The Gym Today Works Out For Us All :

It wasn't a generation ago when the gym was the exclusive domain either of active sporting types or of vain obsessive bodybuilders for whom a full-length mirror was almost as essential a piece of equipment as were any of the weights machines themselves.

The anoraks would debate forever about whether better results could be obtained from free weights or from the various dedicated machines, but many hours of painstaking commitment each and every week without cessation combined with copious quantities of tuna fish and egg whites ensured that the required mass of deltoid or tricep was eventually achieved.

Thankfully the gym today attracts a much more diverse clientele. "Normal" people, who aspire just to remain fit and supple, or to unwind after a stressful day at the office.

This new diversity extends into the field of age. The 50-year-old no longer needs to feel conspicuous when pumping the weights. Used in moderation the gymnasium provides health benefits for people of more or less any age.

Whilst free weights remain the most natural option, modern machines imitate their movements to such a great extent that very similar results can be achieved from their use. The most significant development when it comes to new options is most likely the introduction onto the scene of hydraulic equipment, which reacts automatically to the physical strength of the user and creates its own resistance organically in response as opposed to having to be repeatedly adjusted and readjusted, a process which has caused some users almost as much strain and effort as the use of the weights themselves.

However the diversity of the modern gym, welcome though it undoubtedly is, does have some drawbacks of its own. In particular female users may often feel a tad conspicuous, or the object of unwanted attention.

These issues have not gone unrecognised by the industry and the response has been the emergence of women only gyms, where female users can train in the company of other girls and can achieve fast effective results from equipment configured to their convenience in an atmosphere conducive to an enjoyable and efficient 30 minute workout or beyond.

It would be reasonable to say that within little more than a generation gym use has transformed beyond all recognition. One need no longer feel conspicuous about being too old, the wrong shape or the wrong gender. There is something for everyone, whatever our reasons for going.