The Sweat Set
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday June 30, 1994
This weekend, like many other weekends, my television set will be flooded by a deluge of sport. And once again, this weekend, I will surf this tidal wave with my remote control; feet up, shirt off and feeling no pain. To me, like many Sydneysiders, exercise and fitness are completely different vessels of cod. I have long kept as my motto the slogan emblazoned on a friend's T-shirt, "Fitness is Fun ... Like Hell."
But there is another school of thought.
This weekend a subculture of exercise enthusiasts, from beginners to "funk junkies", will have their health and fitness passions satiated by the more than 300 gyms in the metropolitan area. They form part of that new breed of body-conscious men and women known as the Sweat Set.
From Potts Point to Point Clare, they will be paying money to tune in, tone up and drop fat.
It is a movement not bound by suburb, age or wealth. Nor is it dominated by the fitness fanatic or the elite athlete. More and more people are going to the gym in the same way as they would any other entertainment venue.
Cheaper than a movie, you can meet people and get fit at the same time.
The theories offered by gym owners and participants for the sudden increase in gyms and fitness centre attendance are manifold but uniformly simple.
Regular participation gives you more energy; it improves your appearance. As a society we are more health conscious, as signposted by the increasingly popular belief that you must be daft if you smoke. Exercise makes you more sexually attractive. The increased energy and concentration that come with feeling healthy allow you to do your job better.
Studies also show that physical fitness has a greater impact in reducing the incidence of all major life-threatening diseases than had been previously believed. In effect, exercise prolongs your life.
Yet perhaps even more important to those who need a little encouragement, gym owners are now concentrating on making their places less intimidating -the image of perfect people with perfect bodies working out in rooms with wall-to-wall mirrors isn't promoted so often any more.
And the routine nature of exercise has been tackled by the clubs. Tooling about on a stationary exercise bike is only going to remind people of the size of their task. More facilities are now offered, more equipment, more trained staff and more personalised training programs.
But according to Bayswater Fitness Centre's manager, Stephen Hathaway, that in itself doesn't always help.
"The trouble with people is that they buy something and think that it is immediately going to have an effect," he says. "You buy a new aerial and the TV reception is better. You buy a gym membership and expect great results and a longer life by the second visit."
Then there is what they call the "Discomfort Zone".
"The body just doesn't react that quickly. You have to give it six to eight weeks, three times a week for at least 45 minutes to an hour. What you are trying to do is move your body from out of sedentary mode and into an active mode that you might not have experienced since school. If you can get through that discomfort zone, then you will see benefits."
But the increased professionalism and customer service shown by the industry have led to much greater competition. That means though no two gyms may be the same, any two will be trying to fill the same niche market.
Aerobics was the key. The inspired American fad of the mid-'80s continues to convert the "exercise-challenged", being good for cardiovascular fitness, conditioning and for burning off fat.
When jumping up and down got a little repetitive, step aerobics was invented. That is, aerobics with a box. Then there was aqua aerobics - just add water.
There is variety in the new trends - aero-boxing where the participant moves to aerobic routines based on boxing movements but without the contact. Then there's cross training, which breaks the routine of pumping the same piece of iron by including a variety of activities rotated over one session or throughout a program of alternate days.
Competition is so intense that equipment and the staff are vital to a club's success. Most centres will create regimes for the dedicated as well as the optimistic. Level 67's Steve James says that organising yourself and your attitude first is vital to a successful program.
"You have to see going to the gym as important as a business appointment. Put the time for the gym in your appointment book and treat it as something that can't be broken. Don't change it. By the same token, organise the time of your visits wisely. There is no point squeezing in a visit in the morning if you hate mornings."
It's a view shared by Newtown Gym owner, John Torelli, himself a former body-building champion.
"Gyms are not for fit people. The majority of people come here because they're unfit. But if they are serious, then we are. If they want to get their bodies to their peak capacity then we will try to help. But they must have enthusiasm."
Many gyms compete by having the latest in machinery. For example the Step Master is a device which you stand on and then try to walk. It's like wearing Buzz Aldrin's boots while walking across a swamp. It is, however, incredibly popular. It can range in cost from $12,000 to $15,000.
Some gyms offer ozone-chlorinated pools. Others offer haircuts, saunas, group rates, laundry facilities and lockers - though the lockers do tend to be the size of a dodgem car glovebox.
The most popular machines are those that display something. Pulse rate, heart rate, rate of kilojoule loss, bright flashing lights showing how bright and flashing they are. Anything that reminds the sweatee he or she is being active.
At Hathaway's gym you can bring your own headphones and plug into your choice of TV or radio station, rather than stare at a wall.
Not that many people stare at walls. There is a definite sexual element to working out in gyms. Especially when going to the gym is in lieu of going out at all.
A New York fitness club owner was once quoted as saying: "The motto is not'Be Healthy' but 'Look Better Naked'."
What also signifies the importance of looks and sexuality in this breed of gym junkie is that they tend to dress for it. The right dress is as important an accessory to the fitness experience as the anti-shock Walkman and the cab home.
The up-to-date fashions generally set people back about $60 to $100, although one member of the City Gym in Crown Street admitted to spending around $200 a week because "looking good is what it's all about".
But there are dangers when children try to emulate their physically well-developed heroes or role models. In 1990 an Australian study found that high school children "either crash-dieted, vomited, used diet pills, laxatives or diuretics to lose weight".
Graham Trent, 31, of Mona Vale, admits it was a relationship that got him to the gym.
"I hadn't been into fitness or any of that before. Most of the guys who did it at my school were a bit of a bunch of bullet heads. But I think my girlfriend dumped me because I was getting a bit big. She wouldn't say but, you know ..." He shrugs.
Asked whether going to the gym had had any dramatic personal effect on him, he wrenched a dumbbell with what looked like two small car tyres on either end to my eye level.
And the girlfriend?
"Haven't seen her for a while but I am seeing somebody else at the moment, yes."
That is almost enough to make me get up and change TV stations by hand.
The 1994 Fitness and Healthy Lifestyle Trade Expo will be held at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre this weekend and will be open to the public on Sunday.
© 1994 Sydney Morning Herald