Working out at home has it's perks. For starters, it can be quite cost effective. Some gym memberships cost hundreds of dollars a month. Add a year's worth of monthly dues and well, for that price you could have bought all the equipment you need (or at least a good portion of it) for your own gym at home (provided you have the space of course)
Another great reason for working out at home is that it's great for those colder months. Let's face it, who likes to travel out in the blustery cold, Winter months? Let alone going out there to travel to the gym. I don't know about you but I certainly dont. Oh hey! Look, another cost factor..you save on gas because you're not traveling to and from. ;o)
One of my favorite reasons for working out at home is that my gym is always open. I can exercise at 4am or 11pm if I so chose. It's always there waiting for me with open arms. No excuses! I was once notorious for getting up in the early AM and working out in my jammies!! (of course ive since graduated to more technical wick absorbing gear. Ha!) This reason, however, also makes it quite difficult if you lack motivation or discipline. It can be quite tempting to find reasons not to or to get side tracked with errands, chores, etc.
Of course there are some downfalls to having a home gym. For starters, it can get quite costly buying equipment to build your gym with the required tools. It also means that you will need the required space for said tools. Or, you could be like us and fit it in where you can.....
That there above is what I like to call my "cardio corner" (Forgive the rubbermaid containers..they obviously are not cardio equipment..ha) in our basement. It looks awful and cluttered but it's really not that bad. Our treadmill fits just nicely in that corner. And once Poppa Bear gets his "big tool" out of there and Little Bear's bike, well, it is much more open in front of the ol' treadmill. There was a time where this whole section was open and clear (minus my gym equipment) but the Poppa Bear always manages to use that "free" space for other things. Le sigh.....
Alas, I make due with what we have. As long as it gets the job done and I can work around/with it then I'm okay with it. I don't have much room in this area. I can do my cardio on the ol' treadmill and the TV is equiped with a DVD player for videos and such. However, I dont have much space in front of the treadmill for that so I go back a bit and to the right - in front of the washer and dryer actually (about where that ol' club step is) - to get the DVD jobs done. Which brings me to this key point...in front of (and to the side of) the treadmill is prime real estate for weights....
The Poppa Bear and I have quite a few more weights than this. We actually have quite a bit, however, it's upstairs in the spare bedroom/office/gym space. This is the space where the majority of the weight training happens.....
You'll have to forgive us and the clutter that is surrounding. Again, i've cleaned this room out quite a few times but the Poppa Bear seems to just start taking those free spaces and using them for storage. *eye roll*
In one of the corners of this room above, I have my "yoga corner." It just consists of all my yoga equipment, readily available, for when i'm ready to practice. (Ok, so my knee sleeves are in there too. I needed a place to store em and this basket serves the purpose well)
As you can see, we have gym equipment in all areas of the house. Take this pull up bar on the ol door frame of our spare bedroom/office/gym space for example.
Then, of course, we have some fitness dvds, some ankle weights, 3lb. dumbbells, etc. in the Play Room. You know, in case I want to exercise and have to keep an eye on Little Bear. In which case, she exercises with me and enjoys it immensely.
As you can see, we don't necessarily have a home gym area persay but we do have a home gym. Make sense? Ideally, Poppa Bear and I want to clean out the basement and have half of it his tools, etc. area while the other half be our 'gym' and laundry/storage area. We get it that way for maybe a month or two but it always gets all cluttered up and then next thing you know the weight training goes back upstairs and my cardio, well, it's too big to obviously transport. Ha! Eventually, it'll all be designated but for now, it works for us! Sure, there is still a lot of equipment that we need (and some that are still stored because they are not in use right now) but this does it job and makes us both happy.
Do I miss working out at the gym? Sure! I miss the energy and vibe that everyone feeds off of. I miss working out with my commerads and having small competitions. I miss weight training in the gym. Nothing beats a good weight session like one at the gym. Something about it that a home gym just wont do for me. I really, really miss the classes (primarily spin!!) but realistically, it's not doable for me, right now. The classes offered are only available when i'm not and the opening hours don't work for me if/when I switch to early am training. Right here, right now, it's my home gym and i'm okay with that - whether it's in the basement or in the spare bedroom/office/gym space. LOL!
How about you? Do you have a home gym? If so, do you have a designated space? or is it all over the house like us? Prefer to workout at home or in the gym? Why?
Another great reason for working out at home is that it's great for those colder months. Let's face it, who likes to travel out in the blustery cold, Winter months? Let alone going out there to travel to the gym. I don't know about you but I certainly dont. Oh hey! Look, another cost factor..you save on gas because you're not traveling to and from. ;o)
One of my favorite reasons for working out at home is that my gym is always open. I can exercise at 4am or 11pm if I so chose. It's always there waiting for me with open arms. No excuses! I was once notorious for getting up in the early AM and working out in my jammies!! (of course ive since graduated to more technical wick absorbing gear. Ha!) This reason, however, also makes it quite difficult if you lack motivation or discipline. It can be quite tempting to find reasons not to or to get side tracked with errands, chores, etc.
Of course there are some downfalls to having a home gym. For starters, it can get quite costly buying equipment to build your gym with the required tools. It also means that you will need the required space for said tools. Or, you could be like us and fit it in where you can.....
That there above is what I like to call my "cardio corner" (Forgive the rubbermaid containers..they obviously are not cardio equipment..ha) in our basement. It looks awful and cluttered but it's really not that bad. Our treadmill fits just nicely in that corner. And once Poppa Bear gets his "big tool" out of there and Little Bear's bike, well, it is much more open in front of the ol' treadmill. There was a time where this whole section was open and clear (minus my gym equipment) but the Poppa Bear always manages to use that "free" space for other things. Le sigh.....
Alas, I make due with what we have. As long as it gets the job done and I can work around/with it then I'm okay with it. I don't have much room in this area. I can do my cardio on the ol' treadmill and the TV is equiped with a DVD player for videos and such. However, I dont have much space in front of the treadmill for that so I go back a bit and to the right - in front of the washer and dryer actually (about where that ol' club step is) - to get the DVD jobs done. Which brings me to this key point...in front of (and to the side of) the treadmill is prime real estate for weights....
The Poppa Bear and I have quite a few more weights than this. We actually have quite a bit, however, it's upstairs in the spare bedroom/office/gym space. This is the space where the majority of the weight training happens.....
You'll have to forgive us and the clutter that is surrounding. Again, i've cleaned this room out quite a few times but the Poppa Bear seems to just start taking those free spaces and using them for storage. *eye roll*
In one of the corners of this room above, I have my "yoga corner." It just consists of all my yoga equipment, readily available, for when i'm ready to practice. (Ok, so my knee sleeves are in there too. I needed a place to store em and this basket serves the purpose well)
As you can see, we have gym equipment in all areas of the house. Take this pull up bar on the ol door frame of our spare bedroom/office/gym space for example.
Then, of course, we have some fitness dvds, some ankle weights, 3lb. dumbbells, etc. in the Play Room. You know, in case I want to exercise and have to keep an eye on Little Bear. In which case, she exercises with me and enjoys it immensely.
As you can see, we don't necessarily have a home gym area persay but we do have a home gym. Make sense? Ideally, Poppa Bear and I want to clean out the basement and have half of it his tools, etc. area while the other half be our 'gym' and laundry/storage area. We get it that way for maybe a month or two but it always gets all cluttered up and then next thing you know the weight training goes back upstairs and my cardio, well, it's too big to obviously transport. Ha! Eventually, it'll all be designated but for now, it works for us! Sure, there is still a lot of equipment that we need (and some that are still stored because they are not in use right now) but this does it job and makes us both happy.
Do I miss working out at the gym? Sure! I miss the energy and vibe that everyone feeds off of. I miss working out with my commerads and having small competitions. I miss weight training in the gym. Nothing beats a good weight session like one at the gym. Something about it that a home gym just wont do for me. I really, really miss the classes (primarily spin!!) but realistically, it's not doable for me, right now. The classes offered are only available when i'm not and the opening hours don't work for me if/when I switch to early am training. Right here, right now, it's my home gym and i'm okay with that - whether it's in the basement or in the spare bedroom/office/gym space. LOL!
How about you? Do you have a home gym? If so, do you have a designated space? or is it all over the house like us? Prefer to workout at home or in the gym? Why?
Ryan and I got pretty awesome deals for our gym. BUT...we have a treadmill, a few weights, a bike trainer, a cheapo bowflexie like thing and other videos and randoms at home too. During the summer we run outdoors and bike and hike a lot too so we like mixing it up. I love having the gym membership for other weight machines and classes. Plus running on the TM next to a buff dude that's all speedy sure is motivation. :)