I hate the hassle of going to a gym, waiting for equipment, etc. I'm self-conscious about the way I look, and especially about how uncoordinated I am. At home I can flail around all I want knowing no one can see how goofy I look!
For now, I'm doing aerobics tapes and going for the occasional walk in the hilly neighborhoods nearby. In the future, though, I will start jogging again and leave the tapes for rainy days.
I like both, though I don't have a gym membership right now. I'd like one for the childcare so I could run without a stroller, but then again, I hate running on a treadmill. I do like the convenience of just popping in a DVD and getting in a workout at home.
I like both, though I don't have a gym membership right now. I'd like one for the childcare so I could run without a stroller, but then again, I hate running on a treadmill. I do like the convenience of just popping in a DVD and getting in a workout at home.
I also prefer the gym since theres so much I can mix in my routine. Like 24 Hour Fitness offers more than just treadmills. They have a bunch of group classes like Yoga or Dance classes I cam mix in. Not to mention they have saunas and spas too.
LeedaRenee and Hardatwork- If you are trying to find a gym with childcare, 24 Hour Fitness has a program called Kids Club. You work out and they play in a supervised area. Is that something that would help?
Definitely the gym! My house is way too small for me to work out in. There is absolutely no room for any type of cardio equipment and if I did any sort of aerobics or anything, I'd most surely knock something over and break it. There's barely enough room to stretch.
Also, I like having the choice of equipment, classes, and sauna afterwards. Sometimes I get ideas for exercises to try by watching other people at the gym. Finally, there are cute trainers to watch at the gym --definitely a bonus.
Last edited by BlueToBlue; 03-12-2008 at 08:41 PM.
1 - I don't have room in my 2 bedroom townhouse for a lot of equipment. I do have an exercise ball and a mat and I often do situps and basic yoga at home, but for real cardio and for weight lifting, I have to have a gym with a variety of equipment.
2 - I don't have the willpower/motivation to make myself workout at home. If I'm home , I want to be in my jammies and hanging out. Or (since I'm self employed) I tend to get distracted by work and wind up sitting at the computer in my workout clothes and not actually exericising.
3 - I need the motivation of having paid $$. If I pay for the membership, then I'm damn well going to use it! At home, I don't have that motivation.
For me it's definitely at home.
Since I start my workout between 5 and 6 am it's just so much easier to go downstairs.
We have a treadmill and my husband bought quite a few WL machines about 10 years ago that are still fine.
The only one I use now since I am doing pretty much all free weights is the lat pulldown station.
I also got bowflex weights ( where you can dial the weight you want and it goes up by 2 and 1/2 lbs which is great) a swiss ball for crunches, and we have a bench.
I do my yoga downstairs too at the end of each workout.
Since we have cable and a tv downstairs I can listen to the great music stations when I work out.
Someday fairly soon I would like to buy a squat rack but I'm not there yet.
Gym is just too much hassle unless I got one very close to home. But normal 3-7 miles when I factor in time in the car (gas prices also) parking getting in, changing, getting settled, finding equipment, basically everything but actually being on equipment then going home it works out to more time than getting a good workout at home in total.
Just bought a schwinn 418 elliptical. Incredibly sturdy, very challenging, good clean smooth stride, good choice of computer programs. For me and my wife going monthly to a gym it will pay for itself in less than 10 months.
And for my lifestyle will use it way more than going to a gym. Just too much time overall going to a gym. Plus watch recorded tv from the previous days when working out so get that done at the same time.
I can't afford the gym, so I do most of my workouts at home. I do work at a school that has a pool though, which because I am an employee I can use anytime after hours for free. I've started swimming 3-4 times a week on the off days that I don't work out at home.
I exercise at home because there are no gyms near by worth going to. I pop in a video and workout. I also have a 16 month old son so my schedule is unperdictable at times and my only time to workout is his naps.
Homebody here. I simply can't justify spending money on a gym membership and then driving there when I have space at home. We even have a new Y near us and I did check it out - simply beautiful - but at $1,000/yr for a family membership, ah no thanks. I was tempted because the pool would be good for the kids in the summer, but I found a pool near us for $200 for the summer season instead.
I'm up early (5a.m.) and get two of them out the door by 7a.m. and have a good hour b/4 the last one leaves. If I waited till she was gone, I'd never get my butt outta the door to the gym anyway! I have a TM, free wts, stability ball, total gym (ok, so we don't really use this much), many different dvds for cardio, yoga, pilates, etc. And the funnest workout of all -- walking the dog. Love to see her bounce of the wall when the magic 'walkie' word is uttered. 'Car ride' sets her off too.
I prefer the gym, but since we moved a lot farther from the gym (well, any gym) and gas prices have gone up even more, I don't have the extra money for a gym membership currently. Plus, I have an 8 month old baby and work from home full-time, so if I packed up and drove to the gym, worked out, showered and drove back home, it would take a good 2 1/2 hours, and I barely have time to get my work finished by my deadline each day as it is! I love the WATP DVDs and we bought a treadmill a couple of months ago, and I LOVE IT! Someday I'd love to get a gym membership again, but we'll see. I'm also looking forward to warm weather so I can get some use out of my jogging stroller!
I always find it interesting how everyone is SO different.
I enjoy working out OUTDOORS the most. I love the sunshine, and take advantage of it with long walks, playing catch or frisbee, hiking, etc...
THAT BEING SAID....
I don't like doing any of that alone. And my fiance doesn't get home until 7:30 at night... so we only have 2 days a week that we can do anything.
So, by myself... it's the gym. Hands down. At home I still do stuff, for example I have a little bike pedal thingy (no room for and couldn't afford a bike), I just put it in front of my couch and pedal away while I'm watching TV or playing video games! Easy stuff.
BUT I LOVE being able to get away from all distractions and focus on ME. Just zone out, forget about the dishes and the laundry and the shopping and this and that.... If the mess won't go away, I'll run away from the mess! So I'm re-joining the the gym this week!
I'm MUCH more motivated at the gym. I seem to be able to stick with it a lot more when there is a group of people all doing it at once. I never want to be the only person in the class who gives up. I also am not the kind of person who parts with a dollar lightly (I'm cheap) so that $72 a month we pay to the Y needs to be worth it.
There's barely enough room to stretch. 
--definitely a bonus.
And my fiance doesn't get home until 7:30 at night... so we only have 2 days a week that we can do anything. 