Everyone needs to exercise for health, but when you move to a new city, many things get in the way of regular workouts. After all, you have a new commute to learn and a new job with new responsibilities. Calculating the timing of getting the kids to school and still getting yourself to work on time takes extra trial-and-error effort. At home, you are busy unpacking boxes and figuring out where things go and how to organize your new home. Now that you have the family organized, you can spend a little time thinking about yourself. Do you join a gym, or figure out how to work out at home?
Why a gym membership makes sense
At least at first, getting a membership in a local gym might be the best gift you can give yourself. Not because you do not have the willpower to work out on your own (although that could be a factor) but because of the intangible benefits of joining something in your new home city.
When you join a gym, you automatically meet new people. Of course, you are meeting new people all the time: at work, at your child’s school, and your new neighbors. However, when you meet people at the gym where everyone is in workout clothes rather than their workplace attire, and where you are on your own, not with your child, you connect differently. People that you might otherwise pass by, or never even meet, have the same or a similar goal to you for their fitness, and you connect over the shared struggles to get there and wins when you (or they) do.
When you take a class at the gym or health club with a group at your same level, you cheer each other on, watch each other improve, and form a different sort of bond than you do with coworkers. If you take the time to learn more about each other between machines or reps, and before or after a class, you can enrich your experience in your new home city. Making new friends with shared physical goals opens a different world where you can learn about those little hole-in-the-wall restaurants, hidden jazz clubs, secret running trails, and other locals-only information by merely mixing up whom you spend time with.
Should you join a gym? Probably. If not for the workouts themselves then for the variety of people you will meet and how much they can enhance your life in a new city. If you need recommendations for local gyms or health clubs, talk to your real estate professional. They know the area and can help you locate just the right place for you.
