Uni Gym - Does what it says on the tin

There's a reason uni gyms are that bit cheaper than most.

Today, I escaped to the gym after unsuccessfully editing a radio package for an assessment in two days. Knowing it was freezing, uni was deserted, and only the insane would still be there at 7pm, I thought the gym would be completely dead - but how wrong I was.

The free weights room was crammed full of testosterone - not one bench was free, not one weight unused - and so I was forced to sit on the machine weights for my slightly-quicker-than-usual gym session this evening.

Although the space is relatively small, I admit the machines are pretty well placed. The walkways are just big enough for the typical body to fit through (though maybe not those in dire dire need of a bit of CV work, sorry), and the benches have just enough space for a simple chest fly exercise, for example, to be carried out.

However, with so many people filling up any possible free space it was impossible for anything other than lying on a bench, hands by your side, to be done. I went to the free weights room at the end of my workout, and even though about half of the people previously there had cleared off by then, I still found myself walking around one too many bodies to get to a bit of free space for myself.

Cleverly, the mirror in this room is distorted. Although at first glance it looks completely normal, and whether this is intended or not, the mirror is slightly curved at the middle. The edges of the mirror show off a slightly skinnier you, whilst the majority of it shows a more muscly, built-up reflection of yourself - only, this isn't really yourself.

And just in case you forgot this, when you return to the changing rooms you'll get a subtle slap across the face by the mirrors there that you're not actually that big - it's just the mirror playing a cruel trick on you.

Another little niggle is the lack of nutrutional products on offer. There's a huge tub of protein powder advertised for sale in a glass cabinet - probably full of dust the amount of time it's been left untouched - so when I fancied a protein bar today, I was dissappointed to find that the only one they had was a rubbish £2.50 bar in a lucozade machine. A few coins lesser off and after chewing to the extent that my jaw locked up, I was dismayed to find the 75g bar had just 20g of protein, 10g of fat, and a whopping 45g of carbs - not exactly the protein-load I was looking for. Though, I can't fault the gym too much for this.

I must admit, I do quite like the uni gym. It does the job, and at £95 for a 9-month contract it's well worth the money - but it does exactly what it says on the tin, nothing more, nothing less. It won't set the world alight, but it'll do for now. I just wished there was a touch more space!

Life can go on without the Internet!

It's true. You wouldn't believe it at first thought but us humans can actually survive without them three big Ws.

When I first moved into my new pad at uni, me and the housemates were greeted with an inactive phone line and a broadband operator that seemed to constantly delay turning our house into an Internet-savvy building.
Skip forward a few unpleasant phone calls (courtesy of a housemate, and consequently gaining half a year's free line rental or something), and we finally got hooked up.

The first few days, weeks, months, without Internet started quite unbearably - it's amazing how much we rely on the Internet to get our kicks off. Our only option was to cycle to uni to use the library computers, just so we could tell our friends what's on our mind via Facebook and reply to a few important emails days too late.

By the end of the first month (this went on for two months you see), we were used to doing this routine. Every day, whether we went to uni for lectures or not, we would pay the library a visit to get online for a few hours. When we came home, the house was a far more sociable place than most too. Sure, there was a lot of game-playing on the Xbox - but in comparison, playing a game with three mates is way more sociable still than being on Facebook on your laptop with three other guys next to you, doing the same.

Just while writing this, I've spoken to a housemate - who's downstairs - to ask for some ice cream to soothe the imminent arrival of my sixth bout of tonsillitus in a year.

What I've come to realise is that we really don't need the Internet. We don't need to stay connected to our friends 24/7 - if anything, it's an unhealthy obsession. I've come to realise another way of describing an online person as merely a hermit.

Fair enough, there are emails to be sent, family to stay in distant contact with, and research to be done for assignments due in way too soon. But the majority of us spend the majority of our time, like you right now, on Facebook, Twitter, and other "social websites".

Are we really being more sociable being online, or are we really just turning into hermits? Since when was a phone call not enough? The past two months, I've coped fine. The next two months, I'll sadly probably cave in and become just like every other lemming in the world. Come to think of it, it's probably time to update the Facebook status anyway...