I have been a member of a gym since 1977 where men and women had separate workout days. Currently, I belong to Equinox and use it where I live as well as other facilities when I travel. Equinox has everything including weight and cardio, Olympic lifting platform, pilates, yoga, spinning, 25 meter pool, basketball, aerobics studio and personal trainers. I use the gym for working the muscles that cycling does not and recovery. In the off season, I do lower body strength training. The best lower body work for cyclists, especially trackies, is Olympic lifts that feature explosive moves. However, being older, I pass on the explosive part and rely on my standing starts at the track to provide that component. I like some kettle bell work such as swings and Turkish getups.

I do a spin class on very rare occasions primarily because I prefer to ride my road or TT bike on the trainer against a specific workout. The personal trainers are okay but are expensive and in many cases, I know more than they do when it comes to strength training to match a sport in which I have an interest such as cycling. They are good for people who need instruction and motivation.

The pressure put on personal trainers to perform and get clients is immense. They are expected to sell services to members which is not easy and most of the work is in the evenings when the clients who can afford to pay want to workout.