How To Decide On Joining a Gym or Home Workouts

Joining a gym is a great way to get or stay fit, but so are home workouts. So, which should you choose? Check out this list of the pros and cons of each and then decide which is better for you. Oh, and remember, joining a gym AND doing home workouts are great in combination!

Benefits of Home workouts:

• Location. Obviously, your home is the most convenient location. You don’t have to worry about making the drive or finding a babysitter while the kids are sleeping.
• You can design your own program. The great thing about home workouts is you can decide on your goals and then find the workouts that will help you meet them. This is especially awesome if you have team Beachbody to help you out!
• Privacy. Not only can you do your workouts in peace, you can sing or blast music as loud as you want, look at yourself in the mirror as much as you want and no one will see. Plus, you don’t have to worry about anyone else’s germs being on the equipment you use.  
• No membership fees. With home workouts, you pay the upfront cost of the workout DVD’s and the equipment you need and then you are done! There will be no monthly fees that get subtracted from your account.
• Create your own environment. You can surround yourself with the environment that will help you work out the best. This might mean making it dark, turning a fan directly on you, lighting a candle, or inviting a friend to do the workout with you.  

Challenges of Home Workouts:

• Distractions. Sometimes the distractions of a messy room or other things that need to get done around the house can get in the way of a full workout.
• Motivation. If you don’t know how to motivate yourself, the couch might have a stronger pull than your yoga mat.
• Cost of equipment. You can buy expensive equipment that will cost you, but there are ways around this. Beachbody workouts use minimal equipment and a lot of them are designed to use the weight of your own body for intensity.

Benefits of Joining a Gym:

• Great equipment selection. When joining a gym, you get to access all the benefits the gym has to offer. This includes a wide range of cardio machines, weight machines, free weights, pool, sauna and other offerings that the gym has available.
• Access to personal trainers. Personal trainers can help you come up with a plan and set up workout sessions to keep you accountable and motivated for gym visits.
• Access to group classes. There are usually group classes to check out when joining a gym. This is a great way to learn yoga or how to get the best out of a spin workout.
• Less personal distractions. While there are people all around that can be quite distracting, joining a gym will give you less personal distractions. No mess to clean up, laundry to fold or refrigerator calling your name.

Challenges of Joining a Gym:

• More time spent. Joining a gym will end up using more of your time because you will have to drive to and from the gym. This can really be a problem when there aren’t many gyms near your home.
• No privacy. You can’t stop other people from joining the gym so there will always be people sharing the space. Plus, you never know what germs or body odors you will experience while at the gym. There’s always the chance that it gets crowded and you will have to wait for equipment to be available.
• Costs. Not only will you have to pay a membership fee, some places require a start-up fee for joining a gym. Plus, there can be additional costs associated with personal trainers or group classes.
• Limited access. Joining a gym means you work around the gym’s schedule. Your workouts are determined by when the gym is open, not when it’s convenient for you.

Do you think joining a gym is right for you? Or home workouts? Or both? Whichever option is best for your lifestyle, I’m just happy you are committing yourself to fitness!