There is perhaps no more mournful place in America than the local gym. Where else can you see a sea of grimacing, grunting faces in various heave-ho positions? It could be all the mirrors. I’d be depressed if I stared at nothing but myself, too. When folks aren’t staring at their anatomy they are deeply involved with their cell phones. Deeply. From my observations, the average gym goer spends more time looking at their phone than actually working out.

If you go to the gym, do NOT attempt to converse with anyone, particularly those with ear buds. They do NOT want to be disturbed from their very serious business. Also, do NOT attempt to ‘work in’ with those who have laid sweaty bandanas across the equipment or placed a water bottle at the base. They plan to occupy that territory for as long as it takes them to do 10 reps, then pause for 5 minutes to look at their phone, do 10 more reps, etc. They are not in a hurry to work out. In fact, they are camping out. This morning, a man sat on the same piece of equipment while I swam a half-mile. After I showered and changed, he was still sitting there!

I dare you to go into a gym without your phone and ear buds. You will get more done in half the time. You’re also more likely to start up a conversation and burn social calories. (Yeah, that’s a thing.) I also dare you to ride a bike without staring at the TV. Talk about feeling the road. Distractions are just that. They keep you from doing the work. If you don’t do the work you won’t get results.

If you do go, here are some tips to make it fun:

Heads up:  This is not a ballet barre.

Ask him if you can "double dutch."

Ask the kid shooting baskets for some pointers.

Pretend to get stuck and ask for help getting out.

But WHATEVER you do make it fun. Life is too short to take yourself that seriously.