A look at a few advantages of owning a home gym
A look at a few advantages of owning a home gym
Hi there. Before I proceed any further, I feel I should just point out that I am in no way affiliated with any supplement companies, home gym equipment manufacturers, or any other health and/or fitness based communities. I’m simply an avid fan of bodybuilding, with a passion for the sport, as well as a passion for writing too, which is how I earn my living. The views and opinions expressed within my articles are mine and mine alone.
Now that we’ve gotten the boring and formal legal stuff out of the way, let’s get down to business and talk about home gyms. We all know just how tough life can be financially, especially with Christmas just around the corner, and unfortunately not all of us can afford luxuries such as gas for our vehicles on top of expensive gym memberships, which is why many of us simply go through the motions at this time of year, working out when we can, and picking things up in the (incredibly busy) New Year. A great way of saving money in the long haul, and ensuring that you can work out pretty much whenever you like, is to invest in home gym equipment and set up your own gym at home. There are a number of advantages associated with owning a home gym, so let’s take a look at a few of the more beneficial ones shall we?
Convenience – One of the best things about training at home is the convenience of the entire operation. If you’re heading back from work, you don’t need to take a detour and head out to the gym from the office, you can come straight home, throw on some sweats, and get your workout in as soon as you get home. Alternatively you can wake up a little earlier, work out in the morning, jump in the shower, and head to the office, safe in the knowledge that you’ve gotten your workout out of the way, so you can essentially relax and unwind once you get home. With a home gym, there is no travelling to and from the gym, which can add hours onto your day, hours which you may not have.
No huge crowds – This is especially appropriate at this time of year as we’ll soon be seeing an influx of “New Year’s Resolutioners” who have promised to lose their holiday weight and “get into the best shape of their lives” for the New Year. Needless to say that 90% of them quit after the first two weeks, but those first few weeks can make working out in commercial gyms a real nightmare. You’ll have people constantly shouting at one another, queuing up for machines and equipment, jumping onto machines the second you get up to grab some water, snapping “selfies” of their 13.5” biceps so they can upload them to Facebook and Instagram, and just generally annoying the crap out of you. With a home gym however, you can listen to the music you like, as loud as you like, without huge crowds of people getting in your way, rushing you, and stealing your equipment the second your back is turned.
Cost-effective – Another great benefit of owning a home gym is that they’re so hugely cost-effective. All you need is a spare room or a garage, a decent adjustable bench, a set of dumbbells, a barbell Olympic set, and preferably a power rack or squat rack and you now have all of the tools to get a fantastic work out in that hits all of your major muscle groups. If you do have the added luxury of a spare garage, or open space, you can perhaps pick up some more complex pieces of equipment, with sites such as Craigslist proving extremely useful for snagging a bargain. Many of the IFBB pros and former pros choose to work out at home 90% of the time, and if you’ve ever seen 8x former Mr Olympia winner Ronnie Coleman’s home gym, you’ll see that with the right space, (and funds) you can create a hell of a gym. Not only will you be saving on gas money, you will also be saving on expensive gym memberships too, and with a little research, you can pick up some great deals online.
You create the environment that you enjoy – Some of you love the dark, dingy, dungeon-type appeal of gyms such as Metroflex and Dorian Yates’ Temple Gym in the UK, and so do many of the pros. Branch Warren immediately springs to mind for some reason. These gyms are dark, the weights and bars are rusting, the mats are caked in chalk and dust, the music is loud, laden with expletives, and many of you will no doubt thrive in that environment. For others however, you may prefer shiny new equipment, natural light, and mats that don’t emit a cloud of dust when you set down your dumbbells. What I’m getting at here is that with a home gym, you can set things the way you like them. If you like things neat and tidy and are borderline OCD (like me) then you can keep your gym and your equipment neat, clean and tidy. If the underground dungeon look is what motivates you, then great, crank up the volume, set down the vacuum, and go pump some heavy iron. You create the right environment that helps motivate you and drives you on to have fantastic workouts day in and day out.
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