Workout in Japan for Cheap

So you are in the land of the rising Sun for a holiday, business trip or perhaps you live here but have never thought about going to a gym before. Well like every large city in the world, finding a gym is very easy. However they can be fairly expensive and if you prefer lifting free weights rather than machines, then most of the chain gyms probably won’t be for you. There are of course many small more “hardcore” gyms, though these might be difficult to find and use if you speak little to know Japanese, but certainly not impossible. However the option(s) I go for are to use the public gyms that are maintained by each of the Toyko city wards. If you have a look at the website for the ward you should be able to find details for the public gyms within the ward.

The only downside is that the equipment varies greatly from gym to gym, though you can just shop around and see which one suits your needs. Aside from the training rooms, there is often a swimming pool and an in door training area/running track.

Even if you don’t speak Japanese its easy enough to use the facilities, most if not all of the gymnasiums have a ticket machine where you buy a ticket for whichever service you want to use. Reading a bit of katakana will make this easier, though you can always just ask the staff to help you out. It won’t be too difficult for them to figure out what you need. Perhaps doing the universal sign language movement of an arm curl would help…or make you look like a crazy person, the risk is yours.

The other option that I have used on occasion is to use one of the small swing parks you will come across in residential neighborhoods. These provide various opportunities to train outdoors, doing chinups, pullsup and reverse rows. The layout of these parks is very hit and miss, some are amazingly well equipped others have nothing but a bench. Take a wander around your neighborhood and see what you can find.

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