Old Folks at the Gym

When I made the decision to go back to the gym, I looked up the fitness club where I used to have a membership.  This was mostly to see if the price of a membership had changed since I was there, but for kicks I thought I would look at the reviews online just to see what they said.

I liked this gym very much when I went there.  Great, knowledgeable trainers and you can set up sessions with them as part of your membership at no additional cost.  Reasonable membership fees. Open 24 hours. Conveniently located. A variety of classes and a pool, for those so inclined.  My biggest complaint was that the people there were so friendly and nice that sometimes you would have to wait for a machine while they sat on one of them chatting with someone.  Not exactly a deal breaker.

To say the least, I was surprised when several of the younger reviewers took a few points off their otherwise stellar reviews because there were so many old people at the gym, especially in the mornings.  REALLY???  

I have to say that I never paid any attention to the demographics of my fellow gym members, and more to the point, why do these younger people care about the age of those sharing their precious gym space?  Moreover I figured they were talking about me.  Well I would be joining these young whippersnappers on weekday mornings whether they liked it or not!

So I started back to the gym, which was pretty much exactly as it was when I left it. I did find a number of mature folks there, so I fit right in.  Some of them were even older than I am, if you can imagine. Fit, strong people of a “certain age.”  I quickly lost count of the number of octogenarians who routinely pass me several times when I am walking as fast as I can to put in my mile around the track.  Many do so after completing strength training routines that I could never dream of attempting.  One day I passed a twenty-something on the track, and got pretty excited until I realized he was texting, which was obviously slowing him down.

I have three wishes for those ageist youngsters who cite old people at the gym as a negative:

1. That workouts at the gym now will allow them to survive into old age

2. That they are still healthy enough to be using the gym on a regular basis when they reach that age.

3. That when they become the old folks at the gym, that the young people there treat them with the same respect they now show their elders at the gym.