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?
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.
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
Bending in gymnastics helps bend the rules in PRs.
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
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.
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.
I like being able to turn on a movie or TV series I enjoy while doing some exercises at home.
Having to go somewhere with that annoying workout music blaring 24/7, needing to wait for equipment to become free… just not for me.
That’s what I’m hoping. After many years of not going to a gym and not using crappy home equipment, will I use nicer equipment more conveniently at home? I can hope so and at least you only buy it once
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.
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.
Sounds like you need sports as a conduits for your work out.
God knows I do. 🏸
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
Here’s another place you can ask [email protected]
Ah perfect, I should have looked for that
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.
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
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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).
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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.
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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
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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.
