Ask Lemmy

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.

Gym membership where I live is cheap. Like it would take years of monthly gym payments to equal the cost of a good set of weights and stuff to work out with. Husband has a lot of free weights so I do lift at home but do yoga at a studio, and when I did use the gym, I took aerobic dance classes, did stairmaster and watched people lift weights, used machines and lifted weights myself and didn't have to take up half the bedroom with weights.

I personally enjoy going someplace to work out a lot more than doing it at home, but I do both.

Clothes don't matter, don't you have any loose shorts? That's what I see guys wearing at the gym, they are probably like $5 at Walmart.

ETA: on your actual question yes home workout can be effective, of course. Plenty of people do fine just going out for a run and doing some pushups, pullups, unweighted squats, planks, etc; and yes I enjoy more going to the gym, and once there, will work out - at home always something else needs to be done and it's harder to focus.

I throughly enjoy my time at the gym. 6 days a week I lift weights, run or swim a little, and then soak in a hot tub.

I’ve found that it makes me feel better, and not just physically. I’m less stressed with regular exercise than I was without it.

It’s also time I get to spend totally alone. Yes, other people are around, but I have headphones on and don’t have to talk to anyone. I teach for a living, and so it’s just nice to have a little time each day where I don’t have to be “on.”

Seeing yourself get stronger is also feels fantastic in ways that I don’t think really make sense until you do it. I could only bench 95 lbs when I first started lifting; now I’m pushing 225. That’s something I’m proud of.

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.

Figuring out what to do is a big part of the challenge for me too. I workout at home and follow video guided exercises using the Fiton App which is free for most content. I started with no weights, but have since gotten a few sets of dumbbells at different weights.

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.

Build one of these out of old pallets, concrete and other scrap stuff

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.

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.

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.

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