Ask Lemmy

If you’re motivated at home you can run on street/walk/trails, you can do core body workouts, you can get some cheap equipment that will get you most of the benefits of a gym at much less cost. You can always find cheap used equipment for sale from people cleaning out their houses

Going to the gym gets you better equipment, more equipment, and helps establish a routine to keep you going when motivation isn’t enough.

If you get home equipment similar to what you’d use at a gym, the payback time is much longer, it may be difficult to move or store, and you can’t get rid of it when it’s time.

At home I have a good set of dumbbells, an Exercycle, and exercise mats I never use. However I’ve never really been able to establish a gym routine so that’s a waste of money. My brother has a good half ton of exercise equipment he’d give me free of charge but I have no way to transport it and it would cost too much.

I actually am considering getting more home exercise equipment. At least my teens would use it and maybe I would too. It’s expensive but it’s not continuous cost like a gym would be.

Something tells me you don't own a treadmill at home, so Im not following how you'd do that at home.

you pick up heavy things and then you put them down so you can pick up heavier things later.

A lot of exercises you can do in the gym you can also do at home with a pair of dumbbells or even just your body weight.

The benefits of the gym for me is having an air conditioned environment, with machines that can guide my exercises and help enforce proper form, a good space to meetup with personal trainers, opportunities for group classes, and somewhere where there’s people around in case anything goes wrong in one of my exercises.

Not all gyms are the same too. There are climbing gyms, kickboxing gyms, mma gyms, gyms with pools, gyms with basketball and volleyball courts, gyms with tennis, squash, and badminton courts, etc. A lot of those you can’t do from home.

I personally really like lifting weights and running an the gym. You can do it all at home but having a barbell, squat rack, bench press, weight plates, dumbbells, treadmill, pull down machine, rowing machine and so on at home would take a lot of space at home.

Having it at a different place also helps a lot with motivation IMO, there's a strong "at the gym I work out" effect instead of being at home where I can take a break and "continue later".

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.

Yo could do that at home. I do.

For many people a gym is a matter of discipline. To force them go and do it.

But for me it works the opposite way, the extra time going to another place dissuades me from going at all. So workout at home works better for me.

What do you even do at a gym?

Use training equipment that you don't have access to otherwise, to perform exercises aligned with your fitness goals. Some people do classes with trainers at gyms.

I feel like I could do all of that at home.

If you have the space and the money to invest in a home gym, that will be more than sufficient. Not everyone does, hence gym memberships. Classes with trainers are also not available at home, so that could be a reason to get a gym membership.

Gym memberships are insanely expensive.

It depends on the gym. I pay approximately $40 per year for access to my gym, and that covers everyone in my household.

The investment in fitness can also pay dividends that outweigh the costs - strength and cardiovascular fitness will let you live longer without being sick. If you have to pay for your healthcare, this may also manifest as a concrete money saving.

Are home workouts actually effective?

They can be. It's not going to be as effective as working out with full equipment, but you also may not need the full effectiveness. And if the choice is between home workouts and no workouts, the home workouts are far better.

Does one even enjoy gym time?

I enjoy going to the gym. I like the progression in becoming stronger.

You've got lots of stuff that would be hard to get at home like basketball, squash courts; swimming pools; saunas, cold plunge; lots of free classes (well, included in the cost). If you have a YMCA, they will even do a sliding scale based on your income.

It's like going to the library. Yeah you could do much of that stuff at home, but it's good to get out.

Captain obvious sneaking in, but There is tons of legit way to exercise, not just lifting weight in the gym, you can look for Volley-ball, Rock-dancing, or karate-class all of that is a legit way to exercise, which may even be cheaper and more fun than going to a gym.

Regarding your other points

• Get a T-shirt and either a short or a pair of legging, to start-with you don't need any of these high-end expensive fabric (Which may help if you plan to climb an alpine summit or run a marathon, but not to lift some weight casually). Total cost should be in the 10-15 EUR range (It sucks to live in a world where clothing is built by slave-like-labour).

• Most gym would include a couple of coached session as part of their beginner package. But a typical program would be like warm-up on a threadmill/eliptical then a bunch of strength exercise either on machine or free weight, and 10 minutes of cool-down with stretching, you can modulate duration/intensity depending on your goals.

• You can do a lot at home with body weight. However, being in the Gym sometimes helps as you are in a dedicated place with a dedicated time-slot. ideally choose a place either near your home, or on your commute, if not you'll never go there

I went to the gym for a couple years and managed to increase my PR's consistently and doubled my bodyweight at the same bf %.

Then i decided i was disciplined enough for a homegym as the gym attracted a crowd of generic fools instead of the old club of bodybuilders and powerlifters....i wasn't disciplined enough.

I really need that: "since i'm already here, might as well go balls to the wall".

My old gym cost about €13, now generic shit gyms cost more than twice as much. I won't be going back at those prices because food and rent also tripled, i don't grow money from a tree or something.

You can do this at home. Everything here is under 2000 dollars spent total because we bought from bankrupted gyms liquidating during covid and a couple home gym people after covid who preferred going to a gym and were offloading equipment for next to nothing.

Outdated pic but same rack today:

You need the space to begin with, but besides the rowers (can be stored vertically) and rack, the space waste isn't that huge. George Hackenschmidt's abridged/edited down by me workout routine is pinned to my back wall there. An old world strong man from an era before steroids existed. He didn't do focused muscle training, instead all-round balanced and, this is key, a very minimal amount of equipment is needed. You can look up how he looked, I think it's aesthetically pleasing.

But yeah that's really it. Lift heavy things, row, and I run or bike. I do not enjoy it. I don't pretend to. I'm not doing this for enjoyment, I'm a big nerd who never enjoyed physical activity ever. It's simply to stay in good shape because that was noticeably slipping in my 30's.

So I'm doing this entirely out of self preservation. Importantly, I also do Yoga. Flexibility is important too.

Gyms are indeed predatory with their obnoxious membership programs and cancelation antics. I'm lucky to have some space in my ugly basement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sHvWYAzIRo

Very good questions. I think the primary is that some form of workout is very important to your overall health, and you should just pick which type of workout works for you in the long run.

It doesn't really matter if you get a home gym, or go to parks, or to a gym, as long as you are consistent and have fun. For many people, the gym is intimidating, they might be better off with a home gym. I find the place semi-social, which means I get distracted by people watching, but don't have to chat with anyone. Works for me.

The key, I think, is to shift from "I can do all of that at home" to "I will do all of that at home." An insane number of home treadmills and exercise bikes collect dust because the mind is willing, but the flesh lazy. I love the distraction, others love the camaraderie or the friendships you make at a gym. They push you to go even when you don't feel like it, and that's the important part.

I'm the most clown show gym goer ever. I started late, with a huge physical deficit...

I workout in swim clothes, with flip flops, my gym bag is a canvas grocery bag.

• I go to the gym itself, with a friend
• Do cardio to get the heart rate up to 120ish bpm (5m)
• Target a muscle group until its sore (legs, upper body, back, etc) (55m)
• Hit the sauna after the gym (swim clothes)
• Swim after the sauna (swim clothes)

The important thing is to build a routine, or even a sense of community, I've gain a bunch of muscle and lost 45kg going to the gym - people are super supportive, everyone at the gym wants to get better, and they love to help other people get better.

The gym isn't enjoyable usually, not exactly, but you can develop this love hate relationship with low level soreness and if everything is feeling great you start to think "I need to go to the gym".

What is enjoyable

• Having a routine you can be proud of
• Seeing metrics improve
• Feeling the "soreness" of accomplishment
• Meeting other people who give you positive feedback about your effort/progress
• Jumping into a cold pool after a hot sauna - this is so good

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.

This is my gym. The bar was picked out of the trash and it was an old broomstick someone used as a fire poker.

With body weight exercises and a small weight set you can make from junk, you can get an amazing body.

You start very light, and you just take baby steps from there, I can help you build a routine.

Most of the YouTube people are way too hyper focused on 'blasting' this and that, really you just need to do some simple exercises.

Depends how consistently I've been going. Early on I'll pick majority muscles like bi/triceps, glutes, pecs, or abs to break them into work out routine. Like I'll pick 3 and wear them out because that easy to do early on. As conditioning kicks in over the weeks then I can pick 2 category for a day like chest/abs, arms/legs, shoulders/back, etc so that more specific muscles get trained.

When I was working out regularly I'll say that home workouts are great. I didn't have the equipment or weights at the gym but dumbbells can be used to target very specific muscles that won't get in the way of next two workouts days

Just go and do whatever you feel like. Eventually you will set up a routine and might even get into science based optimisations. Don’t overthink it. Doing anything is better than doing nothing.

Sounds like you need sports as a conduits for your work out.

Yes, because a lack of a pair of shorts and tshirt are the reasons why. /s

Have a home gym don't have a treadmill or stationery bicycle, to me that is weird, I can run around outside and I have a bike that i ride regularly. That said, decent gym equipment is expensive.

Im 58, I've been lifting weights since I was 17, (with some breaks) for me it's more like meditation. You can't win at it and it's not a game. My parter lifts with me, she said she likes it, so i will take her at her word.

There's any number of studies showing how good resistance training is for you, especially as you age.

Henry Rollins did the best reason why.

People don't have space for a home gym, so it's either pay the membership fee, or don't work out.

Gym memberships are insanely expensive

Wait until you see the price of weight plates and dumbbells.

You go to the gym to work out. You clearly don’t know how to work out, so go watch some exercise guides on YouTube.

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!

As a person who never goes to the gym and doesn't have a home gym either, are you trolling?

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.

Here's another place you can ask !fitness@lemmy.world

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.

Not that I liked the gym, but for lazy people like me it's way easier than figuring that shit out on my own. There was a trainer who made a plan of which exercises to do when. And there were special machines for training different muscle groups that were very easy to use. You'd visit a lot of those machines after eachother and do for instance 3 sets of moving the weight 10 times up and down again. And apart from that there were the threadmills etc.

Now I don't know about you, but I don't have threadmills in my house, nor any of the other equipment, nor someone who knows enough about fitness to know what exercises would help me best.

That being said, I never liked it, I prefer to just start with something and keep doing that same thing for an hour or so. Currently I've been running multiple times a week for a few years already. Way cheaper and it also works better for me.