SATS

SATS means nothing to most of you, and honestly, I don't even know what it means. It's the name of the gym we go to, and that's all I need to know I guess.

The alternative option is Friskis och Svettis, which roughly means "healthy and sweaty", so you can probably understand why we chose the gym with an unknown acronym for a name instead.

Going to the gym in Sweden is quite different than going to the gym in the US. Sure, when you attend a class there are still the teachers' pets who fight for the front row to get in front of the instructor. There are also the less coordinated people who hope to remain unnoticed in the back of the room. There are the fitness enthusiasts who give it 120% and somehow take up 200% more space than anyone else in the room. There are a few people in class who seems more focused on drawing glances than getting a good workout. There's the man that got dragged along by his girlfriend or wife (often me). There's the sweaty guy (always me). I could go on, but you get the point.

There are big differences though. For example, when I went to the gyms in Minneapolis, the locker rooms seemed to be filled with 70+ year old men, mostly overweight, who just liked to sit around in the buff. To be honest, I'm not even sure all of those guys go to the gym to workout - the percentage of older men in the locker room was always far greater than the percentage of older men out on the gym floor at any given time. In addition, I often feel like I'm the least fit guy in the Swedish locker room. A V-shaped torso and <10% body fat is the norm. Seniors in the gym are a rarity, and men sitting around in the buff is a no-no unless they're in the steam room or sauna.

In general, I'd just say the Swedish clientele are more fit, but that doesn't come as a surprise to me considering the general population in Sweden is more fit.

The hardest thing to get used to is that you have to reserve a spot in any classes you want to attend. There aren't many classes I want to attend, but I do like to do yoga once a week. A spin class is often a nice alternative to running. Then there are a few other classes that I've stumbled upon (meaning Miranda introduced me to) that are pretty good, one that focuses on core and another, Shape, which is a full-body strength workout which uses your own body weight as resistance. I've tried Shape twice and ran pain-free in each of the two following weeks. That's pretty good for a guy who has been fighting knee pain on every run for over two years. Granted, the last time I did the Shape, a 60 minute class, the instructor just about had me puking with 20 minutes left in class and passing out with 10 minutes to go (the 30 girls in the classroom didn't seem to have any problem sticking with him - don't know about the two other guys), but to be able to run without knee pain makes it totally worth it.

There's a problem though. Swede's are known for filling up their monthly calendars weeks in advance; "Want to meet for coffee? Ooh, I'm fully booked for a while. How does Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 in three weeks* sound? Oh sorry, I already have coffee plans that day. What about the week after?" The gym is no different. You have to reserve your spot in most classes 7-14 days in advance. It's a bit easier in the suburban gyms, but if it's a popular class, it's still going to fill up quickly. Shape, Core and yoga seem to be pretty popular.

There are benefits of booking a class so far in advance. It basically makes you commit to a gym schedule far in advance. The flexibility of "just running" makes it very easy to skip a workout. But if you skip a class you've reserved more than thrice, you lose your booking privileges. There is one out, you can cancel your reservation up to an hour in advance.

So, two weeks ago I booked a yoga class for today at 4:30. This one is a very popular class, so I reserved my spot on the first day it was possible to make a reservation, a full 14 days in advance. I ended up 25th on the waiting list, meaning I was #55 on the list for a class that could only accept 30. I didn't think there was any chance I would make it, but I signed up just to see. Yesterday I was #20 on the waiting list. I gave up home and by morning I had forgotten about it. By 1:30 I went out for my run. At 3:00 I checked my email; "you have now received a spot in yoga at 4:30". Great, apparently there was a mass rush to exercise (ba-dum, ching!) the right to cancel with only an hour to spare. Everyone had signed up just so they could have the option of going, not because they were actually committed to going. So now I had to make the choice, it's 90 minutes before class. I just finished an 80 minute run in the snow, my body is cooling quickly, I'll have to change from my winter running clothes and bundle up for a trip across town in 20 degree temperatures, pack a separate gym bag, make the 30-40 minute trek downtown, and by the time class starts in 90 minutes my body will have completely cooled and my muscles will be stiff. I followed the trend and canceled. Had I not checked my email, I would have been penalized for skipping the class, even though I was still 20th on the waiting list as of yesterday. I guess the lesson to be learned is that if you sign up for a class, even if it seems like you have no chance of getting in, you still go to the gym at that time.

Overall I guess the system is okay, but even after nearly three months in Sweden something like this still seems to surprise me.

Miranda and I will be home in just a few months. I'm guessing at that time I'll go to the gym, try to go to a class, find it's already full, then go gripe to the old naked guys in the locker room that it would be better if I could have reserved my spot in advance. Until then, I'll just whine about the Swedish system.

*Slight exaggeration