Why Build a Home Gym? 7 Reasons Home Gyms are Better Than Gym Memberships!
Maybe you have been there before…
You feel guilty because you know you should get more exercise.
So you go to the gym, sit down with some pushy salesman who somehow convinces you to buy a membership because it’s such a great deal and they have a limited time offer and blah blah blah…
So you go for a while, maybe a month, before you decide you hate it and stop going.
Now you feel even more guilty because now, not only are you NOT getting exercise, but you wasted money on that gym membership.
But who can blame you for your dislike of the gym, really?
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- You have to drive there (gas and wear to your car).
- You can only work out when the gym is open, not on your schedule.
- You must wait for the equipment that other people have sweat all over.
- Listen to and watch other people grunt, listen to annoying music and be loudmouths.
- Get stared at and judged by others.
The fact that you do not want to go to the gym is totally understandable.
But since you don’t want to spend your life with the shape and energy level of an overstuffed baked potato, getting some exercise NEEDS to happen in your life!
You came here for my opinion, and I am going to give it to you.
Here are my Top 7 benefits of home gyms.
1. No Excuses & No More Zero Days
Why build a home gym? Because a home gym means you have no more excuses for doing nothing.
Every day can be a Non-Zero day if you have a gym, or even just a modest collection of fitness equipment like a cardio machine and a few weights.
What is a Non-Zero day?
Basically, you have a goal, and you do something, however small it may be, towards that goal each day.
Having your own home gym vs a commercial gym, eliminates all excuses. Even if it is a cheat day, you can still go to your in-home exercise sanctuary and bang out a few bench presses, or kettlebell swings.
Even 5 minutes on the treadmill is better than nothing.
Everyone has days they just don’t feel like exercising. It happened to the best of us.
If you have a day like this, a home gym can save the day. Just tell yourself “OK, self, you can skip your planned workout, if you just do one thing in that gym of yours, so you can make it a non-zero day”.
Who knows, maybe that push is all you need to get a full workout done, and even if you don’t, you still made it a non-zero day.
You will feel better about doing something, and that positive energy will give you the momentum to continue reaching for your goal.
2. Party of One, Your Gym is Waiting
One of the best benefits of a home gym is that having your own means NO MORE WAITING AROUND!
Some of the worst things about commercial gyms are:
- Trying to determine if the equipment is being used by someone.
- Trying to figure out when that person will be done.
- Needing to ask someone if you can work in with them.
- Changing your planned workout or not getting what you want to accomplish at all because all the equipment you needed was occupied.
- Wasting your precious time waiting for others to finish their sets.
3. Can We Get a Little Privacy Here?
Nobody starts out ripped and buff, except Arnold. He was probably born that way.
But for the rest of us mere mortals, it’s just not the case.
It’s a fact:
People with great bodies have already been working out a while.
It can be intimidating and demotivating to work out beside people who have years of experience and hot bods to show for it.
Maybe going to the gym makes you feel inadequate or embarrassed, so you just don’t want to go at all.
Having some trouble at first is completely normal. You won’t be able to deadlift 200 pounds on your first try.
Building a home gym will give you the privacy you need to feel comfortable learning.
You won’t have to worry about prying, judge eyes, from those super buff seasoned lifters.
Privacy can encourage you to try new exercises without feeling like all eyes are on you, waiting for you to do it wrong.
New exercises pave the way to a better physique, and those two things lead to increased confidence.
4. Do it on Your Own Time!
When are you free to workout? What does your work schedule look like?
If you work odd hours, or swing shifts, good luck finding a gym that will be open when you finally have the time to get there.
With a home gym, the hours are whenever you want them to be.
If you can only work out at midnight, or at five AM before you get ready for work, great news!
With a home gym, you can do that!
If you have a busy day and only have time to get a quick 10 minutes in between errands, you’re free to do that.
You can work out whenever you want!
Creating a home gym makes working out more convenient.
If you have too much going on to get to the gym, there is no excuse to neglect your health and fitness.
A home gym will allow you to take control of your fitness and reach your goals, on your own time.
5. How Not to Waste 1000’s of Dollars a Year
Want to know how not to waste 1000’s of dollars a year lining some other Joe’s Pockets?
The average gym goer spends anywhere between $40 and $150 a month on their gym membership, and that doesn’t include startup fees.
Altogether, you’re looking at $1,000 a year or more to belong to a gym.
If you belong to a CrossFit box, those fees are even higher, as must as 200 dollars or more. You can build your own CrossFit gym for the price of a one-year membership!
How much do you spend on gas to travel back and forth from the gym?
What about time wasted sitting in traffic?
Do you buy a bottle of water or a snack while you’re there?
The costs of a commercial gym add up pretty fast!
It’s far more worthwhile to invest in your own gym equipment. Sturdy equipment can last you decades.
Even if you invest $5,000 in gym equipment, it’s still worth it in the long run, because you’ll never have to spend that money again.
You might pay $5,000 for a gym membership for 3 or 4 years, while a home gym can last a lifetime.
Plus…
A home gym does not need to cost $5,000 dollars. A home gym can be built for much less.
A home gym can be as simple as an exercise machine to shed fat and a cage, power rack or rig with a barbell and weight set and maybe some special gym flooring.
You won’t be paying exorbitant sums of money over time to lay on a bench that’s covered in a total stranger’s back sweat. Ewww!
Everything you pay for is yours alone, and you can use it whenever you want.
6. Have it Your Way!
A gym is designed to appeal to the public en masse and therefore is equipped with generalized “vanilla” equipment.
It’s one size fits most fitness solution, but that size may not fit you.
When you’re working out, you have the opportunity to create a custom body. Focus more on areas you want to bulk up, and less on areas you want to slim down.
You have a vision for what you want your body to look like, and you deserve to be able to execute that vision.
There’s no guarantee that a gym you sign up for would be equipped with the right machines, weights or cardio options to help you with your goals.
This is especially true if you want to focus mostly on things like core strength and leg strength, you may be out of luck. In fact, if the gym has more than one squat rack, it’s better than most.
Most gyms offer some very basic cardio equipment, and the majority of the other equipment will generally be aimed at upper body strength.
With your own home gym, you’ll also be able to do things for as long as you want, in whatever order you please.
Bounce from exercise to exercise on your own timetable. You won’t have to wait for anyone to move out of the way.
You don’t have to share anything with anyone.
You can do whatever you want, whenever you want to do it, and get the experience you desire.
7. Always the Perfect Fit
You will never outgrow your own home gym because you create it custom tailored to your own needs and can make changes as you go.
Since gyms are for the herds and masses, they’re equipped with what the mass crowds generally want.
If you’re only doing basic lifts and using simple equipment, that’s going to get old after a while.
More than that…
Some gyms and gym goers are way over-focused on the upper body while neglecting legs.
When you build your own home gym, you can make sure you do not neglect your legs.
When you are ready to level up on your fitness journey, upping the intensity and using heavier weights, a commercial gym may not be able to accommodate your needs when you get to that point.
That leaves you with three options – either stop going, try to switch to a specialty gym that can keep up with you or plan your own home gym!
Canceling your membership might waste money, and you may have to pay for the remainder of your contract anyway.
Specialty gyms tend to cost even more money than commercial cookie cutter style gyms.
Rather than going that route, you’re better off just investing in weights, a rack and more heavy duty equipment for your home gym.
Since you’re going at your own pace and you’ll have more time to work out when your equipment is at home, you’ll see the results faster than you may expect.
Once you know what your personal goals are, setting up a home gym is easy and efficient.
You’d be surprised how much money you’ll save in the long run, and how much simpler it is to work out on your own schedule, at your own pace, and on your own property.
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