Originally posted by darkhorse
I was wondering if you could go into some more detail here. I'm just starting out with working out and have been pondering the "home vs. gym question" myself. I'd strongly prefer to workout at home, and was planning on investing in some quality gear (self-spotting bench, good weight set, etc) to do it. When you say that the gym is incomparable, do you mean purely on a physical results basis, or are you taking other factors into consideration as well (social interaction, etc)? If you do mean purely on physical results, why would your development in the gym be better, even if you had decent gear at home?
Thanks.
There are a few excellent things about going to a gym.
First and foremost, the equipment available to you. The best way to truly work your body is to keep the workout changing and it's not as easy when all you have is your own equipment. A gym provides both machines and free weights to work with, various types of cardio equipment, basically everything you will need to do any type of workout you want to do.
The atmosphere is there, in a sense. You're in the right environment. You are there to workout, you are making a commitment. A home gym is convenient in the sense of it's at home. And a little visual encouragement is almost always in sight, whether or not you ever choose to try and go for any of the ladies.
To me, there is something about paying monthly instead of just making a few purchases. I signed up for a gym one summer and I made sure I went every single week at least twice. Just because I had paid for it. That's the type of person I am though, anything I continually pay is part of my motivation.
Chances are a gym near you has a discounted "trial" membership that isn't too much more than if you signed up for a year, something like a 3-month commitment. I'd suggest trying it out.
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