Hopefully this guy will be at the gym

Gym's have always intimadated me. It's like the place where the jocks and the cheerleaders hang out - where everyone who is there seems to be fit already.

Because of this, in my pre-Archer life, I stayed fit with the help of a fantastic personal trainer Jane Clapp at Urbanfitt. She never passed any judgment (well, that's not entirely true - like, if I revealed an over-indulgence carbs to her, there was definitely some judgment there) and there weren't others around to make me paranoid about whether or not I was doing the moves right or my outfit was "Lulu"-worthy.

So, how could I hate a gym where the owner apparently works out in a yellow polo shirt and slacks (a term I don't use lightly, btw)... I mean, I'll always be cooler than that guy right?

Working out with a personal trainer while on mat leave isn't really justifiable for me - it might be for you and by all means being a true downtown mama means that you have to decide what "luxuries" are most important to you. Mine are getting my hair done (don't judge- it's my thing) and getting a regular babysitter so I can go out.

In other words, I need to get over my fear of gyms.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, part of my recent outings included investigating gym-options. But after hitting the Good Life at Liberty Village, my search was pretty much over. A couple considerations went into the decision which you should consider in your own search:

1. First and foremost, Good Life has onsite childcare for little guys as young as 6 weeks old. I didn't even think this was really an option. You can either pay a $5 drop-in rate or $32/month for unlimited care (...well, not really unlimited as that would then be the *best child care rate in the world - you can only use them when you're working out).

2. The gym is relatively close to home. Yes, I still need to get in a car to get there but it's only about 5 minutes away.

3. The gym has free parking (a luxury in Toronto as we all know).

4. My workplace has a a corporate discount at the gym - which, btw, the Good Life folks were kind enough to tell me about. I didn't know this. Make sure you check about whether or not your workplace has corporate discounts - I found out that mine had discounts also at 99 Sudbury and at Urbanfitt which is great to know for the future. If your work doesn't have a corporate discount, talk to your HR peeps about getting one at the gym you like. Gym's bend over backwards to get your business so you can usually secure a corporate discount if you can convince at least 5 others to join so check out that possibility. Places like 99 Sudbury also offer discounts for artists and like, people who work at the Drake or have a home address on Sudbury.

5. Finally, I suppose you have to actually like the gym. Good Life at Liberty Village still has a bit of an intimidation-factor for me - when I went today, there were still people working out there that are way too fit for their own good and there were a disproportionate number of people who were like overly tanned. I prefer a more pasty-clientele. But the gym was bright and the class I went to today (spinning - although I'd hardly call what I actually did spinning) was pretty good.

Before you settle on your gym, make sure that you ask for some free passes to test-drive the facilities. Good Life gave me 3 free passes along with the book depicted in the pic above, written by the owner - it's supposed to motivate me to get fit I suppose.

And, knowing I may actually run into this guy working out in his polo and slacks, in a weird way, it sorta does.