Home Gym or Gym Gym?

Fifty percent of people who start an exercise programme quit within the first six months, so starting exercise and sticking to an exercise programme can be challenging. Before you start you need to ask yourself these questions to determine whether it's SAFE for you to exercise:

Choosing to exercise at home or in a gym will depend on a few things. First, do you know how to start an exercise programme? If not are you prepared to put in the research to find something that will actually get you results?

How much time do you have? If you're short on time, a home gym can be the perfect solution. Nowadays, it's easy and cost effective to buy a couple of dumbbells and a resistance band for your spare room.

How motivated are you? Exercising at home is not very inspiring for a lot of people. It's in our nature to want to be part of a group so exercising in a gym can be much more motivating.

How self conscious are you? If you're particularly self conscious, then training at home is an obvious solution. There's no one to judge you and you can work at your own pace for as long as you see fit.

The Pros and Cons of Exercising at Home

Pros:

1. Your own personal space. There is nothing like having your own gym, where there's no lines, no socialisation, and nothing to hide.
2. This is your domain. You can play your own music, grunt, and even cry if you drop a dumbbell on your toe.
3. No membership fees. Your home gym is yours, there's no monthly fee.Less Confusion. Exercisers working out at a gym will sometimes get overwhelmed with all of the different weird machines and cables and they'll forget about what they're there to achieve. When you train at home, your gym is made up of the things that fit your goals. After all, you bought the equipment so you are almost forced to use it. Which is a good thing.
4. Gym Hours Are 24/7/365. Your gym is open every single day of the year, and that means you can exercise whenever you want. Being able to workout whenever you want opens up your schedule, and this is especially helpful to those with busy lives and kids.

Cons:

1. Equipment costs. This is the most obvious disadvantage to starting a home gym. It can be very expensive to set up a nice home gym unless you're planning on just sticking the next celebrity workout in the DVD player, but the investment may be worth it.
2. Lack of a spotter. A spotter is someone who assists you with heavy weights or potentially dangerous exercises. However, all you need to fix this problem is to find a training partner or spotter (friend or family), or invest in a power rack. Power racks have pins in them set at proper heights so that if you drop or lose control of the weight, it falls on the pins, and not you!

The Pros and Cons of Exercising in a Gym

Pros:

1. Atmosphere. You are surrounded by people with the same goals as you and this motivates you to lift heavier, run faster and for longer.
2. Equipment. You're not going to want to spend your hard earned money on expensive gym equipment. Instead you'll be "renting it" from the gym. Whether you want a plethora of cables, or a hip abductor machine, the gym is going to have it. This greatly expands the list of exercise options you have when designing a workout program.
3. Spotters. There's always people at the gym, and if you ever need a spot, there will always be someone to ask. You're surrounded by like minded people and, in my experience, everyone is friendly.
4. Dumbbells. There are hundreds of dumbbell sets out there but if you want a decent quality set that caters to your strength needs, you're going to have to get the wallet out. However, if you're a 50kg housewife that struggles with lifting a bag of sugar, then this won't be a problem.
5. Convenience. Gyms offer things like protein shakes, towels, day care, tanning, massaging, and steam rooms. These aren't all necessary things, but they do make the lifting experience more comfortable for some people.

Cons:

1. Lack of freedom. Grunting, farting and screaming are all frowned upon at the gym. You can't collapse on the floor after a set of heavy squats or high five yourself when you've accomplished a new best 5k time on the treadmill.
2. Waiting in line. Some gyms get crowded during certain days and times, especially after office hours. If you need to keep up a good pace for your fitness goals, this becomes impossible when there's a line to use the machine you want.
3. Location. It can be very inconvenient to drive 30 minutes away to get to the gym. This is especially bad for those of us with no motivation and who are looking for any excuse not to train.
4. Hygiene. For the most part, gyms are pretty clean. But its not nice when you walk over to the bench to find a nice little puddle of sweat where your head is supposed to go or jump on the treadmill to find god-knows-what bodily fluids all over the control panel.
5. Distractions. You go to the gym to workout, not to chat with other members. Most gyms that I've trained at could double up as a social club. Although it's nice to have a chat with people who have the same goals as you and get some good tips and ideas, gyms can be too distracting for many people.

What if I don't Like Either?

That's where we come in. We have our very own private personal trainer and client only gym in Harrogate. That means our clients benefit from having all of the awesomeness of a fully equipped gym without the hassle of other members. You can book in for a free consultation and see for yourself.