GYM vs Working out at home - Elliptical/Spinning bike recommendations?
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anacrisg
Posts: 39 Member
Hello, thanks for reading me! I need your advice 
A few years ago I moved to Canada
and started working out more seriously, I lived in a building that had a gym and for 3 years I went and mostly did cardio (Elliptical to be specific because I have chondromalacia = very bad knees 
) and I also started eating better so I lost a lot of fat! Yay! So I got hooked up with exercise... I used to burn around 600 cals per session.
Last year I moved to a different city
, I live in a house now and I signed up to the closest gym, which I found very expensive (640 CAN/year) 
, plus they always tried to sell me sessions with a trainer, which I tried and they made me start with cardio and then use weights and some machines, and balls and stuff, lol... I gained muscle and I can burn up to 1,300 cals per session (yeah, I can go beast mode! 
) and that's cool but here's the thing... I don't know if I should renew my subscription ... I'm mostly only paying to use the elliptical, the weights I could buy them, I have balls and TRX at home... I don't socialize with anybody (LOL, I really focus) and during the winter (which lasts about 8 months here...) it's very hard for me (mentally) to walk/drive to the gym and find motivation... And I can wear anything I want at home, right?
But I'm also very competitive, so having people around me makes me work out a little harder... When I go, lol... I would have to be very disciplined and invest in a spinning bike or an elliptical machine... I really really want to burn a lot of calories everyday LOL
Thanks again and sorry for the long post!!
A few years ago I moved to Canada
and started working out more seriously, I lived in a building that had a gym and for 3 years I went and mostly did cardio (Elliptical to be specific because I have chondromalacia = very bad knees ) and I also started eating better so I lost a lot of fat! Yay! So I got hooked up with exercise... I used to burn around 600 cals per session.Last year I moved to a different city
, I live in a house now and I signed up to the closest gym, which I found very expensive (640 CAN/year) , plus they always tried to sell me sessions with a trainer, which I tried and they made me start with cardio and then use weights and some machines, and balls and stuff, lol... I gained muscle and I can burn up to 1,300 cals per session (yeah, I can go beast mode! ) and that's cool but here's the thing... I don't know if I should renew my subscription ... I'm mostly only paying to use the elliptical, the weights I could buy them, I have balls and TRX at home... I don't socialize with anybody (LOL, I really focus) and during the winter (which lasts about 8 months here...) it's very hard for me (mentally) to walk/drive to the gym and find motivation... And I can wear anything I want at home, right?But I'm also very competitive, so having people around me makes me work out a little harder... When I go, lol... I would have to be very disciplined and invest in a spinning bike or an elliptical machine... I really really want to burn a lot of calories everyday LOL
- What do you think?
- If you suggest to buy an elliptical or a bike, which one do you suggest?
Thanks again and sorry for the long post!!
0
Replies
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With bad knees, swimming and rowing are options, too. Obviously you can't swim in your bathtub, but there are home rowing machines. Can't really say much about a home bike or elliptical - well, you can have our elliptical for free if you want to come to Seattle and pick it up.
Can you ski cross country? In the winter (ours aren't as long) there are a handful of areas with groomed trails, and everybody flocks to them. It's easy on the knees and might feed into your competitive side.2 -
NorthCascades wrote: »With bad knees, swimming and rowing are options, too. Obviously you can't swim in your bathtub, but there are home rowing machines. Can't really say much about a home bike or elliptical - well, you can have our elliptical for free if you want to come to Seattle and pick it up.
Can you ski cross country? In the winter (ours aren't as long) there are a handful of areas with groomed trails, and everybody flocks to them. It's easy on the knees and might feed into your competitive side.
You're right!! I'm going to research on rowing machines although going to Seattle and picking up an elliptical for free sounds very tempting,0 -
I've got one of these things http://www.hammacher.com/Product/84876?promo=search which is a zero-impact cardio machine. You can work it very vigorously and burn as much as 20 calories per minute. It's probably cheaper than a trip to Seattle, too.1
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JeromeBarry1 wrote: »I've got one of these things http://www.hammacher.com/Product/84876?promo=search which is a zero-impact cardio machine. You can work it very vigorously and burn as much as 20 calories per minute. It's probably cheaper than a trip to Seattle, too.
Wow, thanks! I didn’t know them! Looks really neat, will research about them too tomorrow! And yeah Seattle is a little far from eastern Canada0 -
I've been trying to give the thing away. A coworker is interested, but doubts it'll fit in his Subaru. We haven't used it as anything but a clothes hanger in ... I can't remember. Now that says as much about us as it does about the machine, but I'd like to suggest a few things.
Figure out how you're going to make your time with it as enjoyable as possible. Maybe set it up in front of the TV and watch a movie. Or music. Get a fan, put it near the window; you're going to work up a sweat and it can get stuffy, you'll want fresh air.
One thing we don't like about ours, is it's only useful at higher resistance. You can get a good long/steady workout, and you can do intervals from tough to really hard, but you can't do light to moderate cardio with it. Hard to describe, but without enough resistance the motion is really awkward. I don't know how you'd look for that in reviews though.1 -
Yeah, I can definitely control my environment if I work out at home and make it as enjoyable as possible, I just have to be very very disciplined when I use the elliptical I do HIIT so I use high and low resistances... That and the fact that it's really far makes me think that your elliptical is meant to be for someone else 0
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Youre burning 1300 cals doing a weights session? Really?2
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I sent you a pm, but I can relate with the gym fees. I've had great success without going to the gym1
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My experience and decision:
About a year and a half ago, as I was contemplating the winter season, I hate the cold and don't like running in the snow, I thought about buying a treadmill or elliptical for my home. One daughter had moved out so I had an extra room. So off to Amazon I go to research the equipment. Wondered if the "cheap" (inexpensive) models were really inexpensive or just really cheap, and dreamed about getting a top of the line $3,000 (US) machine. Focusing on a Schwinn elliptical, for about $550 on Amazon, I decided to go to Amazon's showroom, in this part of the US it's Sears or Dick's, to try one on for size. At Sears I find the Schwinn, exact model (selling for over $900 {I now know why Sears is going bust}) and give it a whirl. it was shaky, wobbly and was uneven in its performance. in short, not satisfactory. I'm glad I test drove it before buying. Sears also had some top of the live ellipticals and treadmills for around $3,000. These machines were great BUT I could never sell my wife on the expense, in both money and space, for such a machine. THEN it occurred to me that RetroFitness, a gym within 15 minutes of my home, was available for about $25.00 per month, including taxes and all charges. It would take me 10 YEARS of gym membership to approach the $3000 cost of that elliptical not including any maintenance problems.
So I joined. They, the gym, have concept 2 rowing machines, ellipticals (too many), treadmills, (again too many {some in their own movie viewing room [this is kinda nice]}), stair climbers (enough so you don't need to wait for one), dumbells (from 5 pounds to 150 pounds (a 150 pound dumbbell is something to look at), kettle bells, medicine balls, two squat racks, 3 bench press benches, all the weights you could possible hope to lift, weight machines galore, two assisted pull up/dip machines, in short everything and everything I could possible hope to use. All for just under $25 per month. THEN I discover that my health insurance plan pays me $20 for every month I go to the gym each month. So for a net of $5 per month I have access to everything I want and need as far as fitness equipment goes.
The bottom line is I don't think the upfront expense of equipping my home, plus the maintenance that will be required, (plus the space required) is justified when considering a $25 (or a net $5) per month expenditure. Even the OP's $53C monthly expense, when considering the purchase of GOOD equipment (yeah, I know Craigs list has great deals if you go through that work) is favorable. That's my $0.02
Do the math yourself; TOTAL expense of home gym divided by monthly expense of gym. Consider the time spent going to the gym as opposed tot he living space devoted to your home set up. Compare and make your decision.2 -
TavistockToad wrote: »Youre burning 1300 cals doing a weights session? Really?
No no no... Cardio HIIT, weights and calisthenics0 -
My experience and decision:
About a year and a half ago, as I was contemplating the winter season, I hate the cold and don't like running in the snow, I thought about buying a treadmill or elliptical for my home. One daughter had moved out so I had an extra room. So off to Amazon I go to research the equipment. Wondered if the "cheap" (inexpensive) models were really inexpensive or just really cheap, and dreamed about getting a top of the line $3,000 (US) machine. Focusing on a Schwinn elliptical, for about $550 on Amazon, I decided to go to Amazon's showroom, in this part of the US it's Sears or Dick's, to try one on for size. At Sears I find the Schwinn, exact model (selling for over $900 {I now know why Sears is going bust}) and give it a whirl. it was shaky, wobbly and was uneven in its performance. in short, not satisfactory. I'm glad I test drove it before buying. Sears also had some top of the live ellipticals and treadmills for around $3,000. These machines were great BUT I could never sell my wife on the expense, in both money and space, for such a machine. THEN it occurred to me that RetroFitness, a gym within 15 minutes of my home, was available for about $25.00 per month, including taxes and all charges. It would take me 10 YEARS of gym membership to approach the $3000 cost of that elliptical not including any maintenance problems.
So I joined. They, the gym, have concept 2 rowing machines, ellipticals (too many), treadmills, (again too many {some in their own movie viewing room [this is kinda nice]}), stair climbers (enough so you don't need to wait for one), dumbells (from 5 pounds to 150 pounds (a 150 pound dumbbell is something to look at), kettle bells, medicine balls, two squat racks, 3 bench press benches, all the weights you could possible hope to lift, weight machines galore, two assisted pull up/dip machines, in short everything and everything I could possible hope to use. All for just under $25 per month. THEN I discover that my health insurance plan pays me $20 for every month I go to the gym each month. So for a net of $5 per month I have access to everything I want and need as far as fitness equipment goes.
The bottom line is I don't think the upfront expense of equipping my home, plus the maintenance that will be required, (plus the space required) is justified when considering a $25 (or a net $5) per month expenditure. Even the OP's $53C monthly expense, when considering the purchase of GOOD equipment (yeah, I know Craigs list has great deals if you go through that work) is favorable. That's my $0.02
Do the math yourself; TOTAL expense of home gym divided by monthly expense of gym. Consider the time spent going to the gym as opposed tot he living space devoted to your home set up. Compare and make your decision.
Wow, you have a great deal there!! And yeah, I've heard horror stories about home ellipticals ao that's why I was inclined to a stationary bike which I think they're more reliable for me... In my case, I don't have those benefits and would cost me about the same the first year, then if I have the equipment at home I wouldn't be spending money the second year unlike having a gym membership... My gym is really cool, there aren't lines usually and it's really well equipped but I just use a fraction of it
I'll make a comparison chart with pros and cons, lol! Thank you so much for your time and your answer!!! 0 -
As a Post Script, a lot of talk on these boards is about "motivation' and getting bored with a workout routine. At my gym, I have a variety of equipment to switch to when my current workout is getting mundane. I can alternate, or switch after a period of time, between/among treadmill (when running outside is less than optimal), elliptical, rowing, stationary bike and stair climber. At home it will be the machine I bought, til death do we part.
It's a personal choice and there is no correct or right answer. Just look at ALL the costs and benefits before deciding.2 -
My experience and decision:
About a year and a half ago, as I was contemplating the winter season, I hate the cold and don't like running in the snow, I thought about buying a treadmill or elliptical for my home. One daughter had moved out so I had an extra room. So off to Amazon I go to research the equipment. Wondered if the "cheap" (inexpensive) models were really inexpensive or just really cheap, and dreamed about getting a top of the line $3,000 (US) machine. Focusing on a Schwinn elliptical, for about $550 on Amazon, I decided to go to Amazon's showroom, in this part of the US it's Sears or Dick's, to try one on for size. At Sears I find the Schwinn, exact model (selling for over $900 {I now know why Sears is going bust}) and give it a whirl. it was shaky, wobbly and was uneven in its performance. in short, not satisfactory. I'm glad I test drove it before buying. Sears also had some top of the live ellipticals and treadmills for around $3,000. These machines were great BUT I could never sell my wife on the expense, in both money and space, for such a machine. THEN it occurred to me that RetroFitness, a gym within 15 minutes of my home, was available for about $25.00 per month, including taxes and all charges. It would take me 10 YEARS of gym membership to approach the $3000 cost of that elliptical not including any maintenance problems.
So I joined. They, the gym, have concept 2 rowing machines, ellipticals (too many), treadmills, (again too many {some in their own movie viewing room [this is kinda nice]}), stair climbers (enough so you don't need to wait for one), dumbells (from 5 pounds to 150 pounds (a 150 pound dumbbell is something to look at), kettle bells, medicine balls, two squat racks, 3 bench press benches, all the weights you could possible hope to lift, weight machines galore, two assisted pull up/dip machines, in short everything and everything I could possible hope to use. All for just under $25 per month. THEN I discover that my health insurance plan pays me $20 for every month I go to the gym each month. So for a net of $5 per month I have access to everything I want and need as far as fitness equipment goes.
The bottom line is I don't think the upfront expense of equipping my home, plus the maintenance that will be required, (plus the space required) is justified when considering a $25 (or a net $5) per month expenditure. Even the OP's $53C monthly expense, when considering the purchase of GOOD equipment (yeah, I know Craigs list has great deals if you go through that work) is favorable. That's my $0.02
Do the math yourself; TOTAL expense of home gym divided by monthly expense of gym. Consider the time spent going to the gym as opposed tot he living space devoted to your home set up. Compare and make your decision.
Wow, you have a great deal there!! And yeah, I've heard horror stories about home ellipticals ao that's why I was inclined to a stationary bike which I think they're more reliable for me... In my case, I don't have those benefits and would cost me about the same the first year, then if I have the equipment at home I wouldn't be spending money the second year unlike having a gym membership... My gym is really cool, there aren't lines usually and it's really well equipped but I just use a fraction of it I'll make a comparison chart with pros and cons, lol! Thank you so much for your time and your answer!!!
I know some of the bike riders on MFP have the stationary mount/friction device for their bike.
Honestly, that's about the only piece of home gear I'd ever buy. Because I've also test driven the "home" ellipticals, and they scare me. You can get a decent workout on a gazelle and while they have their issues, I've never been afraid of falling off one nor have I been annoyed by inadequate stride length.1 -
As a Post Script, a lot of talk on these boards is about "motivation' and getting bored with a workout routine. At my gym, I have a variety of equipment to switch to when my current workout is getting mundane. I can alternate, or switch after a period of time, between/among treadmill (when running outside is less than optimal), elliptical, rowing, stationary bike and stair climber. At home it will be the machine I bought, til death do we part.
It's a personal choice and there is no correct or right answer. Just look at ALL the costs and benefits before deciding.
Yep, I agree, it's a really good point... The gym takes me out of boredom but I wonder if I manage to create a good atmosphere at home and some days I do cardio, others insanity, others trx, maybe my attitude would change but again I might not burn as many cals lol... Thanks for your reply, you gave me something to think about...0 -
stanmann571 wrote: »My experience and decision:
About a year and a half ago, as I was contemplating the winter season, I hate the cold and don't like running in the snow, I thought about buying a treadmill or elliptical for my home. One daughter had moved out so I had an extra room. So off to Amazon I go to research the equipment. Wondered if the "cheap" (inexpensive) models were really inexpensive or just really cheap, and dreamed about getting a top of the line $3,000 (US) machine. Focusing on a Schwinn elliptical, for about $550 on Amazon, I decided to go to Amazon's showroom, in this part of the US it's Sears or Dick's, to try one on for size. At Sears I find the Schwinn, exact model (selling for over $900 {I now know why Sears is going bust}) and give it a whirl. it was shaky, wobbly and was uneven in its performance. in short, not satisfactory. I'm glad I test drove it before buying. Sears also had some top of the live ellipticals and treadmills for around $3,000. These machines were great BUT I could never sell my wife on the expense, in both money and space, for such a machine. THEN it occurred to me that RetroFitness, a gym within 15 minutes of my home, was available for about $25.00 per month, including taxes and all charges. It would take me 10 YEARS of gym membership to approach the $3000 cost of that elliptical not including any maintenance problems.
So I joined. They, the gym, have concept 2 rowing machines, ellipticals (too many), treadmills, (again too many {some in their own movie viewing room [this is kinda nice]}), stair climbers (enough so you don't need to wait for one), dumbells (from 5 pounds to 150 pounds (a 150 pound dumbbell is something to look at), kettle bells, medicine balls, two squat racks, 3 bench press benches, all the weights you could possible hope to lift, weight machines galore, two assisted pull up/dip machines, in short everything and everything I could possible hope to use. All for just under $25 per month. THEN I discover that my health insurance plan pays me $20 for every month I go to the gym each month. So for a net of $5 per month I have access to everything I want and need as far as fitness equipment goes.
The bottom line is I don't think the upfront expense of equipping my home, plus the maintenance that will be required, (plus the space required) is justified when considering a $25 (or a net $5) per month expenditure. Even the OP's $53C monthly expense, when considering the purchase of GOOD equipment (yeah, I know Craigs list has great deals if you go through that work) is favorable. That's my $0.02
Do the math yourself; TOTAL expense of home gym divided by monthly expense of gym. Consider the time spent going to the gym as opposed tot he living space devoted to your home set up. Compare and make your decision.
Wow, you have a great deal there!! And yeah, I've heard horror stories about home ellipticals ao that's why I was inclined to a stationary bike which I think they're more reliable for me... In my case, I don't have those benefits and would cost me about the same the first year, then if I have the equipment at home I wouldn't be spending money the second year unlike having a gym membership... My gym is really cool, there aren't lines usually and it's really well equipped but I just use a fraction of it I'll make a comparison chart with pros and cons, lol! Thank you so much for your time and your answer!!!
I know some of the bike riders on MFP have the stationary mount/friction device for their bike.
Honestly, that's about the only piece of home gear I'd ever buy. Because I've also test driven the "home" ellipticals, and they scare me. You can get a decent workout on a gazelle and while they have their issues, I've never been afraid of falling off one nor have I been annoyed by inadequate stride length.
Yeah, home ellipticals seem to be very problematic! Besides having the stationary bike at home would be an asset that can be shared unlike the gym is just for me0 -
Just some input for an angle not yet mentioned here....
We picked up a commercial grade elliptical and delivered to the door it was less than $1000. Most of the commercial stuff can be refurbished and we had a local place that could do that if needed. In our case it wasn't, and we got a used unit with an original retail of close to $5000 that was in great shape bar a couple scratches.
I'm assuming the same could be done with any higher quality rowers, spin bikes, etc. Though I've never owned any other commercial grade stuff, our elliptical will literally last us a lifetime with minimal costs to maintain. So far in thousands of miles of use I've spent $0 on parts or service.
For overall variety I think the elliptical can work more muscle groups than the bike, but also has the limitation of always having to stand vs the bike where a casual pace would allow you to sit. Done right, you could buy a regular bike and a trainer, and have both indoor and outdoor use out of it, so that is a possible plus. Both are fairly easy on the knees, and both are capable of burning calories beyond what most humans can even think about reaching. Our elliptical can provide resistance up into the 700+ watt range.
I think with some smart shopping a person could set up some nice equipment to use at home with a very reasonable cost. And if you decide that the gym is more your thing later, any quality equipment has solid resale value as well, so the financial risk is small.
All that said, very valid points on the gym cost vs home stuff made above as well. It all comes down to personal choice and the availability, space, cost, etc that works for you. We originally got our elliptical after the wife fell in love with the model at the gym, and I was opposed to getting it. After the fact I'm glad we did, as it's always available without a drive to get to it, and if we ever did get rid of it we could probably sell it for more than original cost.1 -
Thank you all for your answers, they really really helped me!!
After a lot of hesitation of renewing my gym membership, I went to see the different equipment options at the store, a good elliptical is very bulky so I decided to check out other machines... I tried the CardioHIIT Cross Trainer and I couldn't even go through 3 seconds on it because the pain on my knees was sooo awful!! The rower also is bad for my condition, the position of the knees in there causes a lot of stress on the articulation... So, I looked at the Octane Zero Runner I fell in love... It's harder than an elliptical and it really feels like I'm running without impact on my knees, it's hard to exercise on it! I could feel my heart rate going up, woohoo! Long story short... Bought one used, almost new, apparently it was a great deal, it's going to last a while, it's not as bulky and I'll try it for a month and see how it goes!
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Air dyne is easy on the joints but can be brutal when it comes to HIIT.1
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