Free small gym vs. paid regular gym

Arliah
Arliah Posts: 266 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have a small gym at work that I can use for free. Nothing fancy, three treadmills, ellipticals, a rack of dumbbells, some machines. So far, I am pretty happy with the equipment and my results.

I am just wondering: Are there people here that have started out at a small gym and at some point felt that it didn't offer enough to progress, especially when trying to build muscles after being done with losing fat?

Right now I really don't feel that I need to spend the extra money to go to a fancy gym, and I also think that I have a long way to go until I should maybe consider switching gyms because of the limited equipment, but I am just curious of what others think. Especially after reading about squats with additional weight etc (right now I am using the dumbbells to add some weight).

Thanks for any opinions!

Replies

  • sugamonstaa
    sugamonstaa Posts: 88 Member
    I had a small neighborhood gym with all the essentials and only $10/month. I got kinda bored after two years and needed a change of scenery and I'm now at LA Fitness $30/month, any location, and more equipment to explore if I get bored. If your gym doesn't have much weights to challenge your body then you might get bored.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    Go to the free one now and see where you get to.

    My #1 priority is proximity. If it's thisclose, I'll go.
  • druorleans
    druorleans Posts: 40 Member
    I go to a free gym too, though I'm also just starting out. It only has an all-in-one weight machine though and not free weights. I'm doing some weights at home and kettlebell. For the record I love it. I had wasted money at gyms in the past and I hate contracts and the "big gym feel". Though mine also has a free pool, which I am also using.
  • Arliah
    Arliah Posts: 266 Member
    sugamonstaa wrote: »
    I had a small neighborhood gym with all the essentials and only $10/month. I got kinda bored after two years and needed a change of scenery and I'm now at LA Fitness $30/month, any location, and more equipment to explore if I get bored. If your gym doesn't have much weights to challenge your body then you might get bored.
    For now there are definitely enough weights to challenge me *hehe*
    tomatoey wrote: »
    Go to the free one now and see where you get to.

    My #1 priority is proximity. If it's thisclose, I'll go.
    Yes, the proximity is definitely a plus. And it's so much easier to just go after work (or during lunch sometimes).
  • Fujiberry
    Fujiberry Posts: 400 Member
    I outgrew my apartment's little fitness room pretty quickly. We had dumbbells, a few machines including a small cable machine, treadmills, and a smith machine. It was good for the first 6 or so months, but it got boring and I knew i would improve better at a real gym.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    It does not matter how big it is as long as you are lifting heavy. See "The New Rules of Lifting for Women" (NROL).
  • missh1967
    missh1967 Posts: 661 Member
    Use the hell out of it until you outgrow it.
  • stephxo1
    stephxo1 Posts: 191 Member
    Once you feel the need to increase the weight or switch up your workout with free weights or new equipment then try out a 'fancy gym'. I personally couldn't train with limited equipment as I'm trying to change my body composition at the moment. When the time comes, you'll know. Good luck!
  • Arliah
    Arliah Posts: 266 Member
    Thanks guys! Appreciate the input! As far as the limited equipment goes: I feel that right now it's still sufficient; I don't want to be one of the people that pay for a gym because they feel that "the free gym around the corner" just does not cut it. Granted, those are mostly people that are thinking about using a gym and not actually going ... as if paying for a membership takes care of the work out without actually going :P
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    It depends on what you're doing and using it for. Those small fitness rooms are pretty much worthless for me...that said, I don't go to a big commercial gym either; my gym is pretty small, but it is geared towards Olympic style lifting which is what I do primarily.
  • MysticRealm
    MysticRealm Posts: 1,264 Member
    My gym in my apartment is quite large, and has tons of equipment, but it only has a smith machine not a squat rack and I HATE IT! But I'm moving to my new house in October or so and need to save some money for that so am going to just deal with it till I get my new house and a gym membership.
  • ShibaEars
    ShibaEars Posts: 3,928 Member
    I went to a smaller, less expensive gym for about 3 years. I did mostly body weight & light dumbbell exercises. Once I realized I wanted to start doing more weights, I switched to a different gym. It's more expensive, but it has more to offer.

    I say stick with the free gym until you feel like they don't have the equipment you need to challenge yourself.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    I use a (very) small gym at work. A few dumbbells and a machine, in addition to a few pieces of cardio equipment. The weights don't really work that well for me, but it's hard to beat the accessibility. I would like to go to a more serious gym, but honestly that's pretty far down the list of things on which my family needs to spend money.
  • Arliah
    Arliah Posts: 266 Member
    Another good thing about my gym at work is that I don't have to drive to another gym, which means spending more time with my dog.

    Anyway, thanks for all the input! I think I'll stick with the little gym for now, and maybe one day I'll outgrow it :)
  • hilarymcm
    hilarymcm Posts: 55 Member
    Have you considered keeping active memberships at both? Perhaps go to the larger gym when you're ready for a change in routine, but keep your membership open at your work gym for days when you just want a lighter workout or you don't have time to get to the other one? I have two gyms - one near my office and one near my house - which helps me because I don't have to factor in more than 10 minutes of travel time for either one.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Arliah wrote: »
    I have a small gym at work that I can use for free. Nothing fancy, three treadmills, ellipticals, a rack of dumbbells, some machines. So far, I am pretty happy with the equipment and my results.

    I am just wondering: Are there people here that have started out at a small gym and at some point felt that it didn't offer enough to progress, especially when trying to build muscles after being done with losing fat?

    Right now I really don't feel that I need to spend the extra money to go to a fancy gym, and I also think that I have a long way to go until I should maybe consider switching gyms because of the limited equipment, but I am just curious of what others think. Especially after reading about squats with additional weight etc (right now I am using the dumbbells to add some weight).

    Thanks for any opinions!

    In fact I was in this exact situation. I'm just about 5 years into lifting now, and for the first 1.5 years I trained at my wife's corporate facility. It has DB's up to 100lbs, some machines, no barbells.

    After a while, learning as I went, I finally decided I had better get to a gym with barbells because I wanted to learn how to squat. You know that guy that would do a bunch of curls and maybe some pull ups and skip leg day all the time? Yeah I was THAT GUY.

    Anyway, I left for a place that had barbells, and I'm very, very, very glad I did.

    I'd like to say "why didn't I do this sooner" but there's a time and place for everything, and I did gain some experience (and some muscle) at that corporate gym.
  • thatgeekinit
    thatgeekinit Posts: 36 Member
    I recently joined a gym after moving into a house after 8 years in apartments where the gym was part of the deal.

    The thing that bugs me most about gyms now and in the past is the shady sales tactics and contracts. I got convinced to try some personal training but when I figured out the hourly rate I was so shocked by the outrageous figure.

    $120/hr? (yeah maybe if it was for professional rehab or something) I ended up writing the certified letter and sending it out so I could cancel that part of the contract. Yay MD consumer protection.
  • cantumelia
    cantumelia Posts: 59 Member
    edited June 2015
    I go to a small gym just around the corner but it´s closing for holidays the next 15 days. So I´m switching to the free machines on the streets and running outside in the mean time (very early in the morning, because of the horrible heat). I don´t know if there are those street machines in your countries, but those are a convenient and free alternative and there´s always a set of machines near your house.


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