TThere are many ways for a woman my age (28) to spend a Saturday night – meeting friends at the pub, spilling cocktails on a sticky dance floor, checking out the latest sushi restaurant. . Most of the time I don’t do any of those. On Saturday nights, you’re more likely to find me at the gym loading up the squat rack. I can’t actually tell you the last time I went to a proper nightclub.
I’m not the only one who prefers working out to going out. According to a Gym Group poll, 37 percent of Gen Zers view exercise as a way to socialize, and 42 percent say they build friendships while staying fit.
I’m not an ascetic, I’d rather socialize. Rather than drinking at a bar, sweat it out in the free weight section and hang out with like-minded people. My gym is a micro-community and has a welcoming atmosphere. The girls I’ve met are just as talkative, confident, busy, and motivated as I am. Also, there are men at the gym. I ended up going on dates with one or two people.
• Forget about pubs. I tried the new dating app Run Club
There’s no need to swipe to match on an impersonal app when you can twitter (translation: chat) with someone (in the real world) without wearing rose-tinted glasses. It’s a great place to flirt. Chatting between Burpees is a surefire way to understand who a person really is – and a surefire way to get a good look at what you’re working with.
In fact, my six foot tall attractive redhead squishy goes to the same gym as me. After bumping into each other at a local tennis court and passing each other in the common area, he finally asked me out on a date.
People are socializing at the gym because of the cheap supply of endorphins. In central London, you risk spending £300 on dinner and (not much) drinks for one night alone. That’s the same monthly fee as the city’s hippest gym, and you can go as many times as you like.
And there’s no better feeling than waking up on Sunday with no headaches and a healthy bank balance. Best of all, I avoided the dreaded hangover of drinking over the edge and thinking about what I said the next morning.
The same study revealed that 28 percent of my generation exercised three or more times a week, and only 3 percent of 20-somethings didn’t exercise.
I don’t know any of the 3 percent. Hyrocks competitions, Ironman triathlons, and marathons are typical goals that my colleagues and I all work on on the side of our day jobs. I’m training for a marathon, and the weekends are relatively quiet so I wake up refreshed and ready to train.
• “It’s like Tinder on steroids” — Tried out a new dating app for gym bunnies
This is a very different approach to alcohol than I had before. I studied alcoholic beverages at Newcastle University. It was incredibly cheap so I didn’t feel the need to “pre-drink” before a night out, but I still needed it sometimes.
The treble (3 scoops of vodka in a mixer) rather than a double was our favorite Poison, and we got 3 for 5 plus a free Jagerbomb with our student ID. Worryingly, my girlfriend and I were able to drink three sets of these disgustingly sugary drinks without really feeling any effects or suffering from severe hangovers the next day. Will we someday have to pay for this in health costs?
Instead, we now host regular “Grandma” dinners. We only drink one glass of wine there, and by 10pm we’re all in bed and up for the next parkrun, Reformer Pilates, or heavy leg session. morning.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy beer as much as the guy next to me. You don’t have to drink every night from Thursday to Sunday. Sign up for the Saturday night circuit class instead.
