First off I have no clothes you’d ever wear to a gym. I wear jeans and a t shirt pretty much daily (think Hank Hill). Second, I don’t get what you do there. I hated gym time in school (workout gym, not like throwing balls and running around gym, thats fun) and I don’t get what you do. Run on a treadmill and lift some weights? I feel like I could do all of that at home. Gym memberships are insanely expensive. Are home workouts actually effective? Does one even enjoy gym time?
Theres actually a lot at the gym you can’t do at home. Any barbell movement (big stick with weights on the end) you can’t do unless you have one at home, all the cardio machines, workout classes, cable machines, etc. I enjoy my gym time because I’m able to get a better workout at the gym compared to anywhere else. You can basically where anything to a gym. If you’re doing upper body, just make sure you have a loose fitting shirt on, if youre doing lower body have loose fitting pants on. Gym time is what you make it. If you find one thing fun, you’re allowed to just do that.
People don’t have space for a home gym, so it’s either pay the membership fee, or don’t work out.
Noooo, there are soooo many exercises that take nothing extra. … ok maybe you can double or triple the number of exercises you can do with even just like… a playground within jogging distance, but still.
The vast majority of muscles can be exercised either with body weight, or a few heavy items that are easy to grab. Add a sturdy bench you can lay on or put weight on without it flexing too much or falling over, and you can cover basically any muscle.
It is purely a lack of knowledge of anatomy that drives someone to say you NEED a gym’s amount of equipment. Muscles are dynamic, but you can only move your body in so many ways.
I don’t go to the gym either but know several people who do and the equipment lets you strength train with a lot more weight than your body weight if that’s what you’re going for. You can use water jugs and stuff at home but that can be janky and potentially dangerous.
Also there’s probably something to be said about traveling to a dedicated location for your workout to help you get out of the house, in the right mindset, etc. I’m sure it’s similar to how some people love working from home while others prefer to go to the office to help focus better and socialize.
The vast, VAST majority of people do not need weight that is greater than bodyweight.
Exercising in a unique place is huge for at least removing distraction and easy excuses to not exercise, though. For some people I can see that being important enough for the membership.
Like how my buddy went to college just to learn some programming when there are a million quality tutorials/books/guides/docs out there for free these days. He wanted the forced structure and push to do homework.
He now regrets paying college prices for that knowledge.
Depending on where you’re at in life, gyms with machines can be really useful. It forces certain muscles to activate and if you’ve lived a sedentary lifestyle, it’s very useful.
Otherwise, yeah. The only thing you need is body weight and a set of dumb bells.
After that gets meh, get a squat rack/ bench press combo as well and you’re set
This is going to trigger people who just forked out for “insanely expensive” gym memberships, but it’s obviously true.
I can think of two caveats:
- body-weight exercises are clearly healthier than pumping iron, but they will only get you toned, not jacked (personally I think being jacked is ugly as hell, but whatever)
- presumably many gym-goers are there for the same reason that sociable people do all kinds of things in groups - because otherwise they would not find the motivation
The funny thing is, you can get DAMN jacked with only bodyweight. You just won’t look like a steroid-addled meathead, which far too many people assume is just time in the gym.
Yea, even personal motivation changes a lot when you go to some other location to do something. Don’t have much choice but to procrastinate or do something if you’re standing in the middle of a gym in just shorts and a shirt.
I mean, I guess it depends. I row often, and I don’t wanna do it in a gym, so I purchased a rower. But if I didn’t want to spend the ~$800 on a nice Concept 2 rower, a gym membership for $20/mo would give me about about 3.25 years of rowing before I hit the cost of the rower. Then I also get access to every other machine they offer, free weights, other amenities such as pool and basketball court, classes they offer, trainer access (probably not great but better than winging it). That may be valuable to you or it may not, but it’s an option. You could run on a treadmill or lift weights at home, if you purchased the items. Sure, running outside is free and you can pick up/put down stuff whenever, but weather gets in the way, and unbalanced or unwieldy weight isn’t always safe.
Home workouts can be effective and many make it work, but some people like/need the separation. Sometimes when I get home, if I sit down, I’m just not gonna get up and workout at that point. Stopping at a gym in the way home gives a clear delineation between still working physically and being done with your days work when you get home. Or if they go in the morning, I can’t row at odd hours I may want to because of neighbors (it’s not quiet). I can go to some gyms at 5am or 2am if I really wanted to, where I couldn’t currently at home.
you use the stuff that you can’t reasonably have a whole separate collection of. Weight machines, swimming pool, etc.
It also provides a place and time to do group fitness activities.
You should exercise but you don’t have to do it at a gym. The weather is lovely right now (depending on where you live), go run around a park. You can do free yoga classes at home.
Exercise doesn’t need to be expensive if you can’t or don’t want to pay for it. I got a lot of mileage out of running around a park and throwing Olympic rings over a tree to do bodyweight exercises.
Nowadays I love the gym though, I go several times a week and use stuff I just don’t have space for or can’t afford.
Run on a treadmill and lift some weights?
Yup.
Gym memberships are insanely expensive. Are home workouts actually effective?
They can be. Depends in your goals and all that. Home gyms require space and money up front.
I’ve been following this routine for a while at home. It’s been pretty good. I initially started with their 3 day a week dumbbell exercises.
https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/6-day-dumbbell-only-workout
I’ve also probably spent over $1.5k on a quality bench and adjustable dumbbells. A far cry from what you can use at a gym, but it’s good enough for me.
You can probably buy some cheap weights to start out and then move on from there.
Also, don’t expect immediate results. Give it a solid 3 months.
With good knowledge of anatomy, dumbbells and a bench cover every single muscle in your body.
You do not need much at all what so ever to exercise every muscle in your body. Believing otherwise is rather ignorant and only provides more pull to gyms, which are not necessary for 99.999% of people!
Yea, I would agree with that.
You could even get away with not knowing much anatomy if you can find a good routine and make sure your form is right. At least I feel that’s how I’ve gotten as far as I have.
The hardest part for me with working out at home is getting heavier weights. They get real expensive real fast and take up more and more room.
I assume there’s some kind of social aspect to going to a gym as well. I have no idea because I prefer the opposite, lol.
Yea… I haven’t explored the variety of “adjustable” weights outside of the classic bar + plates, but if any are reliable enough to run a routine with, 10-50lb adjustable dumbbells would cover like 95% of peoples’ needs with two items.
I originally had some plate dumbbells that screwed on, but it was such a pain in the ass to change them.
I eventually used the core home fitness dumbbells for about a year before upgrading to the Nuobell dumbbells.
My healthcare plan reimbursed me for most of the cost, which was very nice.
You’re absolutely correct that you can do all that at home. Will you? I find that going to a place puts me in the right state of mind to do the thing. They do have a lot of equipment available, but you can mostly replace it at low cost by running outdoors or buying a few dumbells.
Likewise for the costume - when I started going, I was very worried about making sure I had gym shorts and running shoes and a sweat wicking shirt and a gym bag. I got that stuff and it did help, just mentally put me into the place for it. But after a while I realized I could just go in casual clothes (though my gym bans jeans) and it’s fine. Up to you what’s more motivating - workout clothes or reducing friction by wearing what you’ve got.
As for what to do there - again, it’s your call. Generally they have several flavors of weight machines, cardio machines, free weights, usually some kind of aerobics space.
You set your own goals and routines. In contrast with something like school, no one’s going to force you to exercise. You have to want to - whether that’s for the fun of it or to achieve some health result.
Gyms also tend to offer classes, or personal trainers you can hire if you want more structure.
That’s a lot of questions, but I’ll try.
What do you do at a gym? Use dedicated equipment to lift weights and build strength, work with a coach to help set workouts, and workout with other people who have the same goals.
A gym membership can be a way to meet other people and build community. If you see the same 5 people regularly due to similar gym schedules, you might build some friendships.
Primarily a gym can become a place where you are expected to exercise, so you’re more likely to do it. If you have a treadmill and some dumbbells in your bedroom, your brain might not give you the motivation needed to use the equipment. You might hop on for 5 minutes, but then get distracted and stop using it. But if you traveled 20 minutes to a dedicated exercise location, then you’re much less likely to stop and leave right away.
So what do you do? Well, depends on what your goals are. Did you want to get healthier? Some cardio where you get your heart rate up improves your cardiovascular health. Lifting weights, can help build muscle and bone health, which would make it much less likely to be injured, and much more likely to recover from an injury quicker.
If you can motivate yourself to workout at home, and if you can find a good routine that meets your goals, you can certainly do that all at home, even without much equipment at all. The problem is, are you actually doing what you need to do, or are you just moving around and wasting time with little actual effect? A coach that knows what their doing would be able to help you actually use your time.
You have some very good answers here. I’m just going to add to this and say what you pay for a gym membership compared to what you wouldpay for decent quality equipment at home. It’s cheaper to have the gym membership because you have the maintenance and the upkeep on the equipment andthe replacement cost on the equipment if you own it. Where as at the gym you go there The stuff is working.
Given a lot of it, you can replace in a fairly low cost way. But you still have the upkeep and maintenance. And you also have the space needed.
True. And you have to move the equipment around haha. But I wonder if I need more than some weights and an elliptical for winter time when I can’t bike
My advice, do a lot of research figure out a gym that is easy to join and easy to get out of the membership or I should say to end the membership.
Then go there try all the different weights. Try the different pieces of equipment. And take notes to what you would really need, what you would really want. That should tell you how much space you would really want or need, and also the cost
Maintenance is an assumed cost. You do not NEED machines to exercise any muscle, and if you think dumb weights need maintenance beyond a wipedown/cleaning once in a while… then I have to question your knowledge or motives.
Wasn’t talking about dumb weights. Obviously those don’t have up keep costs.
As for the rest of my comment. It comes down to what the end user wants or feels comfortable with. Goes without saying you can exercise without machines. But that isn’t the point. Each person wants something different.
So why the need to attack me?
OP: “I feel like I could do all of them at home”
You: “Still have upkeep and maintenance”
Me: “No, most things don’t require tons of upkeep and maintenance, especially limiting it to things you’d ‘need’.”
Who do you actually agree with?
That and space, think of the cost of having an extra room in the house for all that stuff.
Here’s another place you can ask [email protected]
Ah perfect, I should have looked for that
The first visit to a gym could be free. Or it can be a “a current member can bring one friend for free once a month” thing. You can just go and check what’s out there. Most people probably just lift weights or use the machines that they don’t have and don’t want to buy at home. There’s also the factor that if you’re at the gym, you’re there to work out. When you’re at home, you can be distracted by whatever.
I never liked gyms. I get great workouts at home with a little open floor space and a stationary bike.
Run on a treadmill and lift some weights?
Yes, that is exactly what you do at a gym.
I feel like I could do all of that at home. Gym memberships are insanely expensive.
Absolutely correct.
Are home workouts actually effective?
Yes.
Does one even enjoy gym time?
Yes.
It just depends on what your goals are.
Are you just wanting to burn off calories? You may as well go for a run in your neighborhood.
Are you wanting to build muscle? That’s what I used to do. The gym has a lot of equipment that I wouldn’t be able to have room for at home. All the variety of free weights, barbells, racks, etc.
They also have classes and trainers you can hire to help you reach a goal. There’s also basketball courts, tennis, and often swimming pools.
But really at the end of the day, you gotta have a goal in mind I’m order to plan an effective workout routine. Randomly running on treadmill or lifting whatever won’t do much.
Also I didn’t really wear anything special. Just a T-shirt and some sweat pants. I did pick up some shoes for the gym because my others were too squishy and causing me problems when doing squats.
Thats probably part of the problem, I hate goals (because it’s not possible to know what’ll happen in the future) but basically I figure it’d be smart to be somewhat in shape. I have an insanely fast metabolism that hasnt slowed down at all but I just would like to be able to lift heavy things and be stronger. And I don’t want to feel like shit when im old, that’s the biggest reason I figure I should start doing more.
First I unpack my tripod, mobile phone and water bottle and set them into position in the most annoying direction possible. Then i hit record. Pump some irons getting upset at each and every passer by as it’s obviously about me not them. All the while intermittently berating those stupid Nord, Beton and Thalmor wannabes as inferior chuds to my faithful Khajiit follower’s. Then I strike some epic posses, admiring my strikingly beautiful ears, furs and tail. Of course I check the phone to make sure my benevolent masses of one follower shower me with praises. Thanks mom!
This one is disappointed with Maiq’s use of pronouns.
