Gyms here are pretty different than the ones we’re used to in the US, especially our beloved Sportsclub that we went to in Greenville.  They are typically a lot smaller and have older equipment and have “no frills”.  Unlike many gyms in the US, the gyms here don’t have a child care center, so I wasn’t able to join a gym until Makenna recently started going to a nounou (nanny) part time.

I decided to go to the gym that was about a 2 minute walk from our apartment so I would have no excuses not to go, even if it’s cold or rainy!  The thing I am most surprised about is that there are many hours during the week that nobody is working at the gym.  BUT, if you pay an extra 15 euros for a badge, you can use the gym even if nobody is working.  Crazy!  One Sunday afternoon I was literally the only person in there…nobody was working and nobody else was working out.  It was great!  They are very smart about it though…in order to get in you have to swipe your badge for the door to unlock and then you have to scan your fingerprint to get a turnstile to unlock.  So not only do they know exactly who entered the gym, you can’t just show up with 10 of your friends and let them in.

The other interesting thing is they don’t usually have personal trainers, but usually have “coaches”.  The coaches will basically give you a workout plan but they don’t work out with you and motivate you like a trainer would.  For me, I love this because I don’t have to pay anything for a world champion bodybuilder (yes you heard me right) to write out a full workout plan for me.  The gym I go to is owned by this guy (and no he’s not quite this huge now but he’s still probably the most muscular guy in France):

And in true French style one of the fitness posters features a naked couple, so you can have a lovely image to work out to when you want to get your cardio on:

Another thing that is different at the gym here is people say hello and goodbye to everyone.  This is probably partly because the gym is small, but in the US nobody really greets anyone else that’s working out unless they know them.

They do have a lot of the Les Mills classes that we’re used to seeing in the US, so that makes it feel a little more like home 🙂