Lighting in gyms
Building regulations require that when we work, we must have enough light to do our job, ideally this should be natural light. What is considered ‘enough light’ has to do with the amount of detail you need to be able to see. For example if you are drawing or assembling parts, you need to be able to see details.
In crowded cities this is compromised a lot, for commercial reasons. Space above ground is expensive. We also need to keep the noise of gyms away from neighbours and to drop weights without shaking up the entire building. There are good reasons to put the gym in the basement.
But aside from the basement gym that is unavoidably dark, there is also the gym that is designed to be dark, like a nightclub. We love Barry’s and Gymbox that pioneered the nightclub feel some 20 years ago now and so many other businesses have followed suit. How effective nightclub design is for training and performance is not entirely clear.
In a nightclub there is no need to see details and it may be fun to not be seen in detail. But when you work or train at a gym you do want to see as much detail as possible, to prevent injuries. Balance and body awareness are also better under good lighting. And if you’re looking for results, very low light tells your body it’s time to sleep, so is actually not conducive to high performance.
Gyms have been compensating for that by turning up the music to keep members stimulated, and members have been turning up caffeinated. But we are essentially sending our body mixed messages.
One line of thought is that low light helps reduce the feeling of self-consciousness. Particularly when someone joins a gym for the first time and is stepping outside their comfort zone, it helps to make them feel relaxed by keeping light levels low. It takes away feelings of intimidation, self-judgment or competition.
Dark spaces allow for light manipulation which adds another dimension to a class. But you could argue that a good coach or trainer can set the mood with no need for fancy lighting schemes.
Some spin studios have now gone completely dark. “[Darkness] allows riders to get lost – to disconnect from the outside world, to get rid of any judgment, self-consciousness and competition,” says John Wilson, co-founder of Ride Cycle Club and son of Lululemon founder Chip Wilson.
The concept behind the workout plays a role here: if the intention of the gym is to reduce stimuli and get you lost in the music, to help you forget everything and spin, and you’re on a stationary bike where little can go wrong safety-wise, then dim lights are completely legitimate.
If on the other hand you’re doing bodybuilding or compound lifts that require your full attention and coordination, or any type of training where accuracy matters, and you are using maximal loads, then the more you can see and be present, the better you’ll perform.
By the same token, low light is incredibly helpful in classes like yoga where the focus is on removing tension from the body. Dimming the lights or using candlelight helps to focus on the instructor’s cues and on your own breathing. Members can interpret these cues differently without worrying about looking as bendy as the bendiest person in the room.
What do you think? How does light affect you when you train and when you work? Let me know here.