It’s all too easy to get lulled by the commonly-held belief when joining a gym that visiting it a few times a week is all that is required to get the results you want. But the reality goes deeper than just heading there every Tuesday and Thursday after work for a spin class or five reps on each machine.

The big secret to getting real gym benefits is what you do outside of your gym routine…

What happens in the gym is important, but it’s not the complete picture

Unfortunately, the reality for many gym-goers is what happens in the gym, stays in the gym, and this isn’t always the most productive way of benefitting from your membership.

When you get to your first induction session, you’ll find it relates to the gym membership, its facilities, areas and rules, and little on what happens away from the sweaty treadmills and even sweatier saunas.

Most gyms though will offer a number of welcome bonuses to get you started, like first two months free, having a free personal training session, student discounts and flexible memberships.

All of these incentives are designed to allow you to join whilst getting the maximum possible benefit from the facilities and services as soon as possible. This is a popular business practice in general, with sites from online retailers to aggregate sites like Oddschecker, which list free bets with no deposits from major betting sites, offering incentives to customers. Taking advantage of these offers can really kickstart your healthier lifestyle and get it off to the best possible start.

These kinds of bonuses and benefits are often only available to new customers, and not taking advantage of them can mean losing out. It’s all about getting your head around how to best use these free perks.

Take the extra steps required outside the gym

You might be thinking that all your fitness and training work doesn’t happen in the confines of the gym. And you’d be right.

While the gym can be an excellent starting point for your training goals, you’ll also need to factor in healthy eating plans, out-of-gym exercise, calorie counting, macro counting, personal training sessions, sleep routines, reduction in alcohol and concentrating on all the other ways you can maximise the benefits of your gym work.

Your training schedule can go one of two ways, either you are committed and ready to engage, or you just don’t take it seriously enough. If it’s the former then you have to build in some downtime to your training so you can stay mindful, because no matter how ripped you get, you’ll always want more.

For those of you looking to link mindfulness and relaxation as a complement to your gym training, there are dozens of types of yoga, including hatha, vinyasa, yin, or kundalini to try out.

Getting to the gym should be commended, but balancing your workout with your lifestyle outside of the gym is equally important. Make the most of the tools available so you can find the most sustainable path to health and fitness.