Buy a Treadmill or a year long gym membership?

MelisRunning

Definitely a gym membership then you can have the best of both worlds! They will have the cardio equipment and the weights. Plus you will make friends who will hold you accountable for being there consistently and encourage you along the way! Definitely the gym.

Nikiki

The best workout is the one you'll do! If you aren't big on going to the gym then get the treadmill, just make sure to add some strength training in there too, google the 100 pushup, 200 squats programs (they have squats, pullups, pushups dips & Situps) to help build lean muscle while you're losing fat, it'll help you drop sizes quicker

And as a few others have said check for used ones, not sure what sites are popular in India but I'd check Craigslist and eBay along with local estate and yard sales.

Amy911Gray

treadmill or elliptical. Best money I ever spent!

jesshall281

Hello there! I'm so confused between buying a treadmill/elliptical or signing up for a year-long gym membership. To be honest, I'm not that motivated to go to the gym everyday, but then again I loved the charged up atmosphere at the gym. I'm thoroughly confused as buying a treadmill or an elliptical would cost me almost a month's pay (around$600).
Also, which would be better at burning calories: Treadmill or elliptical, I personally find elliptical to be a bit more challenging, but I have seen better results on the treadmill in the past (I'd know, since I'm losing weight for the second time and had almost managed to lose and gain back close to 80 pounds )

Neither, get a good pair of Running shoes, and go jogging/running. Save your money to spend on decent food and drink water.

I wish I could, but we get 10 months of scorching heat in India, that would char your skin and bone rather than giving you a nice tan (don't believe the authors who mulled over Indian summers, it's nowhere as pleasant as the books state), So going for a run/jog isn't much of an option for me.

What is the heat like at 5am in the morning? I've a friend from the Punjab who tells me it can get a lot cooler in the morning round about 29 to 30oC, why not run then?

She wanted an opinion on a treadmill or gym membership. If running was convenient and a choice that she wanted to make, she would have made it.

alleycat88

I actually just cancelled my membership today. I have my membership until August 31st and can still go unil then, but I have a treadmill, a bike, DVDs and some dumb bells at home, there is really no reason for me to continue to pay $50 a month for it.

It's all about preference. The reason i have decided to cancel my gyym membership is that it is getting too crowded at ALL hours of the day, and even if I go at 7-8pm I still have to wait on certain machines. I'm not gonna pay $50/month for that.

Whiskybelly

How close would the gym be, could you walk there? It really depends on how you think you're going to feel after a long day at work - would you be willing to travel to the gym then?

The gym's great for atmosphere, but you don't need that if you find something to keep you going at home. Personally, I have a cross trainer and I just play some music and keep focused on some Jamiroquai for an hour. I couldn't care less that I'm alone in a room singing out of key scaring the neighbours by going "Doo doo doo-dooooo".

xoalyssaox

Honestly, neither..... I have lost 28.6 pounds in three months with nothing but my body, and a dvd (power90). All you need is to move. You could go running, do jumping jacks and lift 5-8 pounds weights and work your way up to higher weights. They are MUCH CHEAPER....

You do not need expensive machines or a gym membership, you just need to push yourself.

vtachycardia

If you go to a gym and then just use the cardio machines then, buy a treadmill.

If you want to work at home, get the heart rate up, use circuit training with just your body. No gym membership, no equipment outlay.

You may want to buy good quality resistance bands to add to exercising at home and a heart rate monitor to ensure that you are working both you muscoskeletal system and heart lungs at the same time, rather than seperating the two. 45 minutes a day of intense exercise - NOT HIGH INTENSITY INTERVALS - just heart rate up, squats, lunges, adapted press ups, and with cables the wide variety of rows for your back and biceps.

Life is too short to spend 45 minutes doing cardio and then doing 30 minutes of weights. Combine the two, save time, burn fat, save money and if you get into the buzz of exercise, join groups, encourage friends and then maybe join a gym.

Lots of videos on youtube - full body body weight workouts, full body cable workouts - ENJOY.

"All the P90x, intensitty, blah blah $129.99 DVD's - similar workouts all available for free on You Tube. Better to spend money on a personal trainer for a few months than spend money on DVD's." EDIT

pikselinka

Mawra in my experience it's hard to motivate yourself to exercise at home, much much harder than actually dragging my body to the gym. I used to own a static bike, but sold it, since I couldn't motivate myself enough to exercise regularly. I got gym membership instead and now I pretty much go ever one or two days. The atmosphere is good and believe me you'd feel stupid just sitting at the gym doing nothing, so you actually feel like you have to exercise which is awesome!

jonnyman41

You know yourself and if you are normally bad at committing to things I would not tie yourself into year membership of a gym. It is all very well thinking that you will use it because you are paying for it but actually it never works that way. If you have family/friends that could join with you and motivate you to go that may work better, or can you pay a little more for packages that allow you to give a months notice or no notice/run for just 3 months etc. (that way you can convert to normal membership once you know you keep it up.

If you are buying for at home firstly can you get it second hand? that way it costs less and if you give up on that at least you can sell it and not lose too much (apart from when buying new) If you find that you stick to it well then maybe you look at gym membership 3 months down the line to get use of other machines and/or a pool etc.

Alternatively is there other exercise for you to consider, a local pool, kettle bells, (cheap) stretch bands etc as a starting point.

tadpole242

She wanted an opinion on a treadmill or gym membership. If running was convenient and a choice that she wanted to make, she would have made it.

If I had wanted your opinion I'd have asked for it.

alleycat88

She wanted an opinion on a treadmill or gym membership. If running was convenient and a choice that she wanted to make, she would have made it.

If I had wanted your opinion I'd have asked for it.

rawrr



:laugh:

tadpole242

She wanted an opinion on a treadmill or gym membership. If running was convenient and a choice that she wanted to make, she would have made it.

If I had wanted your opinion I'd have asked for it.

rawrr

:laugh:

your point would have more 'punch' if you weren't hotlinking to a site that allowed it

rachmass1

I have both treadmill and elliptical and use them both. The treadmill is 12-years old and has had on and off daily use that entire time. The elliptical is 3-years old and used 4-5 times a week. Look at longevity of machines too

flrancho

I personally, would go for a gym membership, just for the possibility of having varied workouts instead of having to do the same thing.

Treadmill does have its advantages though if the weather is bad or you need to get in some exercise but don't have time for the gym. I personally wouldn't touch an eliptical. Chronic dislocating knee caps and an eliptical doesn't sound good...... most people won't have this problem though.

THEErikaR

Hello there! I'm so confused between buying a treadmill/elliptical or signing up for a year-long gym membership. To be honest, I'm not that motivated to go to the gym everyday, but then again I loved the charged up atmosphere at the gym. I'm thoroughly confused as buying a treadmill or an elliptical would cost me almost a month's pay (around$600).
Also, which would be better at burning calories: Treadmill or elliptical, I personally find elliptical to be a bit more challenging, but I have seen better results on the treadmill in the past (I'd know, since I'm losing weight for the second time and had almost managed to lose and gain back close to 80 pounds )

Neither, get a good pair of Running shoes, and go jogging/running. Save your money to spend on decent food and drink water.

^^^^^THIS^^^^ Great advice!!

amystyran

I'd say treadmill, so you can go on it whenever you like, for as long as you like and you don't have to leave the house if you can't be bothered!

Faeriegirl74

I'm a runner. But, I have a treadmill at home that I use during inclement weather...just your average run of the mill treadmill that I bought at Costco - works great - had it over a year now. During the extreme heat - it gets used a lot. When the weather is not as hot, I lace up my shoes and run outdoors!

shannond1980

gym membership!
big fitness equipment is a pain in the booty to move! I bought a spin bike a few years ago and sold it because I moved apartments and the thing was bulky as anything to move around.
And like most people have said, it became a clothes rack after a year of using it.

stuckinsecond

Gym for sure. To easy to get stuck in a routine that hinders results at home.
Learn from others experience and let them inspire you to a level you never thought you could acheive.