Working hard with different norms

A topic that I’m writing about is something that I have been paying attention to for a couple of months now and it still provides me with new surprises almost every time. Usually I don’t like posting comments like “I went to the gym, yei!” but this is a one-time exception. That is to say, I’m now going to share with you the weird things I’ve seen and experienced at the local gym here in Vigo. There are quite a few of them… If there is anyone who can enlighten me with providing the explanations at least for some of these, I’m more than happy to hear them.

Okay, so I go to a local really well equipped gym which is a part of a national chain. The gym facilities themselves are basically the same as in many of the Finnish gyms including a couple of rooms for the classes, gym and a functional training area. The only difference to Finnish gym facilities is that the showers in the locker rooms are sort of private being like the individual toilet closets. Though, I’d guess we Finns are the odd exception in this not having them.

Let’s start with a thing that I am really positively surprised about. Namely, the arms race of brand clothing we have in Finland hasn’t brainwashed the Spaniards yet. People here don’t care if they have mum’s old t-shirt or if their shoes are so last season, they can still work out. Actually, I think that the most usual outfit at the gym is an old t-shirt with H&M leggings whereas in Finland it is almost shameful not to wear Nike’s clothes. In Finland it often looks like people are too busy to train because the mirror takes all their attention so maybe we should calm down a bit. Obviously, I sometimes feel like I am really being stared at here, not only because I’m the only blonde among the brunettes, but also since I’m the only one wearing a heart rate monitor and special spinning shoes. To make an excuse, they help me to train harder!

Well, Spanish people don’t care about fancy clothing when they train but there are some other necessities they apparently need for working out. Most commonly the Spaniard trainers are accompanied with a phone. This is understandable if you are listening to music to get some motivation but guys, what for do you need a phone in a spinning class when the classroom speakers are as loud as possible and you are supposed to ride the bike instead of Whatsapping? Well, I just realized that I should have carried my phone with me too because now this post will be without pictures, what a shame... It is also normal to see somebody talking to the phone simultaneously with looking like they are training their abs in the machine. What is maybe even stranger, this week I saw a girl at the gym wearing metallic bracelets and I just couldn’t figure out what’s their role in improving the performance. Maybe I’ll try them out next time.

What comes to the training itself, there are quite many differences even though the classes are the same as in Finland. For example, when I go to the spinning class or body pump, instead of entering the class when I’m ready, I need to wait outside for the instructor to let me in. As you might guess based on what I’ve told about the time conception here, this barely ever happens early enough. Only after getting to the exercise room, people are able to start adjusting their seats or getting their equipment for body pump and, of course, without hurrying. In Finland we usually have a couple of minutes extra time to chat after all of this is done because we arrived to the class early to be ready on time. Both of the ways seem to work just fine but this means that here we, more often than not, start and finish quite late which makes participating to the morning classes a bit risky if you want to get on time to school as well. However, the instructors here seem to be more aware of right positions and different options than in Finland if I've understood correctly the nice field specific terminology in Spanish.

There is one more thing that I want to share because it really amazes me. There are these vending machines from which you can buy drinks and snacks at the gyms. In Finland they usually contain water, recovery drinks, bananas and that sort of stuff. Here they are mainly filled with candy, chips and sodas which I just cannot understand. Of course, you can find also water and maybe a protein bar from these but mostly the snacks and drinks available are junk food. I have also witnessed one of the instructors drinking coke during a spinning class. I don’t know if this has something to do with the fact that they don’t have too many food supplement shops or retailers here – it’s impossible to find something like Gainomax in any store – but I could easily imagine that a sport’s instructor would be kicked out in Finland if s/he was drinking coke while having a spinning class.

However, even though many of these different ways of handling things don’t make any sense to me, they seem to work because Spaniards seem to be basically in the same if not even better shape as the Finns. Apparently the fitness epidemic hasn’t spread yet here because it is rare to see a girl to lift weights here but still the Spanish girls are rather slim and sporty looking. The free weight section is always crowded with the Spanish guys but luckily none of them looks like a bodybuilder – maybe thanks to the lacking food supplements. Moreover, the Spaniards seem to have a real motivation for training – it is possible to see the same face at two spinning classes in a row five days a week – whereas some of the Finns (often including me too) need nice clothing and a heart rate monitor to have enough motivation to exercise regularly. Maybe this is due to the longer bikini season, maybe something else but anyway, the teaching of today is that work hard, play hard no matter where you are. ;) ...and, moreover, mum's old t-shirt is not an excuse not to work out!