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Are Home Gyms Worth It? Ask a PT

In our last blog post, we discussed how to get a six-pack quickly according to science. This week, we’re asking, “Are home gyms worth it?”.

Are Home Gyms Worth It?

Question: I don’t like the idea of exercising in a commercial gym, would it be a good idea to invest in a home gym instead?

Answer: I have often fantasised about owning a home gym. The idea of having all the equipment at my disposal and training at a time that suits me is appealing. But, I know that if I ever purchased a home gym, it would be a waste of money. Not because home gyms are bad, but because I would not use it.

See, whether you use a home gym or not is all about your mentality. There are many people reading this right now who may be thinking to themselves “If I had a home gym I’d get in amazing shape.”

To those people, I say:

Do 10 push ups now

If you put your phone down/walked away from your computer and did 10 push ups then you probably DO have the mentality to own a home gym and get good results. If you didn’t, then think why that is.

It’s because convenience is not a factor in whether you train or not. If it was, then the exercise bike I bought during Covid would have been used more than 5 times in the 3 years I owned it.

For many people, the act of travelling to the gym or sports field is a crucial step in the process. When I close my front door and walk to the car I have made a contract with myself that I will exercise.

I have no other options. I’m in my workout gear and I am travelling towards the gym. I COULD go to the pub instead. But this has only happened once in 14 years (hell of a day though).

A Thousand Distractions

At home, there are a thousand distractions that can stop me exercising before I start. There’s the sneaky distractions: “I’ll just do the washing up instead, that way I’m still being productive” and there’s the honest distractions “I’m going to spend 9 hours playing on my PS4 instead”.

But worst of all, there is no need to schedule a home workout. I can just say that I’ll train when I feel like it. This is a problem, because I will NEVER feel that I want to exercise more than I want to sit down and watch YouTube.

If you are currently not exercising, then there is a CHANCE that a home gym could help you, but in my experience it won’t. As I alluded to earlier, you don’t actually need any equipment to exercise, so why aren’t you doing it already?

Instead of spending $10k on fancy equipment, why not try performing 3 sets of 10 push ups per day for 20 days in your house? If you manage this then you will probably benefit from a home gym, as you have proven that the only thing stopping your success is access to equipment.

If you don’t manage to do this for 20 days, then ask yourself whether things will really change once you’ve spent a lot of money on fancy equipment?

There Are Hundreds of “Used – Like New” Cross-Trainers on Facebook Marketplace

Please understand, I am not judging you here. I AM you in this scenario. I’ve owned dumbbells, barbells, boxing equipment, push-up stands, exercise bikes, and two different pull-up bars. But they’re all gone now. Because I cannot exercise at home. Instead, I joined a gym, started playing football twice a week, and I never miss a session. The act of booking in a match or setting aside time in my schedule to go to the gym helps keep me disciplined.

There are hundreds of thousands of “used – like new” cross-trainers and treadmills out there on eBay and Facebook that demonstrate that home gyms are not for everyone.

If you feel that you are one of the minority that can avoid the traps of training at home. Then by all means go for it. But try the push-ups first, because you may well be better suited to a gym membership.

Also, gyms aren’t anywhere near as scary as you think they are. I’ve trained hundreds of clients and most said “I was really worried about coming to the gym, but actually it’s fine”. Sign up for a month and see how it goes.

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