The Body Blog: Gym Vs. Home Workout

gym_0.jpg[Hey all. It’s your fitness guru here, ready to keep you up to date with this week’s workout tips. I hope you found last week’s Elliptical vs. Treadmill article helpful to your road to a new bodddday! This week I am going to be discussing the pros and cons of working out at a gym, versus buying your own equipment and working on your own, at home.]

Working out at the gym:

Pros: It can be great motivation to see people you know, or strangers, pushing themselves to lengths that you want to push yourself too. Creating a sense of unity, a gym can group individuals together that have the same mentality: getting and staying healthy. You can even make gym dates with your friends or spouse as a way to bond, workout, and push each other. Additionally, there’s more of a variety at a gym; you can take classes or use machines that really work for you.

Cons: The competition can get to you. Some people go into gyms to flaunt their bodies, while sizing up the other men and women, making you, say a less healthy or thinner individual, feel inadequate. Some people view gyms like sororities; you have to look a certain way to fit in. Also, there can be lines for specific equipment, which can cause a time constraint. Depending on where you join, a gym can cost you an arm and a leg; the local gym by me is $100 bucks a month – yikes!!! Too rich for my blood.

Working out at home:

Pros: You can work out when you want, however you want, in your sweats or in your undies. Yes, buying equipment is expensive, but the lump sum you pay will add up to less than a annual gym membership. I splurged three years ago on a treadmill for the holidays, which ON SALE, cost me $500 bucks. However, three years down the road, it’s still alive and kickin,’ which is more than I can say for my uber expensive monthly gym membership.

Cons: It’s hard to motivate yourself. When you know the couch, a bag of potato chips, and the boob tube is on just a few feet away, you’re more likely to say ‘’ah, screw working out today,” than you are in the middle of a gym. You also can get bored of the same routine workout, which is more likely to happen when you’re at home with one or two machines, versus a whole slew of them at a gym.

Whether at home or at a gym, working out is an important asset to staying healthy. So, find the right location that works for you and get to it! If you’re used to working out at home, try a monthly membership at the gym and see how it makes you feel. You may love the classes offered (sometimes, a free personal trainer session is thrown in – who knows!) and wind up kicking your at-home workout habit. For you gym buffs, cut your membership short and invest in your favorite piece of equipment or some at home workout DVDs; the convenience of your at-home gym will create an ease from the crazy gym lifestyle.

What do you prefer?

5 Comments on "The Body Blog: Gym Vs. Home Workout"

  1. ela says:
    Mon, 3rd Nov 20081:09 pm 

    i know you didn’t mean it in this when you said that ‘healthier people’ are sizing you up but it’s a good thought: the people who are sizing you up and making you feel ‘less healthy’ are probably psychotic body-dysmorphic starving steroided-out freaks who are constantly comparing themselves to everyone else to build self-assurance that they are bigger or smaller etc. so you’re probably the healthy one :)

  2. Christabel says:
    Mon, 3rd Nov 20082:48 pm 

    i prefer running outside, so neither :) . it keeps me motivated to see other people out running and the scenery stops me from getting too bored.

  3. Lauren, University of Michigan says:
    Mon, 3rd Nov 20083:24 pm 

    I have tried working out at home, but actually getting up and going to teh gym gets me to do it.

  4. hannah says:
    Fri, 14th Nov 20088:14 pm 

    I agree… I do feel like people are critiqued/looked down upon at the gym if their bodies stand out in a negative way (really puny guys trying to lift weights, obese/overweight woman on the elliptical)… But my thoughts when I see people like that is ‘good for them! what a courageous person that must take.’ I like working out at the gym better because when you are in a gym there are no distractions… you have little opportunity to do things other than work out at the time you are there.

  5. Lydia says:
    Thu, 22nd Jan 20096:03 am 

    the gym mainly!! or at home i focus on strength training and stretching!!!

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