I always wanted to have my own awesome home gym ever since I started training as a little boy.
A home gym is an enrichment for every man’s life and the ultimate piece for your man cave.
This article is the start of the home gym series. A series of articles that will show you how you can build your own awesome home gym without busting the bank and fulfill your dream of your own personal gym.
I won’t start this home gym series with an equipment guide though. I will begin by answering the most important question behind the topic of home gyms:
Why Is A Home Gym So Awesome?
What are the pros and cons of a home gym and how does it compare to an actual commercial gym membership?
These are the questions that will be answered in this first article of the home gym series.
Yes, a home gym is really awesome and has tons of advantages but it’s still not the right thing for everybody.
Some people will do better off without a home gym and just going to a commercial gym instead.
But this is exactly why I created this series. After reading this article, you will know if a home gym is the right thing for you and if you need one.
The Pros Of A Home Gym
A Home Gym Saves Time
By far the biggest advantage of having a home gym is the time-saving factor.
This is especially advantageous for those of you who live in small cities with a long drive to the next gym.
But even if you live in bigger cities with an easier access to the next gym you will save a lot of time. Let’s say, you only need 10 minutes to get to the next gym.
That’s still 20 minutes for every training session and if you train 5 times a week, that is an extra 1.5 hours of wasted time that could have been used to do more productive things.
If you have a home gym, this empty wasted time completely vanishes. The gym is right at your home and it’s always there, ready for you to train.
You want to go to the gym? Boom. You can start right now. No waiting, no driving, you are ready to go all the time.
Most people complain about not having time to go to the gym and workout.
With a home gym, even the busiest person in the world should find time to get in a quick and effective workout!
Full Focus and No Distractions
In most commercial gyms you will be bombarded with distractions. This won’t happen in your own home gym.
There won’t be any time wasters who only go to the gym to socialize and be part of the group.
There won’t be any clueless trainers who don’t know shit about working out and try to correct your “wrong” technique.
No half-hearted beginners that constantly ask you for advice that they won’t put into practice because they aren’t fully committed.
Nobody who is going to whine about their lack of progress besides “doing everything right”.
And yes, sadly no hot girls in yoga pants who are doing squats and bent over rows, positioning their ass in your plain sight.
But that is just part of the game and the pros of a home gym. Most of these gym bitches are just there for the attention anyway.
I fully focus on my training when I work out. This way I will have the best and most effective workouts. This way I get the most results.
And my home gym is the perfect place to put all of my focus into having a kick-ass workout.
No distractions. Pure focus. Just me and the weights. Just me and the challenge.
A Home Gym Has No Limitations
Most of today’s commercial gyms are made for pussies and profit. It’s like working out hard in there is forbidden.
You aren’t allowed to do anything except sit there quietly, train with light weights and ineffective gym machines while updating your social media in between your sets.
No heavy deadlifts and slamming the weights on the floor (this is inevitable if you workout with heavy weights).
No screaming or any noises that help you push through that last heavy rep of a set and transcend into a new and stronger you (with the secret hope of turning Supersaiyan).
No training barefoot even in socks because of the slight chance of hurting yourself, even though barefoot training is so much more natural, especially with exercises like deadlifts.
No chalk that helps your grip strength because you mess up the gym.
You aren’t allowed to do anything. There are strict rules to abide by everywhere.
This is not how I want to train. Hell, this is not even how I want to live. I want to train free, I want to live free. I want to express myself to the fullest.
If I want to scream and slam the weights on the floor after I gave it my all in a heavy set of squats, then so be it and I don’t want anyone to tell me otherwise.
If I want to train shirtless and use chalk than I will use fucking chalk and train shirtless.
I don’t want any limitations. I don’t want to be limited by rules that other people set. I want to push my boundaries, I want freedom.
Of course, you could easily join a hardcore powerlifting gym as well but these are still rare and this is not an option for most of you. Most people only have access to commercial pussy gyms. Besides, those hardcore gyms are a lot more expensive than a normal gym.
The only other option is a home gym. Here you can train like you want and scream as loud as you can. Nobody will mind. Nobody will tell you to do it otherwise.
It’s your gym. You set the rules. You set the boundaries, you break the boundaries.
Home Gyms Are Open All The Time
This point directly ties into saving time thanks to your home gym.
Your home gym is open every single day for 24 hours. There are no opening hours or days off.
You don’t have to worry to fit in your training right after work to get it done before closing or do without your workout on Sundays.
You can train whenever you want. You have no limitations anymore. Everything is up to you and your schedule.
That way, you won’t have to miss out on workouts because you couldn’t fit it into the right time and you are always ready for a quick workout.
Most people have to miss out on their workout because they can’t make it within the opening hours or because they are too stressed out and have to schedule their day around their workout.
With your home gym, you can schedule your training around your day. This is the foundation for success with your workouts and in your life.
No Waiting For Free Gym Machines
Everybody knows this annoying problem. You are in the gym and have the workout of your life. You are completely focused and have a great session and you want to move on to the next exercise but the machine or the rack is taken at the moment.
How often does it happen that the only squat rack in the whole gym is taken?
Because most people are too busy to wait, they move onto less effective options like using the smith machine instead of using free weights.
This happens mostly in the after hours when everybody comes back from school or work and goes to the gym.
You won’t have this problem in your home gym. You can always train exactly how you want to train. You can follow your set plan a hundred percent and you won’t have to move onto less effective training methods which would harm and slow your progress.
You don’t have to wait for anyone. The equipment you have is always free and ready to be lifted.
You won’t have to move onto less effective training methods – you can fully concentrate on the golden 7 exercises – the best exercises to build muscle and an aesthetic body!
Home Gyms Are Cheaper And Save You Money
Yes, the initial investment to buy a decent home gym with everything that you need might be quite high.
But in the long run, your home gym will run you a lot cheaper than a membership.
You will get a return on investment after two years at most.
Gym memberships can be pretty expensive, especially in small cities and good gyms.
With your home gym, you buy the equipment once and it will always be there. That’s it. Well, at least if you buy clever and inform yourself correctly before buying but that’s exactly what this series is for.
Over time, you will get your money back and on top of that, you will save money on transportation cost.
Your Home Gym Gives You Freedom
There is no one who is going to watch or judge you at your home gym.
It’s only you. You can be who you truly are.
You can finally unleash the monster that is inside of you and do what your body wants to do.
If you want to scream, you scream as loud as you can. If you think you are going to puke if you rep the next squat, you do it anyway.
You won’t need to hold back. You won’t need to fear anybody else’s reaction because you pushing through that last rep might have looked weird to somebody.
You don’t have to adhere to your self-imposed limitations because of somebody else. And this will lead to you overcoming limitations you didn’t even know existed within you.
Even if it is not the case, you often feel watched in a public gym. So you don’t want to do anything wrong, you don’t want to try anything new, you don’t want to step out of line and do a weird exercise. As a result, we tend to hold back. We don’t give it our all.
In your home gym, you can get out of your head and into your body and allow yourself to transcend to another place through your training.
The Right Equipment For You
There are no unnecessary machines or places in your home gym. You surely won’t waste money on something you never use.
You invest your money consciously on that which you really need.
Now you won’t have to carry dumbbells from the other end of the gym only to find your bench has been taken by somebody else.
Now you won’t have to deal with other people doing bullshit exercises in a certain part of the gym.
Your home gym only contains what you really need.
You Can Listen To Your Music
There won’t be any generic mainstream chart music anymore. No ballads or totally unfitting songs anymore.
Except, if you want to listen to those.
Do you want to listen to rock or metal? Do it.
Or does rap music pump you up more? Then listen to rap.
Or are you more the electro and house type of guy? Rave away in your home gym if you want to.
Do you want to listen to news about the weather? You can if you want.
Do you want to educate yourself while you workout and listen to audiobooks or podcasts?
Do you want to listen to sad ballads that remind you of that girl that left you because you are even more motivated to push yourself then?
The choice is yours!
You Can Wear What You Want
You can wear anything that you want in your home gym — if you decide to wear anything at all.
Do you want to train in your boxers because it is so damn hot? Or even fully naked?
You can do that if you want to.
There is nobody who would complain. Nobody who would whine if you decide to train shirtless on a hot day.
Nobody who would laugh at your ultra comfortable compression pants for squatting.
Yes you have to not give a fuck about anybody but still, there are some things you don’t have control over like training shirtless, so that’s where your home gym comes in handy!
ONLY YOU
The only thing that counts in your home gym is you.
It’s only you.
No distractions.
No bullshit.
No time-wasting.
Just you and the weights.
Cons Of A Home Gym
Of course, there aren’t only pros, so here are the disadvantages that come with a home gym.
ONLY YOU
Being on your own doesn’t have to only be positive.
There won’t be any spotter who can save you if you fail at the bench press. Nobody to help you push out that last repetition and go “past failure”
There won’t be anybody who can identify your wrong technique if you think your fucked up technique is perfect.
There won’t be anybody who can motivate you and push you to go beyond your limits.
You are fully on your own in your home gym. It’s your full responsibility to push through your workout and do it safely.
Sure if you go about it in a smart way, there won’t be any safety problems but that is still not optimal for everybody.
Initial Home Gym Investment Is Expensive
The initial investment to buy the home gym equipment that you need can be pretty high.
You can buy a pretty good home gym even for under 500 bucks, especially if you buy used and look on Craigslist.
You can have a really good and professional home gym for around a 1000 bucks and beyond that sky is the limit.
But even a couple of hundred bucks are a lot of money for some to pay all at once.
Most are turned down by this initial investment. Even if you will get your money back after some time, most people can’t get themselves to pay this money for their own home gym.
The price equals one or two years of a gym membership. That is what you got to always keep in mind.
Home Gyms Require Space
Maybe you live in a tiny apartment and you don’t have any extra space. Well, then you will have problems with your home gym.
You need at least a little space to move the weights freely and do all the exercises or else you won’t be able to train effectively.
Even though you only need a power rack, bench and a barbell, space can get scarce sometimes.
If you own a big house or apartment then you probably won’t have problems with this. In the end, it all depends on your financial situation again.
A Home Gym Binds You To Your Home
Your home gym might give you many freedoms but it can also limit you in other ways for example by binding you to your home place.
You might not be able to just pack your things up and move to another city or even a new country or travel one way without a set plan to ever come back.
A home gym is just not what you would consider minimalistic. You can’t just pack it up and take it with you. It is bound to your home.
If you have a lot of money and just want to travel then this won’t be of any concern to you again.
You will just have to pay the rent for your place which you would do anyways and pay for a gym membership wherever you travel (this gym membership is relatively small in countrys in South-East Asia and South America which are popular travel places for digital nomads and entrepreneurs.)
A Home Gym Can Be Boring
You can say what you want but at the end of the day, we humans are still social creatures.
We long for contact and want to communicate and connect with other people.
Even if you go to the gym and do your thing you still like the social atmosphere that it provides.
You are totally on your own in your home gym though. You won’t connect with new people here.
For some, this might be the perfect atmosphere. Just them and the weights. They are hardcore and want to really only train and get done as fast and efficient as possible.
For others, this isolation might feel like the worst nightmare. At first, it’s okay but after a while, it might cripple on you and become very monotonous and uneventful.
Every man needs to learn how to be alone with himself. Still training alone or together with others is a matter of preference.
Too Many Distractions
You won’t find any of the typical distractions at home that you would find at your local gym but instead, there are many alternative distractions.
TVs, PCs and many other things are creeping just in the other room next door. Many feel tempted to stop their training to give in to these distractions.
Or they prevent them from starting to workout at all. They get distracted by these things easily and need a lot of willpower and discipline to overcome this resistance.
These people need the routine. They need the drive to the gym, they need the clothes, they need the feeling of going somewhere to train, a place that is solely dedicated to training.
You’ve got to find out yourself if you are somebody like this.
Listen to yourself and critically reflect on your own behavioral tendencies. Are you someone with massive willpower who can resist the temptations of everyday distractions at home or do you need the gym routine?
So … Do You Need A Home Gym?
I can’t tell you this.
At the end of the day, this is something that you got to decide yourself.
I presented you with all the pros and cons of a home gym. Now it’s on you.
Are you the type of person who enjoys the freedom of a home gym and has space and money for it and the determination to actually stick with it and train?
Or are you the type of person who lives super minimalistically and travels a lot without a set home and who enjoys the atmosphere of a public gym?
For some of you, certain pros or cons might not apply but others do instead.
If you live close to a good and cheap gym that has everything you need and is filled with driven and determined people, hey then you might not need a home gym.
But if you have to drive 30 minutes only to get to the next crappy gym, then you might give investing into a proper home gym a second thought.
Decide for yourself. It all depends on your situation and your preferences and desires.
On a closing note.
Owning a home gym does not mean that you can never set a foot in a normal gym again.
You can have both, a gym membership and a home gym and use both equally, depending on what fits better at the moment.
So as always, money gives you the freedom to live abundantly how you want to. Focus not only on creating a better body but a better life in total for yourself and improving in all areas of life.
That is the core of this website and if you need help with any of that, you should sign up for our free newsletter below and you will stay up to date with all the information to create the life you want and all the tools you need to create your optimal home gym.
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