- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee boards
I don't trust the scales at the gym at all. Honestly, I don't trust a lot of scales because I seem to weigh different amounts from one doctor's scales to another. Just because they have the little moving thingies doesn't mean that they can't be in need of repair!
You are very right that the scales could be off to get people to keep renewing their membership, but muscles weighs more than fat. So you could have gained a little muscle and lost some fat..maybe?
Props on working out! I'm actually pretty excited about going to the gym in the morning...if mr.bobby would go to bed soon..
@ MissAsB - Yes, my weight always seems to vary on different scales too, but not by 10 lbs! I do think something is up with those scales..
@ bobbypinpearls - THAT is actually what I was saying in a roundabout way! (Glad you picked up on it ;) That I think they could have 'tweaked' them to get people to keep going! Shady but a very real possibility..
Edit: and Thanks! Good luck with your working out too!
I don't think I said but the scales at my old gym said I was 10 pounds heavier too!
And I wanted to hit it because I have never been that heavy in my life.
Nope, I don't trust those money-hungry-gym-fool's sneaky scales! Plus, I'm always fully dressed at the gym and I don't want to know my weight with clothing on :) I want to weigh as little as humanly possible so I weigh myself nakie at home.
What are toning tables?
LOL - Same way I felt tonight, except that I HAVE been that heavy and I never want to again!
@ wifeywife - I've noticed a lot of people don't know what toning tables are! They are pretty popular around here, and easy to find..
They are low-impact robotic exercise machines that you lie on. You resist the movement of the machine (parts of the machine 'rotate' or 'swing' back and forth in certain directions based on the area they are targeting) by pressing in the opposite direction and/or tightening & flexing certain muscle groups throughout the movement of the machine. It actually does work to decrease you by inches, though not by lbs usually. It's pretty darn expensive, but it does work if you're dilligent with it, but it provides no cardio benefit or real benefit of exercise other than toning your muscles..
Told you I've been super-lazy lately ;)
I've never heard of toning tables either. That's really interesting.
I used to work for LA fitness and they would jack the scale up 5-10 lbs because during the sign up for the personal training they would weight you and it would make you sign up faster if you thought you were heavier than you were
How evil! I knew they were tricksters.
@okqueenbee- something is better than nothing! Good for you for doing something and for going to the gym at night. I find it really difficult to leave home at night. I get too cozy.
I actually quit because i couldnt lie to people lol I would never sign up at a gym ever after actually working at one lol they take you for all your worth
At least the gym at my school isn't sneaky like that. All of the classes there are free and the fees are reasonable for me as a student (not really reasonable for non students though).
Wow, so I never thought about this before, and just trusted that the scales were correct... They've never been more than 5lbs off either way, but I'll definitely be being more aware from now on!!!
I work at a gym...its hard to keep the scales calibrated correctly when people jump/stomp on them so we always grab a 5lb weight place it on the scale and see if it reads at 5lbs. If it doesn't then we know by how much it is off and can accurately weigh people.
Good to know that some gyms are honest. I can't afford personal training anyways so I don't have to worry about being duped into it :)
Notwithstanding the fact that the gym itself may adjust the scale upwards to make you appear heavier than you really are, there are a NUMBER of reasons why the scale shows a higher number than your real weight.
I don't know about you, but I weigh myself first thing in the morning, naked, before I eat anything or take a shower... which would be at my lowest weight. If I was to weigh myself later on, the clothes I would be wearing as well as all of the food and drinks I have had that day are included. Also, since there are so many different people of varying weights at the gym weighing themselves all the time, its very likely that the scale isn't callibrated correctly (since its a manual scale) and ends up being off no matter what.
Who cares what the gym one says. I also discredit the doctor's office one for this same reason... well the wearing of clothes and including all the food/ drinks I had already eaten that day.
Regardless of if my true weight is 125, but my scale at home says 123, as long as I weigh myself everyday, I can tell if my weight is fluctuating, which is the most important thing to know!
I sure hope the scales at the gym are reliable because I've been losing weight!
This is what I noticed at my gym every Monday im 5 pounds heavier than on Friday. My FI and I came to a conclusion.. since everyone "start their diet on monday" they make you feel like you weigh more but on friday you "lost weight" cause you were working out. Now since you obviously did not work out during the weekend you "gained those 5 pounds back" and now you gotta go to the gym on monday feeling all guilty after the weekend.. and now you have to lose it..
They mess with us and thats not cool..
I belong to New York Sports Clubs so during the week I go to one in the city by my office and on the weekend I go to one by my apartment in Jersey. The one near my office is heavily trafficked and their scale NEVER works. It probably hasn't been calibrated since they opened the place. The one near my house is brand spaking new and really not very busy - their scale is great. But generally, scales at the gym are not to be trusted.
There may be several reasons why it was so high.
First off- You weighed yourself at the end of the day. After you've eaten all day, drank water/pop/whatever, it's still fluid.
Second- you worked out so you were probably sweating. That could add a few pounds. Last week I weighed myself on my HOME scale and it said I had gained 6 pounds in 4 days. Of course I weighed myself the next morning and low and behold, I magically lost 6 pounds just by sleeping!
Third- You had clothes on, which, I'm sure were also soaked with sweat. That weighs them down, making them heavier. It may not seem like a lot at all, but you'd be surprised!
I would try to stop in earlier in the day JUST to weigh yourself maybe
I use the scale at my gym, but I use the same scale every week. My doctors office is three pounds heavier than my gym scale.
I put a scale on my registry.. so I can use that as my every day scale. I think it's more important to use the same one consistently to see your progress.
Scales are so mean! I will only use one when I go to the doctor.
A couple things: The pp who said that you were weighing yourself at the end of the day and therefore likely weighed more was probably spot on. Working out also causes your muscles to retain water. For me this has sometimes resulted in a five pound difference!
The annoying thing about weight is that it changes constantly with water retention, especially around that time of the month, so it's difficult to ever get a "true" read on your weight. The best thing to do is to weigh yourself weekly at the same time of day and on the same scale. Then you can track your weight over time and see the "trend." The fluctuations from day to day are just too huge so that's why it's better to do it weekly. Also, like you said, just focus on how your clothes fit, that's probably the best gauge.
Sorry that you had such a crappy experience on your gym scale :( Don't take it to heart though. Good for you for getting back to the gym in the first place!
gosh,you would think the scales at the gym would say you weighed 10 lbs less to keep you motivated and coming back!!(at least thats what I would think! Seeing an extra 10 lbs would make me not truly enjoy my workout...I would be too focused on what the scale said!)
That being said, the balance in the "old fashioned" scales can be off and in need of calibration, so there is a chance of the scale being off!
If you way yourself at night, I'm not surprised there is a huge discrepancy. You should weigh yourself in the morning, empty stomach and empty bowels. If you keep consistency in your weigh-ins--where you weigh, times, naked or in pajamas, etc, you'll be able to track better. We have a fancy scale at the gym and I weigh about 5 lbs more than I do at home on my new glass one. But at the gym, I have clothes AND shoes on. At home I'm nekkid. And if i weigh myself first thing in the morning, well, that's what I count. All the food in my belly throughout the day, my 8 glasses of water, etc, add a lot of false weight to the scale.
Don't be discouraged. Does your gym offer body fat measurements? I love getting those. I try to eat the same foods before i get measurements (since it works off electrical currents) so I don't accidentally mess it up, but I feel like that percentage along with measurements every month tracks my progress far better than the scale.
I don't trust gyms at all. Gyms are a BUSINESS. I was so pissed when I signed up at my gym in January because they're really huge and all about being a part of your LIFESTYLE blah blah blah. I came in telling them: I know I want to sign up so lets do it. they were still trying to "sell" me on it and talk to me about my problems and goals etc. I'm like okay what I do not want is for you to talk to me. I know what I need to do, take my money and leave me alone!!
Then they called me 3 times the next 2 weeks to find out how i liked it and to find out why i hadn't come more. I told them if they didn't take me off the call list I'd quite. Psychos, I tell ya.
Re: the scale. Buy one to keep at home. What is important is progress not so much the number. I only weigh on my scale at home so I can always tell if I'm gaining or losing.
It's recommended to accurately track your weight you weigh yourself on the same scale at the same time each day. Weight flucuates throughout the day and week, and all sclaes are calibrated differently and adjusted on different schedules. My dr's old-school style scale is always 4-8 lbs heavier than my electronic scale. I don't know which is "right' but when I gain 2 lbs according to one, I'm 2 lbs heavier on the other, too.
MY problem with the gym is that I don't trust the levels and calorie trackers (even putting in the height/weight/age details). I was using levels 8-10 on the Precor at the NYSS near my old apartment, but when I bought my own Sole E55, I could barely use level 2 for more than 25 min (both use a scale of 1-20). WTF? That's a HUGE discrepency! I've since switched to running.
You must log in to post.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| Brielle | 44 |
| ndreighton | 36 |
 vorpalette |
29 |
| caseyleigh10 | 27 |
| les105 | 24 |
| ellisrobertson | 24 |
| mypinkshoes | 23 |
| fishbone | 23 |
| lionskitty | 22 |
| SouthernGirl | 21 |
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| jouissance | 4 |
| AnAppleA_Day | 4 |
| pharmy | 3 |
| kat2014 | 3 |
| Snow00774 | 3 |
| kaylee26 | 2 |
| les105 | 2 |
| keepsmiling19 | 1 |
| Miss Orchard | 1 |
| Novemberfriends | 1 |
I went the gym tonight (the ACTUAL gym, not just the toning tables like I've been going to) and worked out (fast-paced walking with incline & some jogging) on the treadmill for the first time in *braces for a beating* about 8 months. No joke. *sigh* I used to go all the time back in the day but for various reasons really slacked off and eventually stopped altogether. I've been uber-lazy lately, folks. I'm not even going to try to make excuses about it, but tonight I had HAD it with myself and my lack of motivation and took myself and the trusty ipod to the gym at 9:15 pm. I had a great workout, and trust me, after I saw those scales I needed it.
Which brings me to the point of the post: The scales at the gym. I've always had my doubts about them, but tonight sealed the deal. THEY SAID I WEIGHED 10 LBS MORE THAN I WEIGHED ON A DIFFERENT SET OF SCALES TWO WEEKS AGO!!!!! I almost had a cow right there! WTF?! There is no way I could have gained that much weight in two weeks! If that were the case, my clothes wouldn't even fit right now. (The two-week reference is referring to the last time I weighed myself at the toning-table place, which was my most recent attempt at "working out").
I do tend to trust the upright medical-type weight scales more than flat (cheap IMO) floor scales, but now I'm not so sure. I just don't see how they could have been SO off. >_<
Anywho, I guess I'll just "pretend" they are correct, and use that as motivation to work my butt off (haha) from now on. I cannot allow myself to slack for one more day. I feel like it's gotten out of hand and even if the scales ARE off, it was a nice wake-up call.