I have been to three gyms in Hirakata-shi and found out that weight lifting is not as big here as in America. Exercise is big, but not weight lifting. These are some pictures of the equipment in one of the Kansai Gaidai school gyms. Machine exercise is the most popular because of a few reasons.The first reason is that machines are safer than free weights. People can go to the gym by themselves and not need to be spotted by a second person. It eliminates the risk of having the risk of the weights being to heavy for a person to hold and them falling unto them and injuring them.
The second reason I found out is that in the facilities
around here people are for the most part beginners in the gym. I have been in the gym working out and watched people doing there exercises with free weights. They do things that are risky to their bodies and may in the future cause serious injury. This is a good reason to eliminate the problem of safety by using mostly machines.
The third reason is for the trainers. This is so the trainers can keep watch over the people lifting and make sure it is not too heavy for them and if it is they can quickly change the amount of pressure to ensure safety.
I have seen three types of machine with the options of how to switch the weights. The first and oldest here is the actual weight with a bar pushed through to choose how much you lift. The second is a dial with six options of pressure. Finally the third is pressure gauge with controls on the floor that you can press with your foot to change it.
3 comments:
All the photos look pretty empty. Are there few people in the gym in general vs. how they are in America, or were you just there at a quiet point in time?
Most of the time the gyms at the school are pretty slow. When they are busy it is because it is team training, but there are often a few single people in the school gyms. I joined a neighborhood gym and it is nothing like the gyms I go to in America. There are less people and they are very quiet. Exercising here is a different thing! For example people here don't yell to their friend or lifting partner to motivate them or encourage them. It is very common to hear people very loudly saying "one more, you can do it!" or something similar. Occasionally here (Japan) you may here someone say in a much softer voice "Ganbatte". I just haven't heard it as frequently.
I wonder what this post says about Japanese culture. Is the gym at school an appropriate place to investigate Japan? Even if you compare and contrast it to a private gym off campus? Perhaps it might, but you need to tell us why. Do these questions sound familiar to you? We had a similar discussion about the subject of aerobics in the Body/Comm class last semester. Why are you posting about this topic and what are the issues you are dealing with. You start to address such issues in your reply to Dick's comment/question.
-scf
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