Should You Invest in a Gym Membership or Just Work It At Home? Pros/Cons List

GYM-MEMBERSHIP-HAVING: PROS

• Getting “skin in the game” by making the financial investment
• Mirrors to be able to check form
• Focused environment, free of distractions at home
• Access to a wide variety of equipment
• Group fitness classes
• Motivation to push yourself – positive peer pressure/inspiration
• Access to special perks at select gyms: childcare, pools, saunas

GYM-MEMBERSHIP-HAVING: CONS

• Can be costly
• May be inconvenient
• Time lost parking, waiting for equipment, and commuting
• Lots of germs!
• Some may experience gymtimidation and not feel that positive peer pressure
• Crowd averse people may want to avoid busy times

WORK IT AT HOME: PROS

• Convenient
• Time saving – if you maintain boundaries with yourself and housemates to limit distraction
• Money saving
• If investing in personal equipment, you can decide what you want
• Privacy to do whatever you want/dress however/still be unshowered without worrying about your stank or what people think

WORK IT AT HOME: CONS

• Storing home workout equipment
• Making space for workouts
• Distractions of home life
• Limited by lack of equipment access

As you were reading through all of these… I flatter myself, but even just perusing the list you could probably tell how some things don’t actually count as pros or cons to you. When weighing things out don’t include those points or switch them to the appropriate category for you. There are also ways to mitigate cons on either list and find a creative solution that works better for you. For example, jogging or biking to the gym can serve as a warm up or an extension of your workout, essentially eliminating the time cost from the cons list!

It may have been better to start with this point, but you do not need access to a gym or any equipment to get a great workout. If you like a gym’s perks but are being more frugal (like I am, saving money for a downpayment on a house!) there are ways to get gym-like benefits at home. I’ll share a couple of examples. To free up time for yourself to sanely get regular workouts in, you could invest even part of your gym membership budget towards help around the house or a babysitter. Another way to invest that money into your health is getting some more home equipment. If you’re not using other perks of a gym like sauna, group classes, etc, you’re essentially just renting access to equipment. This is similar to renting an apartment versus buying a house. Any equipment you purchase is yours for as long as it lasts! Last but obviously I do not think it’s least* – you can seek out help from an online personal trainer or a come-to-you trainer versus joining a gym soley for trainer access or for getting skin in the game.