I've had a membership for a yr, went for awhile to do cardio machines and some floor exercises, didn't like the structured aerobic classes so didn't do those.

I stopped going a few mths ago. Can't seem to get motivated to go back. I've decided to join WW and attend wkly meeting and will develop a new exercise routine.

My question is, do you find exercise vids like Jillian Michaels 30 Minute Shred (for example) to be as effective as going to the gym and using their weights and machines?

The cost of the gym and WW membership is going to be expensive for me and wonder if I can get as much benefit out of doing vids at home and walking/jogging my dog (obviously provided I am diligent about doing it).

What do you think? Thx for any thoughts on this.

I do go to the gym, but honestly I only go there for spin class. All the lifting in the gym I could do at home, with the exception of pull-ups. I like the assisted pull up machine. You could do a lot of strength exercises with just body weight and dumb bells. Cardio you can get by jogging and walking, like you said. You could also run up and down hills and/or stairs.

I love the gym, but if I had to get by without I sure could.

Eliana - thx for your thoughts. Gotta say, I'm impressed. Your avatar says over 80 lbs lost...woohoo! Thats amazing!

I've lifted weights for 20 years. I've done it on my own for 15 years (home gym, no exercise videos, so I can't speak to the latter) and with a gym for five. I honestly think I made more progress with a gym than I did in all the years on my own, and I work out harder than anyone I know.

Could I go back to working out in my home? Absolutely. I'm a free-weights/body-weight gal, so I don't need the gym. But I'd have to get a lot of equipment to match all I have access to at the gym. I'm all about doing different things. And I kind of like not having my house cluttered with workout equipment. I did that for so long.... I'm liking finally having space for other things

As for pull-ups, I much prefer a pull-up bar. I do unassisted pull-ups and chin-ups and avoid all machines. Honestly, anything you want to do you can do without the gym. It just may require an investment depending on how into it you get. But you don't have to pay for a membership, so it works out. And it sounds like you may not end up needing to spend much at all. If I went to the gym strictly for the reasons that you do, I probably would give up my membership. It sounds like you could do the same things at home very easily. You'd have to remain motivated to do them, but it doesn't sound like the gym was motivating you, so that isn't necessarily a +1 for the gym for you personally.

Any exercises whether its at home or the gym is effective. Depends on your commitment to it. You can find equipment at the gym to working all parts of your body like you can find home equipment or dvds or activities to work any part too. The gym is more social and less distracting environment but it costs. Home is more comfortable and less expensive but very easy to decide to sit and watch tv instead of going for a walk.

It really depends on the person!!!! I hate working out at home because I never go as hard as I do when I am at the gym. I love the variety at the gym the people at the gym I attend and everything about the gym.

Thx ladies for your thoughts. I think I'm going to seriously consider giving up my membership at the gym and look into drop-in cost or tickets at the local community centre. That way I may still get to use their weights sometimes or go swimming and then do stuff at home too.

I have free weights, balance board, stretch bands and the big ball (whatever its called). I think I'll look into what I can do with the stuff I have at home.

Very well put stasiagurl91!

I do both. I like the machines at my gym, simply because I don't have them at home. And, I like the weight machines (not free weights). I use them all. I especially love my spin class.

I do at home stuff in the mornings before work, and then head straight to the gym after work for more torture! I equally love both. But If I stuck to just at home, I know I wouldn't work out as much, because I would get too distracted with cleaning, laundry, cooking, reading etc. etc.

Maybe just keep it for a couple months, and do exercises at both and you will be able to figure out what works best for you! I think everyone is different, but I will say if you have something to easily distract you at home (kids, significant other home at the same time), I would be more apt to workout more in the gym.

Why thank you! Sometimes I'm impressed too! LOL! I'm definitely in a far better place now.

This is my goal! I want to do unassisted pull ups! I'm close. I did 12 pull ups with a 45 pound assist this morning. How many unassisted can you do? [Sheepishly curious] I was just wondering this morning how many I should consider as a "goal met". One?

Bcgal, dumb bells and an exercise ball are awesome! You can google some fantastic full body workouts! You can also use the ball as a weight bench by resting your neck on the ball and doing flies and bench presses while working out your glutes at the same time (holding up the rear end). I'd love to post some exercises but I'm lousy without sketching what I mean. It's very hard to describe but so easy to draw! LOL! I love doing leg lifts with the ball, holding it between the feet. There's hamstring kicks where you lie on your back, put your heels on the ball and kick out and back in again. You can do a wall sit with the ball, or without it. You can do push ups with the ball. The closer to your chest the ball is, the easier the move. The closer to your feet, the harder the move.

You know, after I wrote that I realized I should have acknowledged that most people can't start off with a pull-up bar—or, rather, they can, but you need to use a chair and/or a partner, etc. It takes some effort. I started with the bar only because I didn't start doing pull-ups until I was already strong enough to do them unassisted. If I had started way back when I started working out, it would have been a lot harder to use the bar.

Currently, I'm doing three sets of unassisted pull-ups: usually 20, 15, 15.

Oh, and if you do one unassisted? Go, you! There are very few women who can do that. Seriously.

One is a good goal! The first one is the hardest one, after all.

In case you're interested, there was recently a thread about pullups in the weight lifting section of the forum. A lot of people shared their goals and accomplishments.

//b. strong,
Kim

Thx everyone. I think its a good idea to keep the membership for a few mths until I figure out what I want and can do. I will go to meetings every Thurs so will do a home routine that day so it doesn't interrupt my home biz schedule too much. Then I will walk/jog the dog 30-45 minutes five days a wk and then see how exercise at a gym might work into that or if its easier and just as effective to do an exercise vid at home a few days a week instead.

One thing I know, I don't have a lot of spare time and not a lot of motivation for exercise so it has to be a schedule that I can follow that doesn't interfere with my work schedule and I can keep it interesting so I don't get bored.