If you have noticed your memory failing you more often than before, then it’s time to take action to sharpen your memory before it’s too late. You don’t need to read profound books and perform some mind-boggling activities to do this.

All you need is to allot a regular time in your daily routine to play mind games. Yes, you need to play to exercise those lazy brain cells. When body cells are not used, they usually atrophy or deteriorate. Likewise with your neurons or brain cells; you have to use them to prevent deterioration.

In order to sharpen your memory, you have to hone this skill repeatedly. Great minds do not just come with genes. You need constant memory recall and mind enhancing exercises to improve your mental alertness. One scientifically proven way to do this is by engaging in brain games. These are simple activities that could enhance your logical judgment, reasoning, creative thinking and decision making skills. These games appear to be simple but they can work wonders with your brain cells.

What is the principle behind mind games?

Brain cells are the most powerful cells in the body. However, they are highly vulnerable to damage and deterioration. Aging and toxic chemicals can reduce their functions. Sometimes, when they are damaged, there is no way of bringing them back. This is because unlike the other cells in the body, brain cells do not regenerate. When they are lost, they are gone forever. Although there is no way to increase their number, there are strategies to improve their functions. Brain games help sharpen your memory and maximize the potential of each cell. The strategy enhances the transmission of nerve impulses to your brain to get the most from your neurons.

Who should play the brain games?

Playing brain games is a “fun” way to keep you mentally active. Whether you are an adult who is experiencing a deteriorating brain function or a student requiring a mental boost, these games would help sharpen your memory. There are games suitable for each age group. This is to avoid frustration especially when you are just starting to play the game. Assuming that these games are only for kids is a wrong notion.

Statistics show that an average adult spends about 6-10 hours in front of the television and computer. Instead of wasting your time with not so productive activities, why not use your time pro-actively to develop your mental skills. These entertaining games could also relieve you from stress, which is one cause of your lack of focus and concentration.  Your mind can “exercise” and enjoy at the same time.

What are examples of brain games?

There are several examples of brain games to sharpen your memory. The most traditional is solving crossword puzzles. The game is available online and offline. The entertainment sections of local newspapers usually have daily crossword puzzles. If this is not enough, you can get a crossword book compilation from stores or play mind-challenging games online. You can select from the following games:

Rubik’s Cube

Rubik’s cube is a puzzle involving 4 different colors, which you have to group all together to form similar colors on four sides of the cube. It has been a popular game in the 80s and up to this time, many people still find it fun. In fact, there are even tournaments for the fastest person to solve the puzzle. You might think that this is just a simple mental alertness game, however, it is not. It has been found to enhance concentration skills too. So, if you would like to do something fruitful during your idle times, get a Rubik’s cube with you. Keep it in your bag and bring it out each time you want to sharpen your mental alertness.

Scrabble, Word Factory and Bookworm

These are brain games to sharpen your memory. They work by increasing your focus and concentration. They stimulate the mind-solving parts of the brain, to come up quickly with words. Scrabble does not only stimulate mental alertness but it also provides a great opportunity to play with your family and friends. These three games could help improve your vocabulary, which is important in developing your mental alertness. You can buy the scrabble, word factory and bookworm from online game sites, or from offline bookstores.

Trivia Games

Trivia games are one of the most educational and fun brain games to sharpen your memory. They work by stimulating all parts of your brain. They require you to work on your memory and recall past events and stored information. Examples of trivia games include question and answer types of mind games. So, do you want to challenge your brain right now? Here is one interesting question. “What is the biggest cell in the body that can be seen with an unaided eye?” Clue – it is found only in females. Exercise your brain to answer this trivia. You can research, read or surf, as long as you put your brain to work.

Sudoku

Sudoku became a popular online game for word enthusiasts. It is an original mental alertness game from Japan and today, millions of people enjoy it. The game requires excellent, logical reasoning power as the player deals with figures. Do not worry if you are not a mathematician, you can still enjoy the game. There are levels suitable for every age group. Experts recommend this game because of its many benefits. Playing these brain games, which tend to sharpen your memory, is definitely not a waste of time. It is the most productive way to spend your leisure time.

Where could you get these games?

These brain games are available from different sites. They are fun, exciting and healthy for your brain. They work by challenging your concentration, problem solving and decision making skills. Choose any of them and enhance your mental alertness to maximize your brain’s potential.

Alex VanDyke is the owner of http://brainenhancingsupplements.com/. Check out his latest review on the memory supplement Procera AVH.

Internet is becoming an integral part of our daily lives, especially the social networks. The big wigs like Facebook are witnessing a nonstop growth in their user base while the new ones continue to take the World Wide Web by storm. But with the growth, more and more people are seen voicing their disapproval for these networks. Reason? Because a vast majority of these networks hardly serve any real purposes, except allowing people to keep a tab on their friends and family members, or simply sharing random stuff with each other.

But that’s because most of these critics are not aware of the online communities made with a focus, for example the support groups and fitness communities focusing on people looking to lose some weight and stay fit. Once you become a part of these communities, you will be getting a lot of advice, motivation, and inspiration to break the shackles and reach your goals sooner than later. Following is a list of five communities buzzing with the fitness enthusiasts that will help you meet your weight loss targets.

heiaheia.com:

The name has been derived from a Scandinavian chant (Heia, Heia) used in sports, and the origin of the name sums up the basic purpose of the website, which is to motivate its users to exercise and stay fit. The community has more than 350 activities with new activities being added on regular basis, and with users coming from more than 140 countries, the social network seems to be of great help and motivation for people looking to lose weight, stay fit and healthy. At this community, you will find all the motivation, cheers, groups, communities, and support that you were looking for.

Spark People:

Spark people is a free service that offers many premium features for its members, including (but not limited to) diet plans, smart phone apps, daily diary, and a thriving community. Once you join, you will be getting plenty of support, advice, and detailed plans to help you with weight loss. Having won many awards, the community has millions of users, who are making the most of the support and four staged diet plan (Fast Break, Healthy Diet Habits, Lifestyle Change, Spread the Spark) available at the portal.

Daily Mile:

Daily mile is like a twitter of people looking to share their workout accomplishments and achievements with their friends. It is all about tracking your workouts, with a number of Apps for iPhone like Jog Log, Kinetic, Electric Miles, or Walk meter, or for Android like Run Free, Track 2 Miles, or Run star. The community has all sorts of challenges, routes, Events, and Forums to keep you going.

Daily Burn:

Apart from the community, Daily Burn offers customized diet plans, customized fitness programs, professional trainers, affordable training, and workout videos, all at a small fee of $60 per year. Once you join, you will be getting customized diet and exercise plans according to your goals, strength and weaknesses, thanks to the IntelliBurn, a program that adjusts in accordance to the information you are submitting. Not only that, but you will be getting weekly challenges and recipes to keep you on the track.

Motevate:

At moteevate.com you can join and set your own goals, rest assured you will be getting lots of support and motivation from others having the same goals or ambitions. You can keep track of your progress, talk and seek advice from those who have “been there and done that”, befriend with people having the same ambitions, and you will be getting all that, at absolutely no cost involved.

Bashir is a fitness enthusiast, and he offers coupon codes like 24hour fitness coupon and coupon code for trx at his website. You can use the discounts for 24 hour fitness and TRX to get some really good deals.

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If you suffer from any kind of allergy, you can relieve a lot of its symptoms by drinking more water. While a lot of people who feel allergy symptoms will simply reach for some kind of antihistamine pill, this is the worst way to relieve the symptoms. Often, they are simply masked for the short term and compounded in the long term by this kind of approach. With a higher level of hydration, however, you can escape the symptoms over the long term and become genuinely healthier instead of merely masking the problems of your allergies.

What Causes an Allergy

Allergies themselves are genetic predispositions to having a histamine response to a certain chemical. While medical science has not determined the exact nature or complete cause of allergies, it is known that they are caused by a histamine response that is designed to protect your body from the allergen. Interestingly enough, dehydration actually plays a significant role in causing the reactions many people experience in the presence of certain allergens.

Much of the population is chronically dehydrated, which socially encourages people to drink very little water under normal circumstances. Because of this lack of water, histamine has to work overtime keeping what water your body has inside of it doing as much as it can.

The Role of Histamine

Histamine is a kind of chemical known as a neurotransmitter, which means it facilitates large chemical changes inside of your body. Much of histamine’s work involves keeping the water in your body doing what it needs to do. As you become dehydrated, your body produces more histamine as a method of rationing the water you have. Histamine also makes you feel thirsty, but unfortunately many people in society simply drink liquids that hydrate far less than water does. Beyond making you thirsty, histamine also has another important role.

Histamine also causes your body to produce antibodies. Antibodies are chemical responses to anything that attacks your body, from bacteria and viruses to dust or pollen particles. When your body does not have enough histamine, particularly when you are dehydrated, you cannot shrug off the harmful effects of an allergen as effectively. This causes more allergic responses from your body because it is essentially under-defended.

Drink More Water

When you begin to feel an allergic reaction coming on, drink more water immediately. Even when you aren’t thirsty, begin each day by drinking a tall glass or two of water. Even if you aren’t doing anything which causes you to sweat, keep drinking water throughout the day. Over time, your allergic reactions will decrease considerably without having to take any pills.

Water is essential to the bodily processes that fight off allergies. While many people take pills, they can have better success by simply drinking more water. If you drink more water in your daily life, your allergies will begin to recede rapidly.

About the Author: Cody Moroney suffered from a wide variety of conditions, ranging from allergies to a candida overgrowth he had to seek the help of a formal candida specialist to find treatment options. He has found, through it all, that hydration is one of the best remedies out there for any condition!

Choosing a life coach is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. Therefore, it is essential that you select the very best life coach possible. How do you know who is the best life coach for you? Basically, there are only two criteria: experience and compatibility. Your life coach should have experience working with others in your circumstance and he or she should have an excellent rapport with you.

The following tips may help you select the best life coach for your needs.

• The primary requirement is that you have an excellent rapport with your life coach. All the experience and expertise in the world will not matter if you and your life coach cannot or do not relate to each other. Do not work with a life coach who tries to pressure you into doing so.

• What type of personality does your life coach have? You will want a compassionate and understanding life coach, but you’ll also want one who is strong enough to keep you on track. Your life coach should be an excellent listener, be astute and inquisitive.

• Does the life coach have a good reputation? What do former clients have to say about him or her and what is his or her reputation within their field? A good life coach will have excellent standing with their peers and clients.

• In which area(s) do they specialize and what is their experience? Life coaches usually have one or a few areas in which they specialize. If a life coach lacks specialized expertise or states that they work with all areas, they may not have the experience and/or knowledge to adequately help you achieve your goals. Although every new life coach has to get experience, working with someone who is new to the field may mean you will not get the direction you need.

• How did they obtain their certification to be a life coach? As in any professional field, quality is more important than quantity. Certification from a recognized institute is preferable to several do-it-yourself online courses.

• What techniques and methodologies does he or she use? Selecting a life coach whose background, lifestyle and beliefs are similar to your own will optimize both your relationship and your success. Otherwise, you’ll spend extra time, and thereby incur extra expense, explaining where you are coming from and where you want to be.

• Where does your life coach live? If face-to-face meetings are important to you, then you need a life coach who is within a reasonable traveling distance. If not, clarify beforehand who will be paying the travel expenses. Alternatively, many life coaches conduct sessions over the telephone and this works well for some people. However, it is wise to have an initial face-to-face meeting with your life coach before committing to work with him or her. Initial consultations are usually free.

• What does your life coach cost and what can you afford? As with any professional consultation, sessions with a life coach are not cheap and if they are, you might want to continue looking. However, considering the reason(s) you are contemplating hiring a life coach, the cost should not be the primary consideration. The work you do with a life coach will have a lasting impact on your future and this is not an area in which to economize.

Your relationship with your life coach should be one of the best in your life. If it is not, then the outcome will not be the best. This is your life, make it the best you can and get the best life coach to help you achieve your goals.

Richard Hasson. Blogger, life coach and a good person in general. Always willing to help others. He often write about how to over-come depression, to get to know yourself, lose weight. His other passion is photography and taking long walks. Currently working for www.newyorkstatedivorce.com as an consultant.

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There are many women that have decided that they need to stay home to care for their children as they grow and they have found that they can work from home and still care for their little ones. They work when the kids are in school or are down for a nap and are able to help contribute to the income for their families. They are very busy, between work and the kids and often find it difficult to fit in a work out. This does not have to be the case. There are ways that a mom can fit it into their lives, they just have to make the effort.

Exercise is necessary for anyone but for someone that stays at home with the kids, it can be even more important. If their job is done while sitting in front of a computer, they may not be up and moving like they would in job outside of the home. It can also be a strain on the nerves when you are cooped up in your house all day working and caring for the kids. Exercise is a great way to relieve some stress and burn some calories while you are doing it. You can focus on your body and not on the kids for a while, which can give you a much needed mental break.

Day Care At The Gym?

Getting a membership to the gym is a great way to stay in shape. Work can be completed on time and you can take the kids with you to the gym if there is a child care option there. When you put the kids in a child care center at the gym, they will have the chance to socialize with other children their age and you will be able to get the much needed workout completed. The people that work in the day care portion of the gym should be trained in CPR and will keep your kids safe until you return.

A Few Hours At The Park?

If there is one thing that most children love to do, it is to go to the park. There are usually so many things to keep them occupied that they do not really want or need an adult standing over their shoulder. If there is play area that they kids will be in, let them go play and you can walk laps around the area. This will keep your body moving while they are entertained. You are allowing them some play time, you some exercise time, and all without sacrificing your work or your attention to their needs.

Music While You Clean?

Another great way to get some exercise while you are at home with the children or working from home is to crank up the music. If you have the kids at home and the music turned high, you can all dance around the house together and have a great time. Kids love to see their parents happy, dancing and singing. They will think it is funny at first but will start dancing right along side of you. Dancing is a great way to get your heart pumping and is a wonderful source of exercise.

At Nutribomb Bodybuilding Supplements, we strive to provide up to date information on the best supplements and training techniques currently being used by the top bodybuilding and fitness competitors.

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Did you know that Yoga originates as a Hindu spiritual discipline? It uses breath control, simple meditation and bodily postures to aid health and relaxation. Although it is deemed to be somewhat trendy, it can actually provide tangible benefits to us all!

Most of us just think that Yoga is just advanced stretching, but it has its place in helping to develop your strength, flexibility and stamina through moving into and holding poses or postures.

There are many different poses and postures which you can move into in Yoga, all providing different benefits. The poses and postures can also be formed slowly or quickly to provide additional benefits. Moving into poses quickly will warm the entire body and muscles up and improving strength; alternatively moving into the poses slowly will help to increase your balance and stamina across a whole range of muscles.

The way in which people practice yoga will vary depending on their teachers and technique. The great thing with yoga is that there is no right or wrong way to do things and that you are always in a position to improve how you practice. Techniques which work for one person may not work for another so having a varied experience with others who practice yoga will, as with any activity, help you to find a technique and practice which suits your body.

There are many ways in which you can begin to learn yoga these days, from self-taught books, the gym, yoga holidays and clubs and even the Nintendo Wii. Gym classes will typically be focussed on the physical element of the activity, helping you to build up muscle strength and stamina; whereas, yoga holidays and clubs may take a deeper look at techniques, relaxation, traditions and the spiritual elements of the sport.

For those who want to begin yoga a little research definitely won’t go amiss. There are different styles of yoga and you may decide you want to practice a particular style.  After that you will want to find a class; be conscious of what you want to achieve from yoga as this may help to determine whether you attend a gym class or a yoga club, it will depend what you want from it. Once you have done this find out a bit more about what is involved and what equipment you are going to need to take part; luckily it’s just you and a matt in most cases!

Adventure Yogi specialise in active Yoga holidays, like Skiing, Snowboarding and Surf Yoga!

By now the world and its dog know about the seemingly bizarre world of celebrity body part insurance. Mariah Carey reportedly insured her legs for an insane £1billion. While not the most bizarre celebrity body part insurance policy, it’s certainly the most expensive. The notion of celebrity body part insurance is all slightly ridiculous amongst us mere mortals, and appears to be nothing more than a publicity stunt.

But underneath all the ‘look at me’ notion of insuring your body; there is quite an important and, in some cases, essential motive for doing this. For instance; if, say, a model or an athlete obtain an injury which causes serious deformity or drastic alteration of their appearance, then their career is respectively over. If, on the other hand, they happen to be insured, then they will be issued a nice pay-out to make up for the loss their asset that the recipient’s career was so reliant on. These sorts of professions are solely based on body and appearance and without this they would lose work, therefore allowing them to insure. What isn’t allowed though is the ability to insure ones entire body; only the parts of significant importance. Hence why models insure their legs or smiles.

Yet, for those of us who aren’t models or athletes this ethic can still apply. If we can prove that a particular body part is crucial to our job occupation, and that without it substantial amounts of income and work would be lost; insurance is recommended and granted.

Body parts can be insured for any value depending on a review of the individual, analysing their lifestyle, job requirements and how damage to the particular body part would really affect their lives. Some insurance covers include counselling for the recipient of the injury, to emotionally cope with their injury or disability.

So who can insure? Well, any of us! For example, if you work as an office secretary, you require your fingers to type every single day and without those digits your job will be in jeopardy and simply won’t be able to do it. However, if you are a secretary and do not experience any outrageous activities then your risk is low and probably wouldn’t be able to get insurance. But, for those secretaries/mountain climbers out there… consider insurance.

There are some strange insurance of body parts from the celebrity world and the ‘normal’ world. For instance the members of the Derbyshire whiskers club have insured their beards against fire and theft! Think that’s weird? A die-hard football fan went as far as to insure himself against psychological trauma in the very likely event of England losing the World Cup. Perhaps these cases really do contradict the ‘insurance for body parts that are crucial to their lives’ scenario.

So unless your life is based solely on appearance, and you desperately require a specific part of your body to live… Get insurance. If not, don’t waste your time.

This article was written by Policy Expert; specialists in motoring, home and pet’s insurance. Pretty much most types of insurance, expert that of body parts.

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Having a healthy and good looking body is something everyone desires. Sadly though our lifestyles has changed a lot in the recent years so much so that we are no more as healthy and strong as our ancestors used to be. Lack of physical activity, fast food which are filled with calories but have no nutritional value, stress, all these ingredients cumulate and create the present health crisis the world is facing.

One of the main health problems nowadays is obesity or being overweight. With more than 70 percent overweight adults in America alone is an indication of how much this problem has proliferated. No doubt there are numerous theories on losing weight and internet is filled with articles on losing weight. Some provide quick fixes for losing weight while some include fitness regime.

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Though many people feel that they manage to lose some weight initially, they go back to their normal self after a few weeks. It is hence quite important to know the proper way to lose weight and be wary of mistakes not to make while trying to lose weight. Some of the common mistakes people make while losing weight are-

1. Using The Wrong Strategy – Just controlling your diet or exercising won’t be efficient enough. You must find a plan where you use both controlled diet and exercise for losing weight. Also make sure that you are not under stress as it can wash away all your hard work.
2. Expecting To Lose Too Much Weight – It is neither feasible nor advised to lose too much weight too soon. No doubt some people have lost 20 pounds in a week; it however requires lots of work as well as is considered dangerous for health. Instead aim for little change in due course of time. Losing up to 2 pounds in a week is advised and is quite achievable and healthy.
3. Not Having A Strategy - Create a strategy for losing weight and stick to it; if you are finding good results with one of the strategies, try to use it more often and if some of them do not work you can always lose one or two of them. Also having a strategy will make sure that you are sticking to the line or at least you know whenever you are deviating from it. Now if you don’t have any strategy then you don’t have a line to stick to and hence more chances of going astray.
4. Not Having A Measuring Tape – Keeping a measuring tape and taking measurements in regular intervals can provide you with valuable data on your progress which is quite essential for knowing your progress and planning your strategies. On the other hand not having one will devoid you of the essential data about your progress. Also getting yourself weighed in regular intervals is a good idea.
5. Using Quick Fixes – Many people go for crash diets or Syrup diets, which is based on depriving the body of calories in order to lose weight. Although there are numerous examples of drastic weight loss through these quick fix techniques, they however can cause serious side-effects. Also crash diets although may show effects in short time is short lived and you will gain weight as fast as you lost it.
6. Not Keeping A Food Diary – Gaining weight is simply intake of more calories than you spend. Hence by keeping a tab of calories you consume, you can make a create a strategy to lose weight quite efficiently.
7. Being Too Strict – Being too strict with your plan is also not good for you. You may devoid yourself of having the chocolate cake for the 3 month course you are following, but once the course is done, you will be tempted to gorge on your favorite meal the moment you get a chance. Also being too strict with your body may arise various complications which is better to avoid in any case. Hence you can have that occasional high- calorie food once in a while, just make sure to add some extra work out session to neutralize it the next day.

The author is a professional blogger at HGH.info and has written numerous prevention and treatment articles on acne, weight loss, hair loss, and common diseases.

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No matter what time of day you decide to visit the gym, you will always experience the same problem after your workout session has ended and that is…what can you possibly do to make your hair look at all half decent? 

If you decide to go to the gym in the morning or at lunchtime, then you face the struggle of making yourself look presentable for work. If you go after work, there’s the chance you might bump into someone on the way home, that you’d really rather didn’t see you with your sweaty, messy hair. Be assured that you are not alone in facing this problem and that you have a few options as to how to get your hair looking better after your workout.

Tie it up…

You need to ensure that your hair is tied up before you work out, either in a ponytail or in a plait, which is good for ensuring your hair doesn’t become all tangled. Tying it up means sweat has less chance of being absorbed by your hair. You can even wear a sweatband, which works twofold; firstly by keeping your hair tied back and secondly by absorbing the sweat.

It can be hard to fit exercise into a busy schedule, so if you’ve managed to fit in a gym session; you may not then have the time to spend shampooing, drying or straightening your hair afterwards. This can be tough for those who have spent a lot on their hair and understandably people can feel that they shouldn’t have to always have cheap haircuts just because they frequent the gym!

Dry off quickly…

There are a few different ways to ensure your hair doesn’t look dirty or greasy after the gym such as by using dry shampoo, which will refresh your hair and make sure that it smells good and importantly looks presentable too. You can also use a hairdryer, which will dry off any excess sweat and prevent grease from showing in your hair.

Keep the frizz at bay…

If you find that your hair is looking really drab after drying or using a dry shampoo, then try and fluff your hair up a bit by blow drying whilst your head is upside down, as this will add some volume. You can then add some spray or gel which will keep away the frizz, as well as adding some shine and the best thing is, all of this can be done quickly and the methods are very effective.

Scrunch your way to great looking hair…

However, if you really don’t have any time at all to spend on your hair, then you can always skip the blow drying part, instead quickly spray some dry shampoo on, tie your hair up in a messy bun, or scrunch your hair up so that it’s tousled, and you’re good to go. Be assured that people will just think that you’re exhibiting good hair fashion sense, whilst also envying the fact that you can go to gym, have a workout and still look make your hair look good!

Barbara Bodnar writes for Supercuts. She is also a trained hairdresser who follows celebrity hairstyles, is a confessed chatterbox and dreams of owning a Dodge Viper.

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When you go to the gym you will often find yourself accosted by a number of characters. While the gym is a very mainstream activity these days, it is also still home to some people who are perhaps a little obsessive, and is also a watering hole for many singles who view it as a bit of a meat market or just a place to flex and improve their egos.

When you’re the new kid in town it can all be a little intimidating an off putting, but over time you will learn to accept this strange cast of characters, and you might even start to recognize some regulars and universals – which can actually provide you with a great source of entertainment. Here we will look at some of the more unusual faces you might see in your gym.

The Intense Crowd

When you come to the gym you probably do so with a quasi serious intention to get into shape and burn some calories. You come here to get the job done and hopefully on a good day you’ll manage to maintain quite a lot of focus.

Not so these guys – these more intense characters live, eat and breath the gym. They were here when you arrived and they’ll be here when you leave. Mostly they’ll be loners and will be identifiable by their thousand mile stare and their rippling veins. They’ll probably make a lot of noise while they train – perhaps roaring on occasion; and they’ll also get involved in some unusual exercises and boxercise from time to time. These are martial artists, bodybuilders and the outcasts from society. They are also the people who at first will put you off of coming in but don’t worry – they won’t hurt you as they have no idea you’re there.

Poser Women

Wearing some running trousers and a sport bra is a good idea – but that doesn’t mean you can’t wear a t-shirt over the top. These women are practically in their underwear and make the gym look like the music video for Call Me. They also cause a lot of injuries as the men on the treadmills forget what they are doing and get thrown backwards through windows and doors and into piles of weights. If they’re not running on the treadmill, they’ll be bending their leg over their head and pouting into the mirror.

Camaraderie Man

A bit of camaraderie is nice in the gym as it can make you feel like you’re ‘all in it together’. However for most of us this isn’t a social visit, and being constantly spoken to can get a little irritating. This person will come over and spot you when you don’t need it, seem to know everyone in the gym, and also seem to never actually do any work themselves. They are invariably in great shape though which is a genuine mystery.

Lurker

The lurker is someone who waits poised for you to finish with your weights or the treadmill and ignores the social etiquette of the gym. Rather than getting on with something else and so continuing their workout, they would rather wait and stare at you, their eyes boring into the back of your skull until you have no choice but to get off the machine they want and hand it over. If possible try to be strong and not to fold to their will.

Gym Tyrant

This person sees themselves as the alpha male (or female) of the gym. With an incredibly intimidating physique, and the most impressive membership here, they feel they can remove you from whatever you’re doing and use it. This person needs to be stopped, but it takes some guts to stand up to them. Ultimately though just remember – they are only acting out here because they probably don’t get any power in their real lives. When they go home they will often curl in a ball and cry.

Mary Hartman is a marketing head for Sanford YMCA. She likes to provide information on health and fitness and importance of a gym membership with the help of her blog.