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Gym vs. Working out at home
Kyougu
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So my treadmill just broke...I think it's the motor.D:
This sucks for me partly because running has been my main way of exercising and dropping the pounds (260 to 194 currently) and it was something I relied on. With it, I'm facing with finding a new way to work out.
I have been thinking of joining a gym, so this comes at a decent time. I still have flab that I think will only go away with actual weights exercise, so that's a plus. The minus is that I tend to hate crowds (still self conscious, specially due to my psoriasis) and I'm not sure if I could keep myself motivated making the drive to the gym every day. Though since I do get out of school early, and the gym is on my way home I think I could manage to do that.
I was thinking maybe I could keep working out at home. Maybe run around the block and buy some weight sets. Problem is that I have limited room to store any exercise equipment. Though with my treadmill busted I could replace with one of those workout machines I see on tv. I seen them somewhat cheap on craiglist. Do those actually work?
Basically any input would be much appreciated.
This sucks for me partly because running has been my main way of exercising and dropping the pounds (260 to 194 currently) and it was something I relied on. With it, I'm facing with finding a new way to work out.
I have been thinking of joining a gym, so this comes at a decent time. I still have flab that I think will only go away with actual weights exercise, so that's a plus. The minus is that I tend to hate crowds (still self conscious, specially due to my psoriasis) and I'm not sure if I could keep myself motivated making the drive to the gym every day. Though since I do get out of school early, and the gym is on my way home I think I could manage to do that.
I was thinking maybe I could keep working out at home. Maybe run around the block and buy some weight sets. Problem is that I have limited room to store any exercise equipment. Though with my treadmill busted I could replace with one of those workout machines I see on tv. I seen them somewhat cheap on craiglist. Do those actually work?
Basically any input would be much appreciated.
Kyougu on
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I have a lot of free weights, and a bench press at home. However, I almost rarely use it because my gym is fucking amazing. Indoor/outdoor pools, basketball courts, huge selection of machines/weights. There's just so many more options at a gym.
Plus, I think working out in front of people can serve as a motivator, rather than just working out at home.
however, i came to this crossroad as well. Some cons and pros about going TO the gym:
pro:
Have everything you could ever need at your disposal.
No restrictions
Keep focused (no TV to distract you)
Leave feeling great and motivated to do other things
cons:
People have opinions, and eyes. Can be very intimidating if you let it get to you
Gas money will add up
Membership fees
What if treadmill gets fixed? You are still tied via 1-year contract and have to pay regardless
now working out AT HOME:
pros:
Comfortable
At your own time (cuts out half of the time due to no driving)
Spontaneous
cons:
No motivational partner (unless you bring a friend)
TOO comfortable ("eeehh...i'll just work out twice as hard tomorrow. too tired...quick nap")
Not focused ("i'm going to go home and run for 20 minutes.....oh shit, CSI is on....")
My biggest thing that would drive me to the gym is having to go WITH someone. Motivation is the number 1 driving force behind working out (for me) and without it, i tend to fall downhill. Meeting up with someone and knowing that they are EXPECTING you will give you enough motivation to drive to the gym, and when youre there...well....youre focused and leave happy.
Thats what i got.
I agree with what the others said about working out with someone else... it's a lot harder to blow off your workout if you're accountable to another person.
As far as being embarrassed in front of others, push it to the back of your mind. I've been getting fatter and fatter since I was like 5 years old so I'm pretty big now and have always had serious self-image issues and I tend to be self-conscious around anyone I don't know anytime, let alone naked in a change room. However, you can't let that stop you from going. Most people aren't going to care.
Also, gym's can be inexpensive. Shop around. I found one that has a membership at $15 a month, which is dirt cheap. I get access to a cardio area with 34 machines and two big rooms full of assorted free weights and machines, a sauna and a tanning studio (Which I don't really care about, but it's there). Best thing: There's maybe 10 other people in the whole place when I go. I almost never wait for equipment even when I superset and use two different pieces right after each other.
The gym also gives you the benefit of availability - there's simply more equipment and if you want to do resistance training, then you want options to isolate as many different muscles in as many ways as possible. So yeah, I'd say go to the gym.
But if you can't, any exercise regimen is better than none so whatever you do, don't stop. :P
Running shoes.
Er.
That's it.
...
1. Put on running shoes, go outside, run. Stop running, come inside (or stay outside if you like).
2. Get down into pressup position. Lower torso to ground. Push up. Repeat.
3. Sit with knees bent at 45 degrees. Bring torso to meet knees. Lower. Repeat.
4. Find bar or similar approx 7 feet off ground. Hold onto bar. Bring chest up to bar. Lower. Repeat.
It's really very simple. The fitness business has lied to you.
If you want motivation for the running, start running to or from somewhere (ie school). It gives you more of a direction than just running around the block, you look well hunter-gatherer with your wee backpack and sense of purpose rather than just some exercise bod, and if you want to push yourself harder, all you have to do is leave late!
I, personally, can't replicate some of the exercises I need to do at home. I need a gym and the space.
Also, I'm a fan of working out in front of people. It gets me pumped and motivated, and makes me focus on what I'm not proud of.
Furthermore, have you tried playing squash? It can be a great, fun way to both lose weight and meet new people. A racket will set you back $50 - $100 bucks, but it's a good time. Most gyms have a squash court.
Just give it a try. Pay the $20 or whatever for a one month membership, and see how you like it. You can always go back home if that's what you prefer. You may love it.
Personally, I'm a home workout kinda guy. I don't like wasting time driving to a place, I don't like spending money on fees when I could use that same amount of money to simply buy equipment, and I don't like dealing with other people on equipment I want to use or the chaotic racket of most public gyms.
Of course, having the stuff at home means you're pretty tied to it, until you get rid of it. That means that it's more a lifestyle change, and you need to adjust your at-home lifestyle to working out. You're already doing this, apparently, so it wouldn't be that much of a change. Going to a gym, though, does mean that you can set aside a time, drive, work out for [time], and be done with it, with little guilt about "oh, I should really work out instead of reading PA."
But it totally depends on how you're comfortable working out. The nice thing about a gym is that if you're simply looking to lose weight, you can go until you're pleased and, when the membership is up, not worry about going (and just doing basic health maintenance stuff, like some simple weight training at home). But, for me, the downsides make it something I'm unlikely to ever do. I'd rather spend the money on a bike trainer.
True, true. I keep forgetting that the rest of the world is not like California.
I went with a friend to a Bally's or something like that a few times. Felt like the shittiest nightclub I'd ever been to. It was more about looking good than working out. The music sucked ass as well, and they played it loud. I just couldn't focus on weights, and as soon as I started to break a sweat on a cardio machine there was someone staring at me waiting to use it (cause there were way more people than machines).
YMCA's are also good. Nice mix of serious athletes and people just trying to get into shape. The people that work there get to know you and notice when you don't come in. I'm biased about Y's though since I work for one. However, I did work out there for a couple years before I got the job.
Get a trial membership somewhere that seems cool and give it a shot. Working out at home isn't bad either, if that ends up being what you like. I like to have a variety of equipment and I have limited space at home. Plus, I have 3 dogs who think nothing of licking my face while I'm struggling to finish that last bench press.
Good luck.
Good luck!
There's a pretty big initial cost in building a basic home gym, which I would consider power rack (which can also be used to spot your bench), bench, olympic bar and plates. You may also want dumbbells, which is another $50 or more for a good adjustable set. If you really have your heart set on this, run in the wild and check all the local classifieds for the stuff above.
The big gyms (Gold's, Bally's, to a lesser extent YMCA) are designed to get you in, have you buy an expensive membership, and have you never come back. The folks selling memberships are exactly like used car salesmen when they are giving their pitch, and they can do a fair bit of damage if you get suckered into a $400 down, $80/month, three year long contract. Hell, I've heard reports of these guys trying to pull the four square trick. If you are not on your toes you will get screwed and end up with a mediocre gym crowded by people with poor form anyways. The YMCA is clumped in with them mostly because they tend to have mediocre/bad equipment and are always full of terrible form. Even the trainers I've seen at my local Y have shitty, shitty form in most every lift I saw them teach. Surrounding yourself with people doing it wrong is not a good environment in which to learn to do it right.
Find a local gym, quite possibly in a dusty basement or warehouse, that is run by a local guy who cares what you do in the gym - the sort of fellow who wanders about the gym correcting form and asking people why they're not squatting instead of curling all day long. It should have a flat fee for every month, and ideally not require a contract. You want to be in a gym where everyone else is bigger than you and has excellent form. This will both subconsciously teach you proper form and even motivate you if you look at it right ("If I keep on this track, I can eventually look like that!"). No one cares about your skin or if you're lifting a lot or a little, or at least the non-jackasses don't. Everyone else is there for the same reason you are, and are usually too involved in their own work to spend time critiquing your looks.
It's not that bad. Breathe through your nose, wear gloves and something to keep your dick from freezing and you're golden. Catching the sunrise over snow no one's walked in yet makes up for it.
Working out at home is awesome but you've really got to be motivated to keep it up. I think you'd be better off with an actual gym, at least at first. I'll second everything that's been said about finding a non-chain gym.
Well, cough, in the UK here, unpleasant weather not exactly unknown to us. Granted, cold air hitting lungs affects some people more than others, but generally after a few sessions / couple of weeks going out in cold temperatures, you get used to it. As for the rest of it, proper clothing & moisturising (girly men!) skin that gets dry / chapped should do the trick.
And as Fats said, you do get the added bonus of being a bona fide roaring superman crushing the ground under your feet and flicking peas in the face of adversity, while everyone else huddles at home or under their umbrellas. Gyms just don't compare to being outside. They are pale, stale reflections with an ingrained reek of fat people sweat.
This simply isn't true. Run up hills, do squats or cycle, and you'll build up your legs plenty. Just remember: one leg forward, then the other. Try running on one leg alone, and yes you'll work out unequally, and probably fall over a lot. But the mind boggles at how pushups, pullups and situps (all compound exercises which use both sides of the body equally at the same time) are meant to unbalance you while using individual weights one side/arm at a time are meant to ensure equality?
OP, as people have said, shop around for various gyms and see if there's something you like, but also look into a home gym. You can get a barbell, some plates and a bench for around 200 - 250 dollars, and those weights will last you the rest of your life. You don't need as much room as you might think, and maybe if you get really into it you can add a power rack later on. Weight training, and building muscle in general, will help to speed your metabolism and get rid of those last pounds. I have a bench, bar and dumbbells and I'm able to do a good compound weights program with minimal equipment. Check the fitness thread for details of a good beginner program.
Re: motivation, don't think about it. Motivation is horseshit. Stop worrying about your motivation and just do it. Go into the gym (or your home gym) or run or whatever on the days you say you're going to because that is what you do at that time and it is not open for debate.
Well perhaps you could at least explain to the OP why bodyweight exercises are more likely to work you out unequally than weights. I'm sure it is possible to work out equally with both, but finding it hard to see how bodyweight exercises done with correct technique work out muscles unequally. May not know much about weights, but I've done a fuckload of pressups, pullups, situps, jumps, tucks, planks, burpees and pretty much every other bodyweight exercise under the sun.
Not having a go at weightlifters. Having a go at someone spouting balls about bodyweight exercises, which are a perfectly good (and importantly, free) way to build strength and lean muscle.
I joined Lifetime Fitness and based upon the few clubs I frequent, I'd say that mabye 30% of the people are your weight or larger. I'm usually somewhere between 185 and 190 lbs being 5'11" and at least half the people are in better shape than me, but still a good chuck is working on getting into shape.
Being away from home helps motivate me some more because I can't just get off the treadmill and go sit down to watch tv or something in another part of the house if I were to still workout at home. Plus, I have the chance every so often to strike up conversation with someone nearby and meet fokls every now and then in the club for some quick conversations.
Bowflexes pretty much suck. The resistance level can't be raised far enough for it to be really worthwhile. As far as all in one gyms go, if you mean something like this
http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10001&catalogId=1500001001&langId=-1&searchTerms=lat+curl&x=0&y=0
it's really just a bench with some attachments, and is great. That's what I use. If you mean something like this monstrosity
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3355604/Trail/searchtext%3EMULTIGYM.htm
I wouldn't bother. You're paying out the arse for less functionality than a good freeweights program. In the end, nothing works as well for resistance training as free weights. Nothing.
I agree and you could even go a step further and reduce the dollar amount drastically if you DIY your set. You can look around in craigslist for a $50 bench. Then you can make your own dumbell for about $8 each. Finally spend $30 on weights. You don't have to break the 100 dollar mark.
As per to the bodyweight exercises vs iron debate, if you have a side on the argument, you don't know what you are talking about. They are both great ways to build up strength and size. In fact, do both! Don't limit yourself, training is all about variety.
Example: Gymnasts. These guys train bodyweight exercises almost exclusively and they are ripped, lean, and strong.
While the resistance level does seem low on the basic bowflex, you can upgrade them. It's hard to equate them to regular weights though.
for example, when you do a benchpress with a barbell, it's one smooth motion up and the downward resistance of the barbell is the same all the way up, then you ease the bar down. On a bowflex, the resistance actually increases as you extend your arms, so bottom five or six inches are much less resistant than the top five or six, and during the reverse motion this is true as well. The muscle groups are adjusting their output during each rep.
Basically the point being that you can't approach a bowflex assuming that you're going to be doing the same exercise as a barbell/dumbell set but in a different position.
I go to a YMCA. It's cheaper than the franchise gyms in the area, and their 'contract' is waay more flexible.
edit: Finding someone who goes to a gym and using their guest pass to get a feel for the place is good.
They also train incredible amounts with incredible frequency and do incredibly hard things. Average Joe isn't going to get those results because Average Joe doesn't have the time, knowledge or skill to train like a gymnast.
And FYI what someone said earlier about people having "opinions, and eyes" at the gym is horse shit. They're too busy looking at themselves for any of that garbage.