Are You Not Able to Decide Whether to Do Exercise from Home or Visit Gym? Workout at Home v/s Gym(2020): Whichever You Decide, You Have to Actually Follow Through?

When we decide to workout, the first question that we must settle is that whether we will workout at the gym or have a home workout, and this is an endless debate. There are many advantages of both home workout and gym workout, and on the other side of the coin are the disadvantages of them. Which workout will suit you depends upon your lifestyle and personality and so, to make a learned decision on that matter, it is pertinent that you look into the pros and cons of both types of workout. Follow this BP Guide for a comprehensive look into working out at home and working out at the gym.

Home is where everything starts and so will we start with the advantages of working out at home. It ranges from convenience to saving time. Here are 5 advantages of working out at home:

Not all of us can afford to set aside a few hours during the course of the day for gym sessions. Some of us cannot even afford to set aside 15 minutes. This is especially true for people whose professions keep them occupied for the most part of the day and homemakers who have all their responsibilities and concerns at home, so much so that they cannot leave it. In such a situation, the best option is home workout. The home workout does not require you to set aside a special time for gym sessions; you can do at any time you prefer or is convenient for you in the comfort of your home.

Gym memberships are expensive. You have to fork out a considerable amount of cash for a gym subscription. Yes, there are gyms that are cheap but as the price is directly proportional to the quality, such gyms are not worthwhile. So, if you workout at home, you save yourself some money as you are not obliged to pay a gym membership. You can invest in some gym equipment and machines for your home workout and it would be a fruitful investment in the long run.

There are a variety of exercises in the gym, but there is a different kind of variety in home workouts. You can go out for a jog, do yoga, dance, or mix and match to make your workout routine as interesting as possible. This type of exercise session is very helpful for impulsive people who get easily irritated with regularity. When today’s workout session is different from yesterday’s, you will naturally look forward to tomorrow’s workout session.

Another advantage of working out at home is that you can execute your exercises with full concentration and next to no distraction. Gyms are public places where people socialize besides exercising. This behavior is normal in human beings. We cannot keep ourselves aloof and separated from a conversation and discussion we can be a part of. Such distractions are not present at home and you can completely focus on your exercises.

Time is money and working out at home saves time. It takes time to commute to and fro from the gym, gym sessions are of a fixed time and gyms function during working hours of the day. All this means, you would have to dedicate some hours every day towards gym sessions. Such would not be the case if you workout at home. First, there is no time wasted on commuting and second, you can workout at any preferable time rather than devote some active hours in gym sessions.

Now that we have known the advantages of working out at home, it is time to discuss the flip side of the coin. Like anything under the sun, home workout too has its disadvantages; putting off, getting bored, no inspiration, not possible in some situations. Let us look at 5 disadvantages of home workout:

The biggest disadvantage of working out at home is that we tend to keep putting off our exercise sessions. Since we do not have to allot a fixed time and pay for them, the sense of commitment towards exercising too is low. We keep inventing excuses to skip exercises today and start from tomorrow but as the adage goes, tomorrow never arrives. Exercise requires dedication and regularity. If these two are missing in your workout then it is just a waste of time.

A gym is designed to create an atmosphere that inspires and motivates you to workout. There can be motivational posters stuck on the walls of the gym, the trainer inspiring you with pep talks and so on. Sometimes, seeing another person sweating out on the treadmill provides motivation enough to start working out. The air filled with the sound of active gym machines, heavy breathing, all contributes in putting yourself in the exercise mood. All this is absolutely absent at home. In fact, the home atmosphere is exactly opposite to that in the gym. Home has a relaxed atmosphere, an air of safety, almost like a warm bath after an exhausting work day. It takes you as far away as possible from the exercise mood.

There is nothing to distract you from your exercises at home and so far so that is a good thing. But there is a flip side to this coin. We humans are social beings and yearn for some sort of connection with fellow humans. Such interactions keep us healthy and prevent boredom in our lives. Thus, workout at home can easily become boring sessions and that can encourage discontinuation.

Workout at home requires certain exercise equipment like a treadmill, stationary bike, dumbbells and other paraphernalia. The problem with such equipment is that it requires substantial space to keep them. Even if you have adopted a no machine workout type like yoga, you still need enough space to stretch your whole body. Thus, workout at home requires space and not many of us have adequate space in our homes. Especially those living in apartments in urban areas.

Despite all the convenience of working out at home, there exist certain situations that make it impossible for you to give an hour and a half every day to yourself for your exercises. Like if you have a toddler to take care of or are entertaining guests for a week or so. Taking care of them takes most of your time and leaves you so exhausted that you do not have the energy to sweat it out. Such an ordeal is not found in the gym as the time you spent there is only meant for workouts.

Gyms provide a professional workout routine and is more effective in terms of results than home workouts. Here are 5 advantages of working out at the gym:

There are many gym machines that you simply cannot keep at home. The reasons are many; they are huge in size, they are too expensive and they cannot be used without professional supervision and help. The advantage of working out in a gym is that you get the facilities provided by these machines and many other amenities. Some exercises cannot be done without machines and in a gym, you can perform every possible workout under the sun. That cannot be said for home workouts.

As already been stated, gyms possess an atmosphere that motivates you to workout. When you look at people focused in their goal to achieve better health, you automatically get inspired to do the same for yourself. You feel you are no longer alone in the quest for a better body and health and that gives you confidence and purpose. Whatever doubts and questions you had regarding exercise, whether they are helpful or just a waste of time, is removed the instant you enter the gym.

Everything considered, time spent at the gym is time well spent. Not only do you workout there but also get to socialize with many different people. Both your body and mind get refreshed and healthy. Furthermore, doing an activity together brings about a sense of community, of doing things together, which tells you that you are not alone. This is an assurance that every one of us need.

In the gym, you workout under the supervision of an expert. The advantage of having an expert on the site is that he/she can point out if you are exercising the wrong way. Adopting and performing a workout routine mindlessly can not only affect your body negatively in the long run but can also cause serious injuries. At home you do not get this professional supervision .

The workout routine that you follow at home is usually inspired from a YouTube video or from an article in a heath magazine or from a suggestion of a friend. These sources provide a general workout routine that may or may not be effective on you. What workout routine is best for you depends upon your body type, body characteristics and measurements and whether there is an underlying physical disorder( asthma, high or low blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid disorder etc.). Thus, a generalised workout routine is unlikely to give much results. In a gym, you can get tailor made workout routines specifically meant for your body type. As such you can get your ideal body in much less time.

Everything is not hunky dory with gyms. There are certain disadvantages too. Here are 5 of them:

A gym membership in India can cost you anywhere between Rs. 500 and Rs. 5,000 a month. Personal trainers and supplements( without them a gym workout is pretty useless) come at additional costs. Branded gyms cost more and how much you ultimately pay for a gym membership depends upon where you stay and what fitness programme you choose. But on the whole gym membership cost dear and is difficult to maintain by people with low salary and people who are financially dependent.

Well, gyms cannot come to you, you have to go to them, and that requires some hours a day to be set aside for your gym workouts. It includes not only the time spent inside the gym establishment but also the time required to commute to and from the gym. With the busy lives that most of us live nowadays, sometimes setting aside that time becomes impossible. So even if we wish to be under a workout routine, time constraint plays a spoilsport.

A gym is a community place and hence it will be crowded. Some gyms are overly crowded, so much so that it becomes difficult to even move about. Also a crowded gym means more noise and more distraction, both of which are not welcome at a time you need to focus. You do not have to face this predicament when you workout at home.

You become prone to injuries when you join a gym. A slip, a misstep can lead to injuries that cause irreversible damage. But these are accidents which are sporadic and preventable. The umbrella term of gym injuries also includes pains erupting in many parts of the body. Sprains, strains, sore muscles will be commonplace especially at the start of your exercise routine, which will be quite annoying in your everyday life.

Gym addiction is an unhealthy obsession with physical fitness and exercise. This obsession can lead you to exercise even when it is harming your body, develop eating disorders and obsess over exercises to the point that you cannot function without working out at least once a day. This happens because exercising releases dopamine and endorphins in our brains, two neuro-chemicals which are released after drug consumption. These chemicals are responsible for making you feel joyous and buoyant. If you get addicted to this feeling, you will keep exercising to trigger that sensation thus leading you deep into the abyss of self – abuse.

This question has a variety of answers and depends entirely upon you. Most of us have both options available to us; we can workout at home as well as the gym, and that makes choosing difficult. The best way to address this issue is by taking into account every detail of the local gym, your lifestyle and your home conditions. This will help you to understand which type of workout will be convenient for you.