Home Gym vs The Community Gym

This article goes out to those who enjoy working out for fitness.
As you get more mature (older) and settle down, and perhaps have a family, think about a home gym for your workouts. Time is more valuable and precious. The time you save can be spent with your loved ones or other interests.

When you are younger, the community gym ( Gold's, World Gym, etc. ) can be a thrilling experience. Shiny equipment and shiny, sweaty bodies of the opposite sex are in abundance. Your youthful zeal allows you to work to failure without a really exhausting effort. You catch someone watching you do heavy curls out of the corner of your eye. You pump even harder. The air is filled with pumped up testosterone and oozing female hormones. There is the scent of the pretty girl's perfume as her body heats up from exercise and the musky smell of male perspiration. The atmosphere is raging with excitement, male watching female, female watching male, same sex admiration or envy ( depending on one's personal growth level ). Advice is given. Then it is either taken or thrown to the side. There are trainers to keep you on track,and to keep you coming back. And all in one deep breath,inspiration and frustration fill you psyche.

If you have been working out on a regular basis at all, by the time you are 30 years old or so, you have a petty good idea of what you want out of your workouts, what you expect of yourself, what you demand of yourself, and your goals for your physical well-being. You know what you can or can not do. You do not necessarily need pushed or coaxed by another person.

Personally, I liked the community gym atmosphere. I joined and went to them into my mid to late 30's. In my 30's, I would take my 3 daughters with me to the local gym. I would buy each of them a tiger milk bar and a bottle of Perrier. They thought this was a special treat. They would sit and observe all the members working out at that time, and talk with the owners and their daughters. As adults, all three daughters exercise and work out. So I believe this was a beneficial experience for them.

What I did not like about the community gym was wasted time. There was the time to get there, changing clothes, after working out - getting undressed, showering, getting dressed again, the drive back home and then getting my mind back to the home life mode. Sometimes, after working a long day, I just did not have enough energy to get cleaned up to repeat the whole process again.

Money was an issue with my earlier gym experiences. Membership fees were quite high. At the last gym I went to, the one with my kids, I paid a small fee per workout session. Of course, I knew the owner since we were teenagers. We worked out in a weight room in the basement of The Boy's Club. With a monthly or yearly membership, I would feel guilty or cheated if I could not make it for a workout.

I now, solely, work out at home. At home, there is no time wasted. There is no specific time I have to fit a workout in. There is no traffic to contend with. I can have dinner, relax, then go to my home gym at 8:00, 9:00, or whenever I choose to do so. I have a full gym to meet my needs, including my last and most expensive piece of equipment, a hack-squat, leg press machine.

You can set up a gym relatively cheap. You need a weight bench, preferably with a lat attachment. You will probably want to purchase some dumbbells. Buy a pair every month, 20's this month 30's next month and soon there will be no more to buy. I bought my first dumbbells right out of college. I got a pair of 35's and a pair of 60's. The price was not much different from today's prices. You purchase dumbbell stacks. They are kind of pricey. But one stack can range from 5 to 80 pounds, so it saves a lot of space.

Aerobic exercise can be done outside. Eventually, you will want to get a treadmill of elliptical machine for those not so fair weather days. A heavy bag is also good for an aerobic and power workout.

If you are blessed with a better than average lifestyle, I'd say, go for it all at once. Otherwise, pick up a piece of equipment here or there. Pick up a pair of dumbbells once in a while. Build your gym. All of these items can be bought used. Check the want ads. Here in Arizona, we have a chain of stores named Play It Again Sports,where they sell new and used equipment at a substantially discounted price.

If you enjoy the whole community gym experience, then stay with it. I am just telling the story of one guy who tired of it. I am offering an alternative way to make your time, your time. And if you tire of waiting to get your next set in, until some gets of the bench or machine you want to use, then think about a home gym. At the home gym, there is no waiting required.

Written by John Markus at http://www.feelmorelife.com John had been a pharmacist for 33 years. His wife has type I diabetes. Also, his eight year old granddaughter has diabetes. He and his family have been dealing with these type of problems for a long time. Tough at times, but successfully in end. He has been studying exercise and nutrition for 30 plus years.