I 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 problem.
1. Nobody to spot you
On some exercises I improve best if I really push myself almost to failure. The biggest problem I face from that is that I am risk averse. If I’m not convinced that I can get another rep out and there’s nobody to help me get out from under the bar if I do fail, I’ll take the route of least risk and not even try. A good example of this is the bench press workout that I did a few weeks ago.
2. No social aspect
If you are a member of a commercial gym you meet people there. It’s a good thing not to have people trying to chat you up all the time at home, but there are also the nice people who you meet each week and slowly get to know. You start to build a bit of camaraderie and arrange to go to the gym at similar times when possible.
Your gym may run classes or boot-camps where you can meet like-minded people and over time the gym could become an important part of your social calendar.
3. Nobody to create a competitive challenge
I benefit from sharing the gym with Chris. When you see someone lifting something heavier than you it is a silent challenge to lift as heavily as you can. For me, I see Chris lifting a certain number of reps and I feel challenged to complete more reps than he did (there’s no way that I can lift the same weight that he moves). Similarly, if you go to a commercial gym and see someone lift something your instinct should kick in and you’ll try to do better than them.
Unless, like me, you share your home gym with someone, you will find this competitive element missing. The only person you can compete against is yourself.
4. You can multi-task
I put multi-tasking in last week as one of the benefits of having a home gym. Unfortunately it can also be a problem. If the phone keeps ringing or you’re trying to do too many things at once you stop focussing enough effort on your workout. You distract yourself too much and cease to maximise on your time in the gym. In the end you don’t get as good a workout as you would have done if you had focussed all your efforts on doing your lifts to the best of your ability.
I’ve found that there is a fine line between benefitting from multi-tasking and impeding the quality of your workout. Most of the time, thanks to a few years of experience, I get it right now, but sometimes I get it wrong and then I pay the price.
5. You don’t get stared at
This point is a bit like the competitive challenge point. While being stared at as a woman in the “men’s” section of the gym can be irritating at times, it can also be a bonus. If you think someone is watching you and judging you there is a desire to impress. Suddenly you try to get perfect form and lift something heavy for as many reps or sets as possible. You want to prove a point.
Yes, it can be nice to be in the peace and solitude of your personal gym, but perhaps you would lift even better if someone was staring at you?
6. Limited variety of equipment
Thankfully I’m not endlessly tripping over collections of machines at home, but what about rest weeks? In a rest week (or when you’re just having a bad day in the gym) you want to have a go at something different – try out some new exercises you’ve not tried before, perhaps using equipment you don’t usually use. If you are stuck in your home gym the equipment is limited to the equipment you usually use and which you have therefore bought. Unless you have lots of spare cash you are unlikely to go and buy a new piece of equipment without knowing that you will get plenty of use out of it.
7. You don’t have tidy up after yourself
You might think it’s a benefit to not have to tidy up after yourself in the gym but it’s not. Yes, I don’t have to bother cleaning chalk off the bar but it is one of the most irritating things in the world to go into the gym busting to start a workout and having to spend the first 5 minutes de-racking all the equipment that you left scattered round the gym at the end of your last workout because you were completely shattered and couldn’t be bothered. If you feel like that at the commercial gym and just leave the bar covered in plates, one of the personal trainers or employees will clear the bar ready for the next person (unless it’s so busy that the next person jumps straight in).
Fancy walking into the gym to squat and being faced with this?
Chris and I go through phases of tidying up and not tidying up the gear. The most frustrating thing is when we’re out of sync and one person clears the bar at the end of a workout and then goes into the gym the next time to find the bar loaded up with the wrong plates again.
8. Nobody to watch your form
I find it invaluable having Chris around to come and watch my form sometimes and make sure I’m still doing things well. But what if you are on your own? There’s nobody to check on your form, give you ideas of something to try, to show you exactly what you are doing wrong. Either you have to film yourself and pay for some personal coaching online, or you need to find a friend who is prepared to come and train in your gym with you every so often.
9. Um…..
10. No. I could only come up with eight cons. It seems the pros have won.
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