gym or at home?

I work out at home! And I call it my gym...

I can't see paying money to a real gym knowing myself the way I do - I am too self conscious about working out in front of people right now and would never go. So it would be like tossing money into the wind. Maybe when I've reached a weight I feel comfortable at but possibly never cuz I am really liking working out at home!

I've done both. Working out at the gym works better for me. But, as you can see from the varied replies, you'll just have to weigh your options and see what works for you.

I started out with home equipment. It worked out good for me for a while. I added a gym membership so I could work out with a friend. He moved away, and I ended up dropping the gym membership and just working out at home. I found, however, that I was always distracted when working out at home. I eventually sold my equipment and signed up at another gym, and that's what I'm doing now.

I've found that if I can just make myself put on my gym shorts and get in the car, just that little bit, I can go and have a good workout even if I'm feeling tired or lazy. When I was working out at home, it just seemed way too easy to get tired and quit without doing as much as I wanted to.

I used to feel self-conscious at the gym. Now, I plug in my isolation headphones (I can't even hear anyone else talking when I have them on! LOL The other guys at the gym literally have to tap me on the shoulder to ask if I'm done with some equipment or something), crank my music up, and get in "the zone.". I get kinda "tunnel vision" when I'm at the gym. I can almost completely tune out the whole rest of the world, and it almost feels like I'm at the gym all by myself. Personally, I could *never* get that amount of focus at home, with the kids and the ringing telephone and all the other distractions.

I do a mix of bootcamps and home and signing up for races. The bootcamps and races get me to push harder, but home keeps me consistent. Can't come up with many excuses not to use my elliptical or weights or dvds in my house.

Also, for whatever reason in a giant gym setting I'm not comfortable or something and I tend to do the minimum and get out of there...weird.

I have done both and right now, I prefer working out at home. I have invested in a few sets of free weights, one of those squishy floors and have a little "gym" set up in my basement. It is removed from the rest of the house, so there is no interuptions. I did purchase a gym membership for the winter to use the treadmills there to run. But that is the only time I go there! I was really surprised. I also found that the people at the gym were as fit as the people in my dvd's!!! It is more motivating to do my dvd's!

I do both - I'll go to the gym for the equipment and at home I'll do workout DVDs with dumbbells, kettlebells, or run outside when it's nice (using mapmyrun.com and my heart rate monitor). I like to do the weird jumping, intense cardio, circuit training in the comfort of my own home - mainly so I don't look like an idiot at the gym. The gym I reserve for treadmill, elliptical, bike, and machine weights :P

It depends what you HAVE at home. If you have a home gym and DVDs, then I would say don't bother with a gym membership. However, if you don't have anything at home, I would recommend joining one, or a local rec center with a fitness room if its cheaper. Gyms and rec centers also have GREAT classes, which is great for motivation, accountability, and even making friends!

I for one cannot justify paying for something when I can get for free. The way I see it, for the price of a membership, gas for the car ($1.18/liter), that's a lot of money. For what? So I can spend most of my time on an elliptical? So basically, that eats up about 2-3 hours of my day.

For me it's Gym all the way. A good fully equipped gym with all the equipment, pool, classes, etc lets you work out WAY more than most people would with a couple home machines. Personally, I find the classes push me way harder than I would ever push myself. I stepped up to a whole new level of fitness this yr (since joining gym) I never thought I'd achieve. I'm guessing the person quoted above has not fully experienced these same benefits - maybe I'm just blessesd with a great gym 7 min away. I'm not sure how one would get all the machines/equipment/pool/sauna/towels/unlimited classes/trainer for free but more power to the person who can I guess. I only spend 15-20 min for driving/parking. There are more overweight people than skinny people at my gym so no self conciousness needed. Have made a number of new friends there which helps motivate me to go and stay accountable. Many good points have been made - you may not have a good gym convenient to you, young children at home all day, etc. All things to weigh for your personally. Sure it costs $$, but what doesnt in life - you make it work if u want to. If money is tight then skip 1 dinner at a restaraunt per month, get rid of cable tv, etc - I say its all about priorities. Sorry I rambled - Good luck!

I would much rather hang out on my couch than do most of the exercise I can do at home. That being said, I lost over 60 pounds mostly at home. We have tunnels underneath our building at work that I have spent a lot of time walking in, as well as a bike at home and really good walking trails in my neighborhood. However, I have gotten bored with most of those things, except for walking outside. (Hello December in Nebraska... brrr...lol)

Plus I hit a giant plateau that I haven't been able to get off, so I joined the gym. I hadn't done anything strength related and I knew I was going to start eating muscle soon if I didn't do anything about it. I was really hesitant about joining the gym. The picture in my head was of all these meatheads working out and thinking "'bout time the fattie got in here!" One of my friends, who is in excellent shape, told me one day that she doesn't care what anybody thinks or what she looks like when she is working out. She isn't there to impress them. That is when it hit me...i have NEVER been one to care what other people think, why would I start now? Joined the gym, got a trainer, and love it.

now... I DID join a gym that is on my way home from work. If I have to drive off the path, it will never happen. This one would have to be actually in the street for it to be more on my path. No excuses. :-)

Does it kick my butt? you betcha. Am I self conscious of doing some of the exercises he gives me? Yup. There is one of those "grunters" there quite often while I am and i grumble to myself every time i see him. And then he smiles and is uber encouraging and i feel bad. The point of that is that most of the people who are there are great cheerleaders. At least at my gym.

My trainer, who i didn't think a lot of at first, is wonderful. He gives me some awesome exercises that I can also, easily, do at home. I can't duplicate the machine stuff, but We don't do a lot on the machines. A lot of what I do can be modified pretty easily to do at home though. I love that.

So this is a long way to get to saying... I do both and like both.

I have done and been successful with both.

I started off with a gym membership when I was in college. That carried over to a gym membership after I graduated, but I gave it up when I was in my internships in graduate school because of time. I got alot of workout DVDs and dumbells, yoga mat, resistance bands etc.

I went two years without exercising at all because of other issues, and got back into it this year. I started off with the Wii fitness games. I found the way the Wii games help motivate you by giving you little incentives, unlocking new songs, competing, etc helped me stay commited to working out again. What I found however was as I lost weight and got more fit again, the Wii games were no longer challenging to me.

so then I returned to workout DVDs. Did ok but I found myself really wishing I could walk on a treadmill or go to a class. So I rejoined the gym two months ago and I love it! I realize I work out harder in the class setting because I don't want to look like the sluggish one in class! I'm competitive so it works for me and I usually look forwards to working out! Of course, I still have my home gym, so if I am not feeling like it, or the weather sucks, I work out at home still. It's nice to have the flexibility.

I do it at home I have equipment and my dvd's here and im my own motivation, at the gym it would be hard to be myself!..my husbands goes to the gym because he weightlifts..:)

I work out at home. I find it interesting how some say that if they were to work out at home they would be lazy or keep finding something else to do. I feel, however, that I have no excuse to not work out! I don't need to put on gym clothes nor do I have to drive anywhere. I have resistant bands and hands weights so I get my strength training in, too. I use LOTS of workouts that I have found online and also own a bunch of DVDs.

lol that's funny because I was thinking it was interesting that people were saying how they would have to get ready and drive to the gym etc if they worked out at the gym. We all have our own stuff that makes what we do work for us huh?

:drinker: