27 Rules for Conquering the Gym

I love "January Joiners." I practically am one this year. More people = more energy. Here are 27 rules for conquering the gym, straight from the Wall Street Journal. Take it with a grain of salt (I disagree with #4, for example. Anything that gets you to the gym is a good thing.) But most of them are pretty funny!

1. A gym is not designed to make you  feel instantly better about yourself. If a gym wanted to make you feel  instantly better about yourself, it would be a bar.

2. Give yourself a goal. Maybe you want  to lose 10 pounds. Maybe you want to quarterback the New York Jets into  the playoffs. But be warned: Losing 10 pounds is hard.

3. Develop a gym routine. Try to go at  least three times a week. Do a mix of strength training and  cardiovascular conditioning. After the third week, stop carrying around  that satchel of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.

4. No one in the history of gyms has  ever lost a pound while reading "The New Yorker" and slowly pedaling a  recumbent bicycle. No one.

5. Bring your iPod. Don't borrow the  disgusting gym headphones, or use the sad plastic radio attachment on  the treadmill, which always sounds like it's playing Kenny Loggins from a  sewer.

6. Don't fall for gimmicks. The only tried-and-true method to lose 10 pounds in 48 hours is food poisoning.

7. Yes, every gym has an overenthusiastic spinning instructor who hasn't bought a record since "Walking on Sunshine."

8. There's also the Strange Guy Who is  Always at the Gym. Just when you think he isn't here today...there he  is, lurking by the barbells.

9. "Great job!" is trainer-speak for "It's not polite for me to laugh at you."

10. Beware a hip gym with a Wilco step class.

11. Gyms have two types of members: Members who wipe down the machines after using them, and the worst people in the universe.

12. Nope, that's not a "recovery energy bar with antioxidant dark chocolate." That's a chocolate bar.

13. Avoid Unsolicited Advice Guy, who,  for the small fee of boring you to death, will explain the proper method  for any exercise in 45 minutes or longer.

14. You can take 10 Minute Abs, 20  Minute Abs, and 30 Minute Abs. There is also Stop Eating Pizza and  Eating Sheet Cake Abs—but that's super tough!

15. If you're motivated to buy an  expensive home exercise machine, consider a "wooden coat rack." It costs  $40, uses no electricity and does the exact same thing.

16. There's the yoga instructor everyone loves, and the yoga instructor everyone hates. Memorize who they are.

17. If you see an indoor rock climbing wall, you're either in a really cool gym or a romantic comedy starring Kate Hudson.

18. Be cautious about any class with the words "sunrise," "hell," or "Moby."

19. If a gym class is going to be effective, it's hard. If you're relaxed and enjoying yourself, you're at brunch.

20. If you need to bring your children, just let them loose in the silent meditation class. Nobody minds, and kids love candles.

21. Don't buy $150 sneakers, $100 yoga pants, and $4 water. Muscle shirts are for people with muscles, and rhythm guitarists.

22. Fancy gyms can be seductive, but  once you get past the modern couches and fresh flowers and the water  with lemon slices, you're basically paying for a boutique hotel with  B.O.

23. Everyone sees you secretly racing the old people in the pool.

24. If you're at the point where you've  bought biking shoes for the spinning class, you may as well go ahead  and buy an actual bike. It's way more fun and it doesn't make you listen  to C+C Music Factory.

25. Fact: Thinking about going to the gym burns between 0 and 0 calories.

26. A successful gym membership is like  a marriage: If it's good, you show up committed and ready for hard  work. If it's not good, you show up in sweatpants and watch a lot of bad  TV.

27. There is no secret. Exercise and lay off the fries. The end.

11, 12, 14, 19, 25, and 26 are my favorite. How about you?!