What's stopping you from going to the gym?
For me it's about not being disturbed. The gym is too far away and it takes too much effort to get there. In short, I don't go because I'm lazy.
But what happens if you remove friction? What happens if you literally move to the gym? If you lived at the gym? For example: did you sleep in the gym, socialize there, and eat there? Will this change anything? Would you man in the gym?
After a couple of months of traveling and not holding back on alcohol and carbs, I decided to take drastic action to overcome my gym phobia.
I flew from France to Thailand, where I lived in a four-story gym with 17 hotel rooms attached. I lived there for a week, taking as many classes, ice baths, saunas, and protein powder shots as I could.
Unlike the health centre, the gym at Action Point on the southern tip of Phuket is open to the public. There is a gym, yoga studio, sauna, plunge pool, swimming pool, cafe and cardio room. It's so close to where I live that I was able to get out of bed at 7:20 am and go to class at 7:30 am.
“Rinse and repeat, all week long”
A day at Action Point looks something like this: Wake up at 7:20 am, grab a protein shake and drink it quickly before a morning mobility class (stretching and moving) at 7:30 am. Then it's time for a cafe with a swimming pool and views of Phuket. For breakfast? Eggs, of course! Or a protein pie as heavy as a shot putter. Cross-training starts at 9 a.m., and at 10:15 a.m., one floor above, you can do power yoga.
More protein for lunch. At 13:00 there will be a personal training or individual Muay Thai lesson. The afternoon is reserved for recovery, which may include an in-room massage, a nap, an ice bath and a sauna, followed by an early dinner at 5pm with training buddies and a three-times-weekly mindset and nutrition class. In the evening, yin yoga, perhaps singing bowls or meditation, and an early bedtime at 8 pm. Spending 11 hours in bed at night is easy if you're tired from all the exercise.
Rinse and repeat throughout the week.
When I arrived, my physical condition was very bad. Yes, I biked around France, but it was an electric bike and I only rode to restaurants.
So, the first few days were always a shock for me. My first personal training session was focused on how to properly perform squats. I was bouncing up and down, each time trying to get lower, beyond my natural sitting position (barstool height).
The next day I broke down! The only way to get out of bed is to roll on the ground and then get up by grabbing a chair. Leaving breakfast, I cling to the handrail to go down the two stairs like an old man.
“I'm worried that I'm mostly a squirrel now.”
But my program also included recovery. Action Point manager Chris Lawless told me it helps prevent injury and I was glad to get back to my room for a massage. Or as Charlie xcx put it on B2b: “It took a long time to break muscles, build muscles, and do it again.”
Then there's food. This health complex does not belong to the White Lotus type. It's more of a white protein variety. I try to eat the recommended 120g of protein per day.
after promoting the newsletter
Gym-goers are ignoring the siren song of pad thai and coconut milk curry and instead eating high-protein, low-carb, sugar-free versions of the same dishes, prepared on-site at the gym.
By the end of the week, when I go back to eating eggs for breakfast or a huge plate of chicken or shrimp, I worry that my diet is now mostly protein. If I do a plank, I feel the return of my morning protein shake.
I never feel truly hungry.
“Brig! Soon you will turn into a squirrel!” A concerned friend writes to me. But I need protein for all the exercise I do.
Towards the end of the week I find myself working out all the time, recovering from constant workouts, or hitting another protein shake in an attempt to “meet my macros.”
Staying at Action Point definitely eliminated the hassle of commuting to the gym.
Instead, I pose the inverse problem. Instead of not bothering to go to the gym, I now don't bother leaving.
There’s a lot of free time, if you like (after all, it’s impossible to train 24 hours a day – or is it?), but everything is here, so convenient. I can get to class in less than a minute, I can work out whenever I want, I can go to a coffee shop, order a protein shake and know I'm on track to hit 120g.
When I go to the beach, it's unpleasant. It's rainy season, the water is foamy and brown, and when I walk into the surf, the strong current pushes me to the other end of the beach like I'm a piece of squirrel.
Shaking off the sand, I'm eager to get back to Action Point. A life lived according to a gym schedule does not contain too many dangers and surprises.
“It's easy to think about staying here forever”
I'm not the only one who feels this way. People continue to extend their stay. One week turns into two, becomes four, becomes “I’m moving to Phuket and going to this gym all the time.”
It's tempting. A thunderstorm is rushing across the sky. You watch the rain reflect off the pool, sip a thick protein shake and contemplate an ice bath. Every day you get better at Muay Thai. You are thinking about entering a senior competition. The classes feel like a community – people are friendly, a mix of Thais and foreigners – it's easy to think about staying here forever.
Every day I become stronger, more flexible, more resilient. I can walk down stairs again! But then again, I live at the gym.
The war in my head that is always in my head—the fight to go to the gym—has subsided. Of course, today I will go to the gym. I'm already here.
