Ask Lemmy

I went to the gym for a couple years and managed to increase my PR's consistently and doubled my bodyweight at the same bf %.

Then i decided i was disciplined enough for a homegym as the gym attracted a crowd of generic fools instead of the old club of bodybuilders and powerlifters....i wasn't disciplined enough.

I really need that: "since i'm already here, might as well go balls to the wall".

My old gym cost about €13, now generic shit gyms cost more than twice as much. I won't be going back at those prices because food and rent also tripled, i don't grow money from a tree or something.

You can do this at home. Everything here is under 2000 dollars spent total because we bought from bankrupted gyms liquidating during covid and a couple home gym people after covid who preferred going to a gym and were offloading equipment for next to nothing.

Outdated pic but same rack today:

You need the space to begin with, but besides the rowers (can be stored vertically) and rack, the space waste isn't that huge. George Hackenschmidt's abridged/edited down by me workout routine is pinned to my back wall there. An old world strong man from an era before steroids existed. He didn't do focused muscle training, instead all-round balanced and, this is key, a very minimal amount of equipment is needed. You can look up how he looked, I think it's aesthetically pleasing.

But yeah that's really it. Lift heavy things, row, and I run or bike. I do not enjoy it. I don't pretend to. I'm not doing this for enjoyment, I'm a big nerd who never enjoyed physical activity ever. It's simply to stay in good shape because that was noticeably slipping in my 30's.

So I'm doing this entirely out of self preservation. Importantly, I also do Yoga. Flexibility is important too.

Gyms are indeed predatory with their obnoxious membership programs and cancelation antics. I'm lucky to have some space in my ugly basement.

I'm the most clown show gym goer ever. I started late, with a huge physical deficit...

I workout in swim clothes, with flip flops, my gym bag is a canvas grocery bag.

• I go to the gym itself, with a friend
• Do cardio to get the heart rate up to 120ish bpm (5m)
• Target a muscle group until its sore (legs, upper body, back, etc) (55m)
• Hit the sauna after the gym (swim clothes)
• Swim after the sauna (swim clothes)

The important thing is to build a routine, or even a sense of community, I've gain a bunch of muscle and lost 45kg going to the gym - people are super supportive, everyone at the gym wants to get better, and they love to help other people get better.

The gym isn't enjoyable usually, not exactly, but you can develop this love hate relationship with low level soreness and if everything is feeling great you start to think "I need to go to the gym".

What is enjoyable

• Having a routine you can be proud of
• Seeing metrics improve
• Feeling the "soreness" of accomplishment
• Meeting other people who give you positive feedback about your effort/progress
• Jumping into a cold pool after a hot sauna - this is so good

Depends how consistently I've been going. Early on I'll pick majority muscles like bi/triceps, glutes, pecs, or abs to break them into work out routine. Like I'll pick 3 and wear them out because that easy to do early on. As conditioning kicks in over the weeks then I can pick 2 category for a day like chest/abs, arms/legs, shoulders/back, etc so that more specific muscles get trained.

When I was working out regularly I'll say that home workouts are great. I didn't have the equipment or weights at the gym but dumbbells can be used to target very specific muscles that won't get in the way of next two workouts days

Very good questions. I think the primary is that some form of workout is very important to your overall health, and you should just pick which type of workout works for you in the long run.

It doesn't really matter if you get a home gym, or go to parks, or to a gym, as long as you are consistent and have fun. For many people, the gym is intimidating, they might be better off with a home gym. I find the place semi-social, which means I get distracted by people watching, but don't have to chat with anyone. Works for me.

The key, I think, is to shift from "I can do all of that at home" to "I will do all of that at home." An insane number of home treadmills and exercise bikes collect dust because the mind is willing, but the flesh lazy. I love the distraction, others love the camaraderie or the friendships you make at a gym. They push you to go even when you don't feel like it, and that's the important part.

Just go and do whatever you feel like. Eventually you will set up a routine and might even get into science based optimisations. Don’t overthink it. Doing anything is better than doing nothing.

Not that I liked the gym, but for lazy people like me it's way easier than figuring that shit out on my own. There was a trainer who made a plan of which exercises to do when. And there were special machines for training different muscle groups that were very easy to use. You'd visit a lot of those machines after eachother and do for instance 3 sets of moving the weight 10 times up and down again. And apart from that there were the threadmills etc.

Now I don't know about you, but I don't have threadmills in my house, nor any of the other equipment, nor someone who knows enough about fitness to know what exercises would help me best.

That being said, I never liked it, I prefer to just start with something and keep doing that same thing for an hour or so. Currently I've been running multiple times a week for a few years already. Way cheaper and it also works better for me.

Run on a treadmill and lift some weights?

Yes, that is exactly what you do at a gym.

I feel like I could do all of that at home. Gym memberships are insanely expensive.

Absolutely correct.

Are home workouts actually effective?

Yes.

Does one even enjoy gym time?

Yes.

Sounds like you need sports as a conduits for your work out.

This is my gym. The bar was picked out of the trash and it was an old broomstick someone used as a fire poker.

With body weight exercises and a small weight set you can make from junk, you can get an amazing body.

You start very light, and you just take baby steps from there, I can help you build a routine.

Most of the YouTube people are way too hyper focused on 'blasting' this and that, really you just need to do some simple exercises.

Yes, because a lack of a pair of shorts and tshirt are the reasons why. /s

Have a home gym don't have a treadmill or stationery bicycle, to me that is weird, I can run around outside and I have a bike that i ride regularly. That said, decent gym equipment is expensive.

Im 58, I've been lifting weights since I was 17, (with some breaks) for me it's more like meditation. You can't win at it and it's not a game. My parter lifts with me, she said she likes it, so i will take her at her word.

There's any number of studies showing how good resistance training is for you, especially as you age.

Henry Rollins did the best reason why.

If you're wondering what the point is, you can just go to one and ask for a tour.

I pay $65 a month for a membership to my local YMCA mainly so I can use the pool.

Gym memberships are insanely expensive

Wait until you see the price of weight plates and dumbbells.

You go to the gym to work out. You clearly don’t know how to work out, so go watch some exercise guides on YouTube.

First I unpack my tripod, mobile phone and water bottle and set them into position in the most annoying direction possible. Then i hit record. Pump some irons getting upset at each and every passer by as it's obviously about me not them. All the while intermittently berating those stupid Nord, Beton and Thalmor wannabes as inferior chuds to my faithful Khajiit follower's. Then I strike some epic posses, admiring my strikingly beautiful ears, furs and tail. Of course I check the phone to make sure my benevolent masses of one follower shower me with praises. Thanks mom!

People don't have space for a home gym, so it's either pay the membership fee, or don't work out.

As a person who never goes to the gym and doesn't have a home gym either, are you trolling?

I mean, I guess it depends. I row often, and I don't wanna do it in a gym, so I purchased a rower. But if I didn't want to spend the ~$800 on a nice Concept 2 rower, a gym membership for $20/mo would give me about about 3.25 years of rowing before I hit the cost of the rower. Then I also get access to every other machine they offer, free weights, other amenities such as pool and basketball court, classes they offer, trainer access (probably not great but better than winging it). That may be valuable to you or it may not, but it's an option. You could run on a treadmill or lift weights at home, if you purchased the items. Sure, running outside is free and you can pick up/put down stuff whenever, but weather gets in the way, and unbalanced or unwieldy weight isn't always safe.

Home workouts can be effective and many make it work, but some people like/need the separation. Sometimes when I get home, if I sit down, I'm just not gonna get up and workout at that point. Stopping at a gym in the way home gives a clear delineation between still working physically and being done with your days work when you get home. Or if they go in the morning, I can't row at odd hours I may want to because of neighbors (it's not quiet). I can go to some gyms at 5am or 2am if I really wanted to, where I couldn't currently at home.

you use the stuff that you can’t reasonably have a whole separate collection of. Weight machines, swimming pool, etc.

It also provides a place and time to do group fitness activities.

Here's another place you can ask !fitness@lemmy.world

You should exercise but you don’t have to do it at a gym. The weather is lovely right now (depending on where you live), go run around a park. You can do free yoga classes at home.

Exercise doesn’t need to be expensive if you can’t or don’t want to pay for it. I got a lot of mileage out of running around a park and throwing Olympic rings over a tree to do bodyweight exercises.

Nowadays I love the gym though, I go several times a week and use stuff I just don’t have space for or can’t afford.

I loathe gyms, they are usually full of smelly obnoxious people.

The alternate I found is putting on running shoes, headphones, and go outside.

You're absolutely correct that you can do all that at home. Will you? I find that going to a place puts me in the right state of mind to do the thing. They do have a lot of equipment available, but you can mostly replace it at low cost by running outdoors or buying a few dumbells.

Likewise for the costume - when I started going, I was very worried about making sure I had gym shorts and running shoes and a sweat wicking shirt and a gym bag. I got that stuff and it did help, just mentally put me into the place for it. But after a while I realized I could just go in casual clothes (though my gym bans jeans) and it's fine. Up to you what's more motivating - workout clothes or reducing friction by wearing what you've got.

jeans and a t shirt pretty much daily

Not great but acceptable gym garb.

I feel like I could do all of that at home.

You could do it at home with light weights. But heavier weights and equipment are really expensive and otherwise problematic to keep at home. Also, I find that there's something about being at the gym that makes it easier for me to work out. I did home workouts during covid but it just wasn't the same and I didn't get as good of a workout.

Also gym membership prices vary widely. Planet Fitness if you have one near you at least used to be as cheap as $10/month. Ignore anyone who says it's not a real gym, it's good enough for like 99% of people.YMCAs and other community centers tend to be on the cheaper side.

I never liked gyms. I get great workouts at home with a little open floor space and a stationary bike.

To answer the title question, you work out your body. That specifics of that question highly depends on your current situation. Like age, current fitness level, what you are training for (strength, cardio, weight loss, etc), and what you have access to.

The first visit to a gym could be free. Or it can be a "a current member can bring one friend for free once a month" thing. You can just go and check what's out there. Most people probably just lift weights or use the machines that they don't have and don't want to buy at home. There's also the factor that if you're at the gym, you're there to work out. When you're at home, you can be distracted by whatever.

Run on a treadmill and lift some weights?

Yup.

Gym memberships are insanely expensive. Are home workouts actually effective?

They can be. Depends in your goals and all that. Home gyms require space and money up front.

I've been following this routine for a while at home. It's been pretty good. I initially started with their 3 day a week dumbbell exercises.

https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/6-day-dumbbell-only-workout

I've also probably spent over $1.5k on a quality bench and adjustable dumbbells. A far cry from what you can use at a gym, but it's good enough for me.

You can probably buy some cheap weights to start out and then move on from there.

Also, don't expect immediate results. Give it a solid 3 months.

That's a lot of questions, but I'll try.

What do you do at a gym? Use dedicated equipment to lift weights and build strength, work with a coach to help set workouts, and workout with other people who have the same goals.

A gym membership can be a way to meet other people and build community. If you see the same 5 people regularly due to similar gym schedules, you might build some friendships.

Primarily a gym can become a place where you are expected to exercise, so you're more likely to do it. If you have a treadmill and some dumbbells in your bedroom, your brain might not give you the motivation needed to use the equipment. You might hop on for 5 minutes, but then get distracted and stop using it. But if you traveled 20 minutes to a dedicated exercise location, then you're much less likely to stop and leave right away.

So what do you do? Well, depends on what your goals are. Did you want to get healthier? Some cardio where you get your heart rate up improves your cardiovascular health. Lifting weights, can help build muscle and bone health, which would make it much less likely to be injured, and much more likely to recover from an injury quicker.

If you can motivate yourself to workout at home, and if you can find a good routine that meets your goals, you can certainly do that all at home, even without much equipment at all. The problem is, are you actually doing what you need to do, or are you just moving around and wasting time with little actual effect? A coach that knows what their doing would be able to help you actually use your time.