Muscle Sport Magazine

What Are the Pros and Cons of Having a Home Gym?

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A home gym is an excellent alternative for fitness enthusiasts. If you are considering buying a home gym but aren’t sure whether it’s the right thing to do, you’ll want to go through our post. In this article, we’ll be discussing the pros and cons of the option to help you make an informed decision. Well, read on to find out.

Pros

Saves time

The time-saving and convenience factors are by far the biggest advantages of setting up a home gym — especially if you’ll be requiring a long drive or walk to the next local commercial gym. Let’s say, you’ll need an average of 15 minutes to get to the gym. Basically for every training session, you’ll need 30 minutes on the road. If you workout 5 days a week, you would have wasted 2.5 hours! With our busy day to day schedules, this wasted time could have been used for more productive things.

 

No waiting for free equipment

 

It can be quite annoying to spend several minutes on the road and still have to wait in line for a free gym machine, because it is already taken. Just so you don’t get distracted, you might be forced to shift to other less effective options, which could slow down your progress. Worse even, you may even lack those less effective options during the after-hours, as many people tend to come back from work and school.

Fortunately, all this won’t happen if you have a home gym. You don’t have to share your machines with anyone and there are no limits on the time you can spend on the machines.

 

Unlimited freedom

You can workout however and whenever you want, use as much chalk as you want, blast your favorite music as loud as you want, and grunt as much as you’d like to in your own home. Also, you don’t need to worry about the dress code.

The weird nature of lifting at a public gym is that, you often feel watched and tend to hold back from a lot of things. For instance, you wouldn’t want to do anything wrong, try anything new, step out of the line to practice any strange exercise. Simply put, you will not give it your all when in public gyms.

 

Cost-effective

While investing in a home gym often appears an expensive option at the beginning, it will certainly save you a substantial amount of money in the long-term.

Let’s get practical; most gym membership programs will charge you anywhere from $50 to $130 per month and even higher. With cost-saving in mind, let’s assume you’ll be shelling out an average of $90 per month. So, if you’re going to commit for the next 5 years, you’ll have spent a whopping $5400.

Truth is, you can get a really decent home gym with everything you need for your workouts — for as much as half the estimated cost above.

No distractions

Distractions are a common problem with most chain gyms. In your home, however, you won’t be subjected to time wasters that spend most of their time socializing. There are no beautiful girls positioning themselves in your plain sight! But, you still have to stay disciplined and follow your workout schedules to the letter.

Cons

 

Lonely at times

We are social creatures and at times we may long for contact and want to connect with others. Well, a home gym won’t provide the social atmosphere a commercial gym provides. The presence of other people that are working hard to reach their fitness goals can easily motivate and push some lifters to go beyond their limits. This certainly beats working out in an environment where the family members are busy watching TV.

 

Need for extra space

For effective training in your home, you’ll need enough space for your gym equipment. The extra space needed should at least allow you to move the weights freely and try out all the beneficial exercises. If you’re living in a tiny apartment, it can be hard accessing a wider variety of exercise equipment.

 

No spotter

 

In commercial gyms, you enjoy the services of a spotter on heavier lifts. It’s because this type of training poses a safety risk. The best course of action is to try and find a partner to lift with.

There you have it!

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