<p>I worked hard lifting weights this academic year building muscle. Now I'm on break and would like to continue that. How are you able to maintain/build muscle over break? I was going to join at a club down the road from me, but they charge $50 to signup, $20/month to workout, and then an awful $10/month to freeze my account while I'm in college (8 months). I don't really have much for weights at home, and don't want to spend hundreds improving the exercise stuff at my house. Has anyone tried Gold's Gym? How much does it cost to go there?</p>
<p>Try calling around to local gyms and ask if they have college discounts. The YMCA in my area gave me a $25 summer pass that let me use the weight room any time and also allowed me to use the pool twice a week. This was in 2005 before they opened the new facility and I'm not sure if they still have this deal (I can use my college gym for free in the summer and I commute only two miles to college so it made more sense for me to work out there last summer).</p>
<p>Over Christmas, I try to get my weight lifting in by other means. Today I moved a ton of heavy furniture down two flights of stairs. Usually I find that I may lose a step or two over the three weeks but I can get back in the groove again within a week and not have lost any progress.</p>
<p>I've never tried Gold's Gym. I know the one that used to be in my area gave discounts to faculty members of a local school so I'm not sure if they'd have the same for college. However, the pamphlet I read about these discounts that I found in my attic was from 1991 so times may have changed.</p>
<p>Depends how long you're off but a few weeks won't kill you. Resting is critical for growing muscles. You can do bodyweight exercises like pushups, situps, pullups, etc or work on cardiovascular workouts like running if the joining fee is a problem.</p>
<p>your muscle memory won't "forget" the gains you've made...you might loose a slight amount of strength, but you probably won't loose any muscle mass as long as you continue to eat right (you may gain a little fat, but that's easier to get rid of)....just as muscle takes a long time to build, it takes a long time to loose...and no it doesn't sag and turn to fat...it takes about 6 weeks off before your body starts to really burn muscle for fuel. Again, maintaining muscle mass is easy, it's just building it that is really hard.</p>
<p>muscle and fat are 2 different things. Muscle does not turn into fat. You can either gain mass or lose fat, you cannot do both at the same time.</p>
<p>Also if you are focused on working out, you would make sure your diet is good. I have about 6-7 meals per day (about 3500-4000 cal daily) and drink about 1.5 gallon of water if on creatine. And get about 2 grams of protein for each lb. I have gained about 15-20 lbs in the last 4 months but it is +/- 5 lbs for water weight.</p>
<p>As for the gym question, you should go there and check. Every gym is pretty much the same, just go for the budget. All you are doing is lifting weights and every gym has that.</p>
<p>With that said it is about 35% weight lifting, 40% diet, and 25% sleep.</p>
<p>I haven't been eating as much at home, but that's simply because my school was a 24/7 buffet and perfect for those who were wanting to eat a lot (of healthy food). It'd be so expensive to eat as much at home as I do in college. So now I'm taking a whey protein supplement to make up some of the protein.</p>
<p>Thats very good Kinglin. Make sure to take a protein shake right after you workout becuase you will see tremendous gains that way. As soon as you finish weight Training your body will naturally look for nutrients and it is best to provide your body with it rather than wait an hour to eat because during that time your body will begin to take nutrients from your muscle tissues and that will make them smaller!</p>
<p>I wish that I had a buffet at home that I did not have to pay for :D</p>