Home gym or commercial gym

Home Gym vs. Gym Membership

The endless dispute between home gym and commercial gym workouts has no winner unless we analyze things objectively. The common opinion, which may or may not be a true, is that home gyms are for a certain category of people while professional gyms and paid membership plans are for another category. However, how can you know which of these alternatives is the best for you if you never tried both of them?

Given below are five reasons for working out at home and five reasons for opting for a gym membership plan, as well as a few arguments against each of these exercising solutions. Read them carefully, compare the benefits and decide which one suits your lifestyle, budget, time and preferences the best!

Why to invest in home gym equipment?

1. Working out at home is more comfortable

Working out in a regular gym involves buying special accessories, carrying all your hygiene products with you for post-workout showers, wait for the others to finish their exercises so that you can use a certain machine or wait for the trainer to come and guide you during the workout. You don’t have these problems in your home gym.

2. Home workouts take less time and are more affordable

Working out at home saves you lots of money in the long run, although the initial investment may be discouraging. Just think about the monthly fee you are paying for the gym and other costs involved in going to the gym regularly. If you multiply that costs by 12 months, would it be enough to buy a treadmill or some other exercise machine for your home gym and enjoy it not only for one year, but much longer?

Not to mention home workouts also take less time, as you do not have to get dressed, wait for the bus or drive at rush hours to get at the gym in time. In addition, you do not have to sacrifice your precious time for socializing with your friends and family, which is a big plus.

3. A home gym is more convenient in terms of schedule

While in a regular gym you can only work out when they’re open, a home gym gives you the opportunity of working out at absolutely any hour. For example, if you have 30 free minutes at 11 p.m., you can spend them by doing some pushups, treadmill trainings or squats. Burning calories is always good, regardless of the hour when you exercise.

4. You can create a friendlier environment by working out at home

Gyms do not give you the chance of choosing the music, TV shows, temperature or lighting level, so it is easier to create a friendly environment when working out in your home gym. While it is true that you may feel less motivated to maintain an alert speed when listening to your favorite music, there are will not be anyone to complain about the high music volume, the low temperature or about the wide open window!

5. Home gyms are more intimate

Home gyms have the great advantage of being all for you so you will not have to worry about the comments coming from disrespectful people or about your appearance while working out. Exercising causes sweating so if you are uncomfortable with others seeing you in a not so glamorous posture, forget about classic gyms and opt for home workouts.

Arguments against home gyms:

  • Home gym equipment takes lots of spaces so unless you have a huge house, you will not be able to create a fully equipped gym at home.
  • Home workouts are only for self-conscious people. You must be aware of what you want to achieve and use that as a motivation for working out at home. The most important thing is to motivate yourself. It is not easy to force yourself to finish each session, as it should, something that is much easier to accomplish if you have a personal trainer or some friend with whom you are going to the gym, someone who will motivate you to train harder and better.
  • Without a trainer or personal instructor to tell you when you perform an exercise in the wrong way, you may spend several hours working out in your home gym without noticeable results. Of course, you can buy some training program, as many training programs can teach you how to correctly perform exercises. The problem is that these programs are of a general nature and personal trainer can make an individual exercise program tailored just for you.
  • It is very easy to waste time at home and get distracted from your workouts, as you can always find something else to do and fall into the trap of frequent delay of your workouts. For the best results, you need consistency.
  • Home gym equipment is usually less expensive therefore less professional and complex than the one found in regular gyms.

Why should you opt for a gym membership?

1. More exercising options

Home gyms usually have a limited number exercising machines, while, on the other hand, regular gyms are properly equipped for professional workouts. So, if you want to get the most of your exercising session and work your entire body in an intense and effective manner, you should opt for a paid gym membership.

2. More intense workouts therefore more burned calories

Another great benefit of gym workouts is they burn a lot more calories than home exercising sessions simply because they mix cardio and fitness trainings in a more professional way. Running on the treadmill can be done both at home and at the gym at the same speed and intensity but when it comes to bench presses, crunches, leg lifts, dips and curls, results are better when professional machines are used.

Besides building stronger muscles, workouts performed at the gym also burn more calories, as it is well known that muscles burn up to 4 times more calories than fats. Therefore, if your goal is to lose weight and put on lean mass in an efficient manner and in a short period, you should opt for a gym membership.

3. Higher level of motivation when working out in a professional environment

Seeing other people working out near you is surely motivating, so if you’re not exactly a self-conscious person and you enjoy wasting precious minutes between sets and reps, a gym membership can help you exercise in a more efficient way and organize your spare time better. In addition, it can help you push your body harder and force your limits, so you will end up burning more calories and working your muscles more intensely.

4. A professional trainer is always available

Commercial gyms come with certified fitness trainers, who are always ready to help when you do not know how to correctly perform an exercise. In addition, they can design a personalized program to suit your individual abilities and needs and recommend you the best routines for shaping, toning or sculpting specific areas of your body, whether you want to lose weight or to build muscles.

5. Commercial gyms offer additional facilities

Isn’t it refreshing to get a massage, a sauna session or a relaxing bath in the pool right after the workout? It surely is, and unfortunately, you cannot benefit from these extra facilities at home unless you are insanely rich.

Arguments against commercial gyms:

  • You have to pay more or less expensive monthly membership fees.
  • You cannot listen to your favorite music while working out and cannot choose the show to watch while training on the treadmill.
  • Changing rooms aren’t always comfortable and big enough so you might have to wait for good minutes for taking a shower before getting home.
  • You have to organize your day based on their schedule: you can have your aerobic session on Monday if it’s scheduled for Friday and can’t do boxing or circuit training on Tuesday if your workout schedule says you have to work your core area and legs.

Now that you have read our analysis, you should be able to choose between a paid gym membership and home gym workouts! On the other hand, you can choose to combine both, as the choice is yours. However, if you decide to buy some home gym equipment, first read our article what you should consider before buying home gym equipment.

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Photo credits:Creative Commons License Flickr/Dr. Abdullah Naser