Opinions please.

In my experience working from home is fine, if you have the constitution to really push yourself. I'm the type of person that needs to see other people there, other people around me. "Gee, I can't slack off because I'll totally look like a lazy douche if I get on the treadmill for 5 minutes"

I like classes and having other people around me, it's not quite a competition, but everyone feels the guilt of laziness in public.

If you can do it at home though, by all means!! do it!

In the winter I tend to workout at home otherwise I prefer the variety of options my gym offers.

signed up for a gym twice. never went either time. too much to do and a thousand and one other excuses. purchased a second hand treadmill off a neighbor who was moving for 100 bucks. it's in my garage. use it maybe once or twice a week. also purchased a second hand elliptical off craigslist. paid about 400 for it. it is my main form of exercise. 3 or 4 times a week. love it.

the convenience of both for me are key. and it isn't so much which machines they are, it is where they are. both are in my garage. i can get to them, use them for 40-45 minutes, shower and be ready for anything, all within an hour. when i went to the gym i had to pack my bag, bring change of clothes, fight traffic, remember where my lock was for the locker, find a place to park, wait for a machine to use, use it, wait for a shower to open up, come home, unpack gym bag, repack it for next day and repeat process. eventually the process just got to be too much. so i stopped going.

i also found that i was able to work out at weird times, and very spur of the moment, so doing all of that and getting to gym and stuff was difficult. now, if my son and wife head out to the store for an hour, i know i can grab my workout, be clean and all, by the time they get back and i wasn't taking any time away from them. of if my son goes to a neighbors house to play, i can jump on, and be done by the time he comes home. having said all that, my wife loves the routine of the gym, likes the variety, the people, all of it.

to each their own, i guess. take a look at your daily routine and see which will work for you.

i would love a gym membership, and all the different machines THEY have, but cant afford it currently, so for now i am either using my treadmill, or doing MJ the experience for the wii with my family

I was paying £120 a month for a family gym membership. Included in that price were classes where the instructor turned up late, dirty showers and locker rooms, not enough equipment for the amount of people and a general air of 'staff-couldnt-care-less'

So.. after I cancelled my membership my first month of not giving £120 to those charlatans I hit the highstreet and bought my hubby a set of free weights and me a kettlebell, aerobic step (wtf? useless unless you need to get into a high cupboard) a yoga mat and a swiss ball. Used my stuff everyday then I re-discovered MFP. 2 days ago ditched the girlie crap and hit the weights. Getting a bench with a squat rack this week :bigsmile:

If you like the social aspect of a gym then stick with it but if you just want to crack on and get fit Id save the money, buy your own stuff and then buy yourself new clothes with the membership fee's :flowerforyou:

I was paying £120 a month for a family gym membership. Included in that price were classes where the instructor turned up late, dirty showers and locker rooms, not enough equipment for the amount of people and a general air of 'staff-couldnt-care-less'

So.. after I cancelled my membership my first month of not giving £120 to those charlatans I hit the highstreet and bought my hubby a set of free weights and me a kettlebell, aerobic step (wtf? useless unless you need to get into a high cupboard) a yoga mat and a swiss ball. Used my stuff everyday then I re-discovered MFP. 2 days ago ditched the girlie crap and hit the weights. Getting a bench with a squat rack this week :bigsmile:

If you like the social aspect of a gym then stick with it but if you just want to crack on and get fit Id save the money, buy your own stuff and then buy yourself new clothes with the membership fee's :flowerforyou:

Before I injured my back, I had a Rebok step-bench. There are a lot of DVDs that have some very good (and fun) aerobic programs. You should check it out. After completing a 45-60 minute work out I used to feel great! Good luck.

I have a recumbent stationary bike in my living room, right in front of the TV. I use it daily while I watch movies I have on my DVR. I have a rule that I have to ride the bike to continue watching the movie. A little added motivation.

I do that too, sadly that show I had reserved for that was removed from netflix, and I haven't found another show I want to watch like that.

Peraonally I have to go somewhere to workout. I occasionally ride my upright bike. But i go to the gym to have "my" time away from home. Plus i like the comaradarie of the YMCA.

run outside... do hill sprints, intervals, HIIT... and you need a gym for resistance training if you want an ideal physique

It definitely depends on if you're a self motivator or not. For me, I'm a self-motivator and even at home I tell myself that I must work out on my home equipment because I don't want to look like crap anymore. However, I'd still take a gym membership if I had the money for it...double the workout time!

I like the variation at the gym.. Get bored just doing the same thing. For me the membership is worth it. Also gets you out of the house and you get your own space which I love. With everyone around at home, it's hard to get it done sometimes.. They seem to accept me saying I'm going to the gym more x

I agree. I have a gym membership which allows me time to myself and no distractions from kids at hime. I worked out on my bowflex Thursday and was so distracted. I told myself gym only from now on. Gonna give the bowflex back to my mom.

We had a treadmill...it made a great laundry rack.
I am having much better success with having a gym membership, especially considering the variety of options there. I have been adding some strength training lately. And I can also choose to go to a class or use the pool. Less monotony. Of course...I still have to haul my patoot over yo the gym....

I have belonged to gyms, only have gone when I have had a trainer. Got a pilates machine in front of tv and am not very good at it, but am using it every day since I got it, It is very big and I need to rearrange furniture.

For those of you with a YMCA near by and are hurting for $$ you can join on a sliding scale membership. Am sure we could rejoin but the year we had the membership think we went 20 xs. Not worth the 500$ for the year imo, but that is me right now. I might rejoin again.

For now I am working on setting up my TV room as a work out room, need to rearrange some of the furniture and planning on getting some yoga mats for floor work and getting myself zumba for xmas. If I go downstairs to watch tv and the dang machine is right there, I have to use it! Been working for me so far.

Thinking of getting my kids some weights for xmas which of course I will probably use more than them, but they are 16 and 19. Not getting my son another dang video game, he plays way too many damn games. So clothes and weights. I know I will use the weights They want something else they can get a job and get it :P

So I used to have an elliptical. However at the time I was not ready to loose weight I was still in denial about my weight I guess. So I never used it, however at this time I also had a gym membership in which I never used either. I ate like crap and just didn't care I guess you could say. So I sold the elliptical. Well since starting this journey I have used the gym ALOT almost daily aside from a few days here and there.

I am at a point where I think in the long run just buying another work out machine and weights would be beneficial. That way I could save on gym membership fees, and have the stuff right at my finger tips.

however I am wondering if you have the at home equipment how many of you use it? or how many would prefer to get to a gym?

Even if you only use the elliptical at the gym, once you go to the gym, the chances of you not finishing your workout are slim.

However if you have a piece of equipment at home, it is very easy to slack off, or even skip a workout.

I wouldn't suggest it.

I have a treadmill that I bought from walmart 5 years ago... Love it! When I make a butt crack full of money I want an elliptical.... And bow flex....