I decided we should have a break from the weight loss series before hurtling into the exercise-related posts so I’m entertaining myself with a couple of “top tens”.
I have the joy of having a free-weights gym set up in my garage. For the existence of this I must thank my partner, Chris, who has not only stocked the garage with the basic equipment that we need but also builds new bits of assistance equipment whenever a need arises. He writes about the bits of equipment that he creates on his own blog.
As I was working out the other day it came to me that there are some major benefits to having the gym in my own home. I thought I’d outline my top ten benefits for your consideration (and entertainment).
1. You can wear anything
I am the queen of wearing any old clothes in the gym. Years ago, when I went to a commercial gym, I didn’t worry about what I wore, but I certainly invested in a pile of identical little shorts and t-shirts that didn’t look bad. Now I can be found working out in whatever happens to be to hand.
Every so often, when I can’t find anything, my clothes are reclaimed from the wash basket and smell pretty horrid, but does that really matter if I’m going to be sweating in the garage gym within a few moment anyway?
When the gym is really cold in winder I work out in two pairs of tracksuit bottoms, two jumpers, a hat and scarf. The other day, in comparison, was a scorcher, and it was this that got me thinking about writing this post. As the workout progressed I found my top sticking to me in an unpleasant and distracting way. Eventually, with one workout left to go I decided that the top was restricting my movements, so I took it off. There I was, working out in the gym completely topless with nothing on but a skimpy pair of shorts. In how many gyms could I get away with that?
Wear what you like in the gym
2. You can be barefoot
Working out barefoot is fantastic for good postural health. I’ve not yet come across a commercial gym that allows me to be barefoot and although it is possible to buy shoes that are virtually flat, like Vibrams, nothing beats the freedom of wearing nothing on your feet. At home I can wear nothing on my feet and nobody will say anything.
Workout barefoot!
3. You can multi-task
I often find myself with lots to do in an evening. In particular at the weekends I want to cook a roast dinner during the late afternoon and still need to do my workout. One of the biggest benefits of the home gym is that you can do other things while you do your workout. Between exercises I can put extra items into the oven so that everything is ready to eat at the end of my workout. Alternatively, I can get the washing folded while I work, folding a t-shirt or pairing up socks during each rest period. In fact, some of my best performances happen when I’ve distracted my mind between sets by doing a mundane chore.
Cook up a roast dinner while you work
4. You don’t get stared at or asked on dates
Sometimes, as a woman in the weights area of a gym, you get stared at. Especially from men who either feel threatened by you or who are just curious about the spectacle of a woman in an area of the gym that is often treated as a male-only domain. At home there’s nobody distracting you by staring and nobody commenting on what you do. Last time I was working out in a hotel gym I was irritated by a man who spent the last couple of exercises in my workout trying to chat me up. At home I get peace and quiet unless Chris decides to come and chat me up of course (which is most often in danger of happening if I’m topless – see point 1)!
5. You can workout any time
If you use a commercial gym you can only go when the gym is open. Last week I worked late and didn’t finish my workout until after 10pm. At the other extreme I once did a workout at 4.30am because I was awake and knew I had a very busy day ahead of me and an evening event that was going to prevent me doing a workout after work.
6. The equipment is (nearly) always free
Unless Chris and I have incompatible workouts, I never have to wait for someone else to finish with any equipment. Even better, I can set up the weights for a whole superset circuit and move between pieces of equipment without feeling guilty that I’m taking up more than one piece of equipment or worrying that someone else will de-rack the bar while my back is turned.
7. You have the equipment you want
The work gym has a rack of dumbbells but nothing resembling a barbell, not even a Smith machine. My workouts require dumbbells, a bar, a pile of plates and a bench. By being at home we can concentrate the money that we aren’t paying out in gym membership fees on buying the pieces of equipment we need without tripping over machines we don’t want.
8. You can listen to music you like
When I used a commercial gym I briefly tried using headphones and a personal walkman before getting frustrated by the wires and the discomfort of the headphones stuffed in my ears. Instead I was subjected to whatever music the gym wanted to play. Now I can put on any music I like. I even listen to radio plays if there’s a good one on. The difference is that there’s no headphones and the sound is playing on a big stereo at whatever volume I want.
9. You can use chalk
I don’t use chalk often, but when it’s particularly hot I find that even in gloves I can’t get a decent grip. Commercial gyms that allow chalk are rare but at home I can chalk up as much as I like and I don’t even have to spend hours cleaning chalk of the equipment afterwards.
Sometimes gloves don't do the trick
10. Friends can come and workout with you (or chat with you while you workout) without buying a gym membership
Every so often family or friends come to stay with us for the weekend. When that happens we can still get our workouts done. Sometimes the people staying will come and workout with us, at other times they’ll come and sit in the gym and chat to us while we workout. If we used a commercial gym we would either have to abandon our weekend workouts or our friends would have to pay a gym membership to join us for a workout.
Related posts:
Top ten problems with a home gym // Jun 9, 2010 at 21:03
[...] thought I’d balance the books out this week. Last week I did a post of my top ten reasons to have a home gym. This week I’ll cover some reasons why it can be a [...]