The Home Gym?

Editor’s Note:  This is a guest post from Josh, founder of Foundations Training in New York.  Josh has been reading Consumer Reports and comparison shopping since he was about 13.  He first entered the business world in junior high school when he began buying candy in bulk and trading it for people’s lunch money to finance his obsession with gadgets.  He’s been a personal trainer in New York for about the last five years and recently went into business for himself.  Hopefully he’ll be stopping by from time to time to give us a New York spin on fitness and/or frugality.  Check out his site and stop by his new fitness blog.

So we all know that the economy is in the toilet.   People are tightening their budgets and at some point they might ask, “Is my gym membership worth having or could I workout at home?”  A few factors go into this, your workout tendencies, the current cost of your gym, and your available space (you need less than you think for a home gym).

As a personal trainer, my advice is to choose a setup that will encourage you to work out the most.  With medical advances, we will be living longer and longer so it is imperative we take care of our bodies.  So ask yourself, “What are my workout tendencies?” And be honest.   If the daunting trek to the gym keeps you from working out, you might use a home gym more.  If you are the type of person who needs to leave the house and its distractions to be productive, keeping a gym membership might be the better option.   

I live in New York and have a 20 minute subway commute to the gym with a 15 minute walk to top it off.   An  hour workout is actually over a 2 hour commitment with commute.  Even though I am a personal trainer, you can probably imagine that any time or weather-based excuse I can conjure keeps me from the gym.  

The next consideration is the current cost of your gym.   Some people have incredible deals through work or a college rec center and pay sometimes less than $20 a month.  That is a great deal…if you are using it.  If it isn’t convenient and you never go, it doesn’t matter if you are paying $5 a month, it is wasted money.   My girlfriend was paying $40 at the YMCA which she never used.  I know others who pay $150 for a swanky New York gym that they use once a week.  Not a great move.  

So the cost of your current gym needs to be considered against the cost of setting up a home gym.  In my opinion, you need adjustable dumbbells (up to 50 lbs for most men or 25 for most women), an adjustable pullup bar (this one allows you to “work up” to a pullup if these are difficult for you), and a bench or stability ball.   Be sure to check craig’s list, ebay, overstock, and amazon, all of which frequently have sales or free shipping offers that will enable you to cut costs.   In my opinion, anything you need to do can be done with this equipment.  I also got a series of workout videos called P90X (yes, the ones from TV, don’t judge me until you’ve tried them).   It includes 12 workouts that combine core work, kickboxing, yoga, weight training, and cardio on a rotating basis.   Warning: these videos are not for the faint of heart; they will kick your butt.  There are several exercises that I can barely do, yet alone make it through with grace and ease.   I highly recommend them, and I was able to get them for half their retail value by buying them on ebay.   If the videos aren’t your style, I still recommend researching working out with dumbbells.  There are countless exercises you can do with a set of adjustable dumbbells, and a book or online resource will expand your current possibilities and keep your workouts challenging and engaging.

I was able to find dumbbells and a bench on craig’s list for $100, bought the videos for $55 on ebay, and got the pullup bar with ab straps for $75, making my grand total spent $230.  I have had this setup for over a month now and without having to make the commute to the gym,  I have increased my workouts from 2 per week to 6 per week.  My neighbor also works out with me and my girlfriend uses the system as well, so the total cost per person is just over $75, which is only 1.5 months of our normal gym membership costs.  And we use it a heck of a lot more.

The last issue to consider is space, which many people list as the reason a home gym won’t work for them.  My pullup bar can disconnect form the doorway and go under the bed.  I have the dumbbells in the bottom of my closet, and the bench stands up in our coat closet while not in use.  When I want to workout, I move the coffee table over and workout in my living room.  My point is you don’t need a special workout room in your house.  You can easily store and unstore these items as needed.

I sure you have deduced that I am a fan of the home gym.  Gyms make their money off of convincing people they need a lot of bells and whistles to get a good workout (I should know, I’ve worked in a few).  But the truth is your body only moves in so many ways.   With a little creativity, you can get a full body, balanced, butt-kicking workout in your home for a fraction of the cost.  

Live well.