Would You Rather Pay Gym Membership Or Build Your Own?

I'd rather pay the membership. First off, I think it wouldn't be cheap to build a home gym for me and my partner. It would take a lot more than a year. I'm going to say an expensive membership in our area is $60, times 2 is $120. That's $1440 that we could save on that year. Most cheap home treadmills only support 250 pounds. My partner is around 240 so I wouldn't risk it. Commercial gym treadmills are built to be heavy duty. With the cost of an entire year of gym membership, we wouldn't even be able to afford a good quality treadmill, much less the rest of the weights and stuff. Plus the gym has machines that help support your body while you do your abs and other muscle exercises. At home we'd have to use the floor and I don't think my back would like that. It would take a few years to get our home gym done and meanwhile we lost time we could have used exercising.

Plus we'd need to have a spare room, and if we moved, we'd need to move all the stuff. I'd rather just pay the membership.

 

It depends what kind of gym.
If you're just after a barbell, some weights then you may as well just stay home.
If you want to hit your body from all angles and keep up the motivation, then going to a gym is better in my opinion.
The kit you have access to in a gym would take up so much space at home, and that space would be wasted 23 hours of the day.
Some gyms are so cheap too and there is always help on hand.
For improving your health and the added safety of having people around (and the social aspect) for the monthly cost of less than a night out, I think a public gym is my preferred

 

Instead of trying to build you own gym it would be better instead to exercise at home. There are many easy full-body home work outs to build muscle and help someone shed pounds. Isn't that why we hit the gym? So if you can do something else: pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, jogging, and more, you'll still be as fit as anyone who spends a lot of money each year on gym membership.

 

I'd rather pay the membership.

I do pay the membership. For us, putting a "gym membership" in our budget is 2nd nature. It gives us a place to get away whenever we want, put our kids in childcare for a few hours if we need, and connect with others. Plus, it has become part of our routine, and we'd miss it if it was gone.

I think there will certainly come a time, as my kids get older, when having a gym memberhsip is too expensive for how often we end up going, but right now we definitely get our money's worth.

We started off at Gold's Gym, in our first town, as it was new and offering $10 a month no contract plans. Then we moved to where we live now, and the closest/best option happens to be a YMCA. I couldn't be happier. We can use every branch in the entire state as part of our membership, and there are just as many opportunities for our kids as there are for us. (Probably more, truth be told.)

 

You can get very fit using bodyweight exercises.
But there comes a point when bodyweight just isn't enough and you stop progressing, but it may be enough to hit some peoples goals.

Nothing wrong with starting with just bodyweight though to see if you can stick to a routine before getting into a contract with a gym

 

I'd love to go to a gym, but can't afford to so I just exercise at home without equipment. I went to Sears because they were having a sale on exercise equipment and they were all over 1K! I definitely can't afford that, so I just make do with exercising at home with yoga and walking in place or watch Dr.Oz for some dance steps and exercise steps to do too.

 

I've always preferred going to the gym. I've had a membership since I was a teenager, and I've gotten my money's worth as I usually go around 4 to 5 times a week. There have been a couple of times where I've let my membership lapse, but not very often. But I'm getting to he point where I'd prefer to build my own. Have a couple of machines and I think I'd be good and get a decent workout in without all the annoyances of a regular gym where you have to wait to use machines, etc.

 

I workout using almost entirely bodyweight exercises and I'm quite lean and moderately muscular. People don't understand how valuable pull-ups and chin-ups are - having access to a park nearby is way better than paying for a gym.

 

I've belonged to a few gyms in the past. These days, I prefer to work out at home and also out in nature. I do nature walks on the trails here, and do my stretches and ROM exercises on the deck, out in the fresh air, which invigorates me. I do bodyweight exercises inside, and also have a stretch trainer and resistance bands I use, especially when the weather is inclement. I don't know why, but over the past few years, I've seen quite a few gyms and fitness related businesses open up and then quickly go out of business in this area, so I wouldn't want to get accustomed to them and then have them fold. I'd rather do my own thing anyway, I'm pretty much a solitary person when I'm working out.

 

Neither really, I prefer swimming, as I can do a lot of that in this community. I also like competitive sports and games like Pickleball, or maybe taking a Yoga class. I am not really a fan of working out per se in general. I think it is pretty boring. I would much rather participate in a sport or a class.

 

I think that it would depend on what you want to accomplish. If you want to build muscle, I would suggest definitely getting a gym membership because the equipment is pretty expensive and it will be better suited to your needs. If you want to lose some weight or get more active, running and skipping rope is what I suggest (or yoga) and most of these don't cost much. You can always purchase a treadmill for long time use as well, and have a good book with you (or music).

 

I would choose building my own gym at home. I'm in no way a professional body builder or even someone who bulks up much. I prefer HIIT workouts, yoga and walking. So really, being a member of the gym would be of no use to me.

I'd rather have a few dumbbells, a mat and maybe a kettle bell and I'm good to go. I do need these basics to keep me fit. Since I don't do anything drastic in my workout routine, I'm fine with these. I can understand why some people would rather have a gym membership though.

For instance, my husband had been contemplating about building his own gym here at home. We do have a pretty big garage where he can do that. But the problem is it can cost quite a lot which we cannot afford right now. He can go to the gym but it can be quite far from here. And actually, that's what has been keeping him from being active.

If he can build his own gym here, he can exercise anytime he wants. But that won't happen soon, so his better option would be going to the gym. But even doing that, he's a bit lazy. Lol.

 

There are so many different machines you can have in your gym that it can be very expensive. I would not use that many machines in my home gym at this time. I would prefer to workout at home instead of a gym membership. I would use the machines at home more than going to a gym.

 

I'd probably be greedy and want both hehe. If money weren't an object and I could have a proper gym in my home, not just a makeshift one with a few bits and bobs, I'd jump at the chance. Because it would mean I could work out whenever the fancy grabbed me. But I also enjoy being surrounded by like-minded people at the gym, swapping notes and spurring each other on etc. Even if I had a state of the art gym at home, i'd probably occasionally nip into my local gym for the social aspect.

 

When I read the question, my answer was built 'my own gym? Never!'
I guess it does have its perks, it is private and you can do it whenever you want. It ends there! Imagine the hassle and nightmare if something breaks, expenses, having to call for the tech-support, having people there to fix it, it is all completely on you. If the product breaks and you need another one, the cost is completely on you. If it becomes obsolete and you want a newer model, you have to pay for the coal price. Not to mention classes or a trainer. You need a personal trainer which is crazy expensive, and you would have to take individual classes, which I can imagine Are not cheap either.
With the price you would pay to build and maintain a small gym, you will probably be able to pay a very expensive gym membership for a few years.

 

I don't care for weights at this point unless the gym trainer tells me to, so I would rather just go to a cheap gym. We even have this exercise equipment at home, the Ab King Pro, but guess what? No one uses it at home, so I guess a gym equipment would just be a waste of time and money since we aren't interested in using it anyway.

 

It's expensive to build your own gym set up, but for the prices that a gym charges, I think it's well worth it. You have your weights for life. If you choose to take a break from lifting for 2 years, you can come back without needing to make another investment. Some gyms will charge you $700 or more easy just to take advantage of a multi year plan.

Lots of gyms charge unnecessary fees. I'm a web developer, programmer. I know that it does not take a $200 dollar processing fee, enrollment fee, etc just to place someones data in a database. They just take advantage of the fact that they can create some fee to get more money out of you.

You also don't need to worry about gym hours anymore.

 

I think that trying to buy gym equipment is not only expensive; but then you also have to have an extra room where you can set everything up and use it.
Since I am a senior, my Medicare Advantage plan includes a fitness program, so both my husband and myself go to the fitness center and exercise every other day. Not all Medicare supplements include the fitness programs; but many of them do, especially when it is a Medicare Advantage plan.
There are two main one for seniors, one is called "Silver Sneakers" and the other one is called "Silver and Fit", and most of the supplenents include one or the other of those.
You might find that you also qualify for one of these if you check it out with your Medicare insurance agent, @Krissttina Isobe . If not, then your agent can probably switch you over to one that does include it if you want to change.

 

Thanks for the information! I got a few years to go yet for Medicare, but I'll keep it in mind so I can stay healthy! Learn something new all the time! Thanks again!