Home Gym vs. Joining A Gym

Over the last 10 years of being a Winnipeg personal trainer I have trained a lot of people at their place in a “home gym.”  I should say that I “used to” train people at home gyms but I do not do that anymore, and there are a lot of reasons for that but it all boils down to giving you the best chance of success.

Sure having your own gym has some advantages I guess.  The biggest one is that a lot of people are intimidated from going to the gym.  They feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, etc.  Actually most people feel this way when first starting out.  Another one is the time factor.  If you can workout at home you can do it whenever you want and don’t have to worry about travelling anywhere.  By the time a person travels and changes you have added another 30-60 minutes to the workout.

Now remember, when starting an exercise program the main thing we do anything we can to maximize your chance at succeeding.  I have found that over the years that people who worked out in their home gyms had a way higher chance of drop out, so much higher in fact that I stopped training people at their place.  Also, results are much better at a gym then a home gym.  Why are they better?  Well a gym has a wide variety of equipment that most people will not have at home.  This will directly affect results in a big way of Great Prices On Commercial Gym Equipment.

Ok now let’s look a bit closer to the disadvantages of a home gym:

• • They are underequipped.  Most people do not have the money or space to buy what is needed for a good home gym.  Walking into a house with a few dumbells and an exercise ball is something I hope I never have to do again…the same goes with Bowflex.

 

• • Too many distractions.  You will find yourself doing anything but working out or you will keep putting it off.

 

• • Not enough variation.  Since there is hardly any equipment you will be limited to which exercises you can do.  Not only is this boring but will majorly affect results.

 

• Poor results.  Not enough variation and not enough weight are the culprits.  If you do not have enough variation or weight you simply cannot increase muscle mass or bone density.  These are 2 of the biggest benefits of starting an exercise program.  Poor results also means that you will more than likely end up quitting your program before you reach your goal.

 

You see once you get over the fear of working out in front of other people then it is much, much better to join a gym.  To be honest you have absolutely nothing to worry about.  If a trainer knows your limitations and starts you off slowly and progresses properly then everything will be fine.  It’s funny, every time a start training a person for the first time I will always ask them if they are nervous…and they always say Yes!  But, you will see just like they did that this goes away very fast, like after 1 workout.  You will see just like they did that you had nothing to worry about at all.  I should say though that if a gym is too crowded it is not good either.  To avoid this try joining some of the smaller local gyms instead of the big chain ones.  Also, avoid the busiest time of the day for the gym which is form 5-7.

 

Now lets look at benefits of joining a gym:

• • No distractions.  Once you are there you have nothing to do but train.

 

• • Variation.  Lots of variation of exercises will not only prevent boredom but will give you way better results!

 

• • Motivation.  It is alot more motivating to workout amongst other people that are working out.

 

 

So yes, if you are serious about losing weight, or getting any kind of results then I would highly recommend joining a well equipped gym!