as depicted in magazines (which are only ever perfect in the mind of the beholder, and never in the mind of the owner), but it’ll be your body.   Take it to the beach and enjoy yourself, or even better, take it away from the beach and enjoy yourself.  Oh, and don’t read magazines.*

    *Do, however, read websites.