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5 Benefits of Training at Home
There are way too many benefits of owning a small home gym. For the last 40 years, I have managed to train at least 4 days a week, some of my most memorable workouts as a teen were when I trained in my brother's garage or in my bedroom. All I had was a weight bench, dumbells and a barbell with about 150 lbs of weights.
Training at home has some great benefits and drawbacks and while I do own membership at a local gym.
I prefer going to the gym early in the morning or late at night in order to avoid people. Not because I'm not social, but because I hate dodging bench warmers who are taking up space or glued to their cell phone.
Probably the worst months to train are right after the holidays “no matter what time of day”.
Many people go to the gym after new years to fulfill their new year's resolution.
This is when I to stay home and workout.
I will usually go back at the end of January or mid-February, by then, most of those people have given up.
Training at home does take some self-discipline but once you get into the grove it can be a fun and rewarding experience, you can take your time and it allows you to focus more.
Things I like about training at home:
- Better concentration
- You can focus more on the muscle and contractions
- Fewer distractions
- No waiting for equipment
- You can workout at any time of the day or night
The distractions part is relative, in my case, when I work out there is usually no one at home.
1. Incredible pumps
I don't have a lot of weight at home which can be a good thing. Having a lot of heavy weight in a gym is all too tempting, however, sometimes I go overboard and focus more on power moves than I do on the squeeze and contraction.
Sometimes it's good to train with lighter weights and more reps, being by myself lets me really focus on the squeeze and my form, resulting in incredible pumps.
2. You don't need a lot of equipment
While you may think you need tons of exercise equipment to train at home it really isn't necessary.
Don't get me wrong I have some friends that have some very elaborate gyms in their garage, mine is very simple and consists of a multipurpose rack, weight bench, barbell, and some dumbbells.
3. Fast workouts
Working out at home by yourself makes the workout go by fast, you can rest less between sets and do supersets.
When you workout at home you don't have to wait on someone until they finish up using a particular piece of gym equipment and it lets you go from one exercise to the next.
4. Train when you want
This is probably one of my favorite things about working out at home. If you are self-disciplined, having a home gym lets you train when you want, day or night whenever you want plus it saves you gas and travel time.
5. You can workout every day
I find that going to a gym with a mental plan of what muscle group I am going to train is often jinxed, I often find myself not being able to train the muscle group that I had intended.
Working out at home makes it easier, I can plan and focus on one muscle group per day.
For me, this is not only more effective it is convenient.
What about cardio?
There are plenty of things you can do for cardio.
I live in a rural area where I can ride my bike, go for a walk, or jog for 45 minutes.
If you can't do either you can always use a jump rope. If you live somewhere that has a pool, swimming laps is a good way to get your cardio done.
A home gym is not perfect
While there are many benefits to training at home its not always perfect.
On some days I may procrastinate which is one of the cons of having a home gym.
Going to a gym is a commitment, once you walk through the door its pretty hard not to do something while you're there.
Not enough equipment
If you want to progress and get stronger, unless you have a lot of weight at home, it will be hard to grow, in order to gain strength and muscle you need to continuously increase the weight week by week.
One of the benefits of going to a commercial gym is that you have more equipment and more weight.
I am not a big fan of machines, however, there are some machines that allow you to work certain muscles that are not as easy to target using free weights.
Too many distractions
If you work from home or have a family you may be subject to a lot of distractions, these can take away from your workout.
Besides the family, there are other things that can interfere like the phone, or a nearby laptop tempting you to check your social media.
Conclusion
There are a lot of benefits to having a small home gym, however, for some, it can be counterproductive, however, if you can make it work it gives you flexibility and allows you to workout when you want.
