As a fitness buff, I love to work out and have never thought about joining a gym in order to snag a date. I figure that if you’re doing to pay the membership fee, you may as well break a sweat. However, I have friends who swear by the gym to get dates. Apparently, my friends aren’t alone. According to a recent survey, one in three regular gym-goers doesn’t break a sweat during their ‘workout.’ In fact, many survey participants admitted to spending more time chatting with friends and checking out the opposite sex than actually completing a hard-core workout.
Again, I say if you’re going to spend time and money at the gym, then it makes sense to curtail the social hour until after your workout is complete. Better yet…grabbing a buddy for a quick and free workout around your neighborhood might be a better option if you’re a social butterfly. There are tons of neat phone apps that act like personal trainers. Select one and let it customize a workout for you; bring along a few friends, hit the park with the app in tow and work it out! You don’t need to waste time or money at the gym in order to get fit.
On the contrary, if you’re more likely to do a workout in a group setting, the gym might be for you. Just be sure to stick to classes such as Zumba or Cycling in order to get a workout that combines your gift of gab with an actual physical activity.
Another way to meet new friends and get a great workout is to join the the Black Girls RUN movement. Founded in 2009 by Toni Carey and Ashley Hicks, Black Girls RUN is a non profit that not only encourages women of all races to get out and run, but their website offers tips to get started and nutrition advice as well. For the beginner or more seasoned runner, Black Girls RUN (BGR) is a good resource to use when taking your workouts to the next level.
When asked what are the biggest obstacles to black women getting fit, Carey replied: “Regardless of whether you have a perm or if you are natural, maintaining our hair and working out is a challenge for a lot of women. Culture is another issue. When I first started running, my mother shot me down a little. I think there are things that culturally that we say we don’t do: We don’t ski. We don’t mountain bike or we don’t run long distance.”
She went on to say, “BGR gives women a sense of empowerment and dispels myths when it comes to our health. We tell women it’s OK to step out of the box. You don’t have to feed into the stereotype of what “Black people do.” Or you don’t have to believe that being thick or large is OK because we are told it’s socially acceptable.”
If you have people in your circle who aren’t supportive of your new-found fitness routine, don’t be discouraged. There are plenty of websites, Facebook groups and other online resources designed to help connect you to women who share your enthusiasm. Make time for yourself to workout and get fit. You’ll find that you will turn heads anywhere, not just the gym, once you get fit and healthy!
