Get to the gym or lose benefits!

[Shef_Fitness]

On a serious note, if the money does directly go to the council facility then how is the thing going to be enforced?

 

Does the obese person have to attend so many weeks? what happens if the obese person never attends the gym? (money down a black hole) and what exactly is the obese person expected to do?

 

Many gym staff are young and often take a great interest in members of the opposite sex, you can't expect a young 18 year male old gym instructor to be paying much attention to an obese person when there are a few hotties on the rowing machines.

 

Whats to stop the obese person simply going into the coffee bar for an hour?

 

In my experience obese people can do very little (obese people who are natually fat and naturally very unfit, not the rugby playing cardio machine types) and so it probably would be better to encourage them to walk, even it it was to the local fish and chip shop and back home

[Cyclone]

 

Theres no difference to that than signing the person to the councils gyms for 12 months and the person never attending. It would be £60 down a black hole lost in the NHS, at least if a private fitness company had that £60 per month it would get spent back in the local economy and benefit other people/small businesses.

 

Hence why the council is considering making attendance compulsory. That's the entire point of this thread!

Of course since they are no doubt giving out free membership only to council run facilities the true cost is much lower than the headline rate they would charge, in effect the cost of giving several hundred gym passes away is basically nothing. And the cost if they are all used twice a week can probably be measured in pounds per person, not tens of pounds.

[Shef_Fitness]

People have also cited classes that the obese should attend, which classes though?

 

Yoga and classes like Pilates require flexibility and someone obese would struggle to get into positions, aerobics classes are often populated by the lycra clad lovelys and the last sort of people an obese person would want to be around. And a Bootcamp would realistically be out of the question

[maxmaximus]

On a serious note, if the money does directly go to the council facility then how is the thing going to be enforced?

 

Does the obese person have to attend so many weeks? what happens if the obese person never attends the gym? (money down a black hole) and what exactly is the obese person expected to do?

 

Many gym staff are young and often take a great interest in members of the opposite sex, you can't expect a young 18 year male old gym instructor to be paying much attention to an obese person when there are a few hotties on the rowing machines.

 

Whats to stop the obese person simply going into the coffee bar for an hour?

 

In my experience obese people can do very little (obese people who are natually fat and naturally very unfit, not the rugby playing cardio machine types) and so it probably would be better to encourage them to walk, even it it was to the local fish and chip shop and back home

 

There is nothing natural about being fat and unfit and the money will be going into a council run facility which will with its running costs.

[Cyclone]

People have also cited classes that the obese should attend, which classes though?

Nothing to do with the proposal from the council though is it.

 

Yoga and classes like Pilates require flexibility and someone obese would struggle to get into positions, aerobics classes are often populated by the lycra clad lovelys and the last sort of people an obese person would want to be around. And a Bootcamp would realistically be out of the question

Yoga and Pilates wouldn't really help an obese person either.

 

Walking as you suggested is probably where they should start, that and eating less.

[Gleadly]

Whether it's paid to a private or council gym then no money should be involved.

 

The obese would simply collect a monthly token from the benefit office and hand it to the gym.

 

I'm not sure which gym charges £60 as I only pay £21/month and I can go to quite a few gyms for the same outfit. Many of those have optional classes included within the membership. This also includes a pool which may be the best option for an obese person.

[Cyclone]

We are talking about Westminster though, you'd be very lucky to find a gym for £60 a month I expect.

[buck]

George Orwell is live and living in Westminster.

[Cyclone]

What part of the idea is Orwellian?

[Shef_Fitness]

There is nothing natural about being fat and unfit and the money will be going into a council run facility which will with its running costs.

 

 

 

Unfortunatly there is...... if you have faired badly from the human gene pool

 

Remember when you were at School and there was always a couple in every year that were naturally fat? the ones who could not run, could not pay any sports, the ones who were un-coordinated? often the ones who were the victims of bullys?

 

Sadly there are people who are naturally fat, unfit and un coordinated. Ok they may have other strengths, they may be brilliant at maths, they could be brilliant entrepneurs, but sadly these people exsist.

 

In the same way there are very thin people with shocking, non exsistant fitness levels, again, people who are physically very weak but thankfully they have faired well from the human gene pool and a naturally very slim (and in many cases good looking, re supermodels)

 

There are natural well built people who are amazingly fit, just like there are stick thin people who have frightening strength levels.

 

Everyone is different and so yes there will be naturally fat and unfit people

 

---------- Post added 07-01-2013 at 17:32 ----------

 

What part of the idea is Orwellian?

 

 

 

That we must all be the same