The debate has gone on for years …. Which is better – going to the gym or working out at home? While there are pros and cons to each side, I prefer working out at home. Even when I was a twenty-something year old, I found it difficult to go to a gym to get a good workout in. I felt as though I was being watched and judged by other members there. Some of the male patrons made me uncomfortable to use some of the machines they were crowding around. It also became a hassle to find the time each day, making it tempting to skip gym days. So, I got rid of the gym membership and subscribed to Team Beachbody, an at home online workout library with a ton of resources.
There are a multitude of reasons why home workouts are better, but these are the top 5 for me.
- There is little to no judgement by someone else. At home, no one will judge you based on what you are wearing to exercise in (even if it is the same workout clothes you wore yesterday or if you are working out in your pjs). No one will care about the noises you make or the curse words that slip out. No one will judge the fitness level you are at or if your hair is a mess. Judgement-free zone!
- It’s less expensive than a gym membership. Some gym memberships can cost thousands of dollars a year, but a basic exercise mat and a set of weights costs just a couple of hundred, at most. (We use Bowflex’s Select-a-weight set, which I recommend if you want to lift but don’t want an entire set of weights and equipment taking up space.) At home training apps and website memberships, such as Beachbody, are inexpensive at around $12 to $15 a month; some are even free. Many of these apps and websites also offer nutrition programs, recipes and advice on hitting your fitness and/or health goals.
- It takes less time to workout at home. When I exercise at home, I can get a 30- minute workout done in less than 35 minutes (that includes changing into workout clothes and commute time to out basement). If I wanted to a 30-minute workout at a gym, I would have to factor in the 30 to 40 minutes’ drive time one-way to a gym, parking, and waiting for machines or classes to start. That 30-minute session at the gym is now taking me at least an hour and a half or two hours! No thank you!
- You can provide your own entertainment while exercising. Put on a Netflix show or a movie or blast your favorite tunes with Amazon Music and get on the treadmill/bike, or whatever, and go for it! You don’t have to listen to the offensive or techno junk if you don’t want to, or go ahead and blast the gangster rap. No one is judging! For me, I blast the music from Beachbody’s Morning Meltdown 100 and let trainer Jericho get me through the toughest 30 minutes of my day! If I’m on the treadmill, an episode of Friends or Frasier does the trick!
- Set an example to your family that exercise is important. Let your kids see that no matter what, making time for 30 minutes of heart-pumping exercise is a good habit. Valuing health will make lasting impressions on kids and could help them make better choices in the future. Healthy habits are easy to keep if the family is involved. Aside from that, letting your kids exercise with you can be adorable or distract you enough to make your workout go faster. And since no one is judging, you can show your little ones, even your spouse, that exercising does not have to be a fashion statement or difficult to accomplish.
Like I said before, these are just my top 5 reasons for preferring to exercise at home.
Here are two sites that I like and may interest you:
https://www.teambeachbody.com/shop/us/b/fitness