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?
Even just the full set of free weights at a gym is the price of an annual membership (more than some discount gyms), let alone the expensive machines.
I think it was like 150 dollars a month for a membership here which is what made me go hell no!
That’s not a gym, it’s a full on spa
Nah. Just silly short sighted thinking.
Are you only going to exercise for a year or two? Yes? OK, well THEN you might have a point about gyms being cheaper…
but even a full set of weights and some minimal equipment is maaaaybe 5 years of gym memberships, for the cheap gyms.
Are you going to work out for less than five years of your life? If you answer “no”, even financing some weights might be worth considering.
Sure, if “financing” didn’t involve interest
Sometimes there are no easy answers and you have to do something more than complain. Is it a perfect, convenient solution? No. Do you need a perfect solution before you fix anything?
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.
Increase my PR’S
I don’t see how gym makes you better at coding
I did say i was going balls to the wall, right?
I was actually studying during cardio but not coding, lol
Clearly they were increasing their public relations. /s
Bending in gymnastics helps bend the rules in PRs.
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 %.
What weight did you start at? Doubling your weight in 2 years maintaining the same bf% is a very hard equation to solve, without the use of steroids, which I assume you didn’t use since you didn’t mention it.
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.
Sounds like you need sports as a conduits for your work out.
God knows I do. 🏸
Yes, going to the gym can be fun. Once you start feeling better and seeing results, there is a feedback cycle that makes you want more.
You should buy a pair of gym shorts and have a spare tshirt for working out.
Without knowing your goals it is hard to tell you what to do when you arrive to the gym. Typically you check in by scanning your card. If you don’t want to change at the gym, show up in your shorts and shirt ready to work.
So now you’ve entered the gym with some proper attire, then what? If you don’t have a plan, a good default is to limber up by stretching for a bit. Then find your favorite cardio machine and warm up on that, maybe for 15 mins or so.
Then you can do what you please. Go lift weights, continue with the cardio, play a game like basketball with some people; variety is the spice of life.
If you don’t know how to lift weights, there are tons of resources out there ranging from books and YouTube to personal training.
Circuit training on machines is a great way to get started, especially if you don’t have someone to work out with.
Home training is ok, but you have to have a lot of discipline to not end up on your phone or the couch. Going to a gym, especially with a workout partner, seems to work best for me.
Its mostly for the social aspect, people will say its not, but with how expensive they are, especially in Aus where i live, itd be cheaper to buy your own equipment than pay for a couple years membership.
You need the room for the equipment. I had to go to gyms when my rental was too small.
You lived in a shoebox, thats not very common, you are a distant outlier.
I lived in a 3 bedroom house with 3 other people. No room was available and not many would have been big enough anyway. I need at least 2m squared
Okay? Did you read what I said?
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
I throughly enjoy my time at the gym. 6 days a week I lift weights, run or swim a little, and then soak in a hot tub.
I’ve found that it makes me feel better, and not just physically. I’m less stressed with regular exercise than I was without it.
It’s also time I get to spend totally alone. Yes, other people are around, but I have headphones on and don’t have to talk to anyone. I teach for a living, and so it’s just nice to have a little time each day where I don’t have to be “on.”
Seeing yourself get stronger is also feels fantastic in ways that I don’t think really make sense until you do it. I could only bench 95 lbs when I first started lifting; now I’m pushing 225. That’s something I’m proud of.
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
I never liked gyms. I get great workouts at home with a little open floor space and a stationary bike.
I loathe gyms, they are usually full of smelly obnoxious people.
The alternate I found is putting on running shoes, headphones, and go outside.
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.
I got a bench and all the weights and bars I could ever need for a couple hundred bucks on Craigslist after looking for deals for about a week. They even came with little bars so I can use the smaller plates as dumbbells. Obviously it’d be harder for someone in a more rural area, but exercise equipment is usually pretty easy to find relatively cheap second-hand. Way better than a gym membership so long as you’ve got a bit of space in your home for a bench. Paired with basic body-weight maneuvers and some running shoes, you can get all the exercise you need without all the fancy stuff at a gym.
