my gym is usually very packed when i go and i really don’t want to drive back and forth all the time. so i am thinking of getting a bench some weights etc etc, so that i could work out at home.
how many of you guys work out at home? what are the advantages/disadvantages in your eyes? …other than the home gym being an expensive alternative…
thanks
You can find weights if you search craigslist. i workout at home and I think I am better for it. There is less equipment if you train your place, but there are fewer distractions and your training is only a few steps away…
I was in a similiar situation and brought myself a power rack. I love it personally and never looked back.
Barefoot workouts are the best.
No waiting for equipment.
No dickheads.
You can act like a total fool and scream and whatever you want to pump yourself up for a massive lift and jump up and down when you do it and scream some more.
The only problem, is lack of equipment. I can’t do leg curls. Calf raises are awkward, but doable.
I have olympic size dumbbells but they are annoying. I would love a whole rack of fixed dumbbells but thats alot of money. Still its better then nothing.
Depending on what level you are at with your training. A power rack, incline/decline bench, olympic barbell with a lat attachment will be all you need for while.
Only disadvantages I can see are: no spotters (get a power rack if you can) and lack of fancy equipment (couldn’t care less).
Home gym all the way.
Go check out the T-Cell. I posted about my home gym.
Kuz recently built his own home gym in his basement. That’s also posted in the T-Cell as there were pages and pages of advice and recommendations from others that have built a home gym.
A home gym is one of the best investments you’ll ever make.
Having a home gym is great. As others have mentioned, you don’t have to wait on the equipment and you can lift barefoot if you want, plus, you get to pick the music.
The big advantage I have found, I can’t forget to take my gym clothes with me. Before I started my home gym, if I was late for work, I would sometimes forget my gym clothes. That meant, work shoes, and jeans, which, my gym wouldn’t let me work out in. So, it was a missed day. Now, I just go in the drawer where I keep my gym shorts and go.
Also, I can workout on holidays (like this past Monday) without a problem. My gym is always open for me.
You can work out whenever you want with a home gym! 
I remember in 2004 when the hurricanes were coming through Florida. I was one of the lucky few that never lost electricity, cable, etc. during the storm. But going through more than 24 hours of heavy rain and wind while being cooped up in the apartment can drive you nuts after a while (you can only play on the internet for so long or watch so many movies).
Since I had begun building my home gym that summer in the second bedroom, I went ahead and put in some extra workouts for fun!
Also, I don’t have any issues with lack of equipment, as I purchased some things that allow me to do pretty much everything I need including leg curls.
You can set up your own home gym for a modest price if you shop wisely and buy the right stuff.
I mostly work out at home, I still go to the gym for leg workouts though.
One advantage is you’re pretty much forced to use dumbbells and barbells, they become your staple of mass building.
The potential is there to use the machines in a gym, that’s just not an option with basic home equipment, it’s just you and the iron.
A home gym gives you easy access to training and it can be the difference between staying with it or slacking off.
home gyms are NOT expensive. even if you’re buying “fancy” equipment, once you pay for it, you NEVER have to pay for it again.
just think about all the money people could have saved by not going to the gym and saving up for a home gym instead.
Some of the strongest people I know weight train in basement or garage home gyms with very basic equipment.
im pretty opposed to home gyms.
unless youre a superstar with tons of money to make your home gym identical to a commerical gym youre probaly going to suffer with bare equipment ie a power rack.
if youre a power lifter great, buy some band ands chains and can most likely get everything you need. but if youre looking to pursue bodybuilding you just need more, BBing is very high matinence.
in BBing there is a lot of importance on single-joint movements (isolation) and its 100x more difficult to get the same results in a home gym as a commercial gym.
a commerical gym also give you the benefit of meeting other people bigger than you in REAL LIFE and you can always learn something new from them from new exercises to form improvement.
im sure all the strength guys are gonna say go for a homegym but if you strive for hypertrophy you cant beat a fully packed gym, its nonsensical to think otherwise.
Unfortunately, I agree with Live on this one.
I have weights and benches in my home but its really not the same at all.
I can’t think of a single person I’ve ever seen or heard about or know personally that has gotten big in a home gym (by themselves).
There is definitely something to the atmosphere and equipment a gym offers.
I’ve got a bench and a power rack.
Not the cheapest setup but the more I read about the way they treat serious lifter’s in regular gyms the happier I am I lift alone.
The closest gym to me is about 40 mins away so I started buying my own stuff.
First I got a home gym that’s pin loaded beacuase I was a newb, then I got a 100kg weight set and inc/dec bench, then I got more weights a pair of 19 inch dumbbells and finally a power rack. I can pretty much do most exercises except leg presses and seated calf raises but will rectify that soon hopefully.
I go to gyms sometimes when Im away or visiting mates and the people there are usually ok but sometimes they’re total idiots. Like getting thrown out of a gym for power cleaning, come on.
My home gym has pretty much everything I want/need except a nice glute-ham bench. Oly lifts with bumper plates are fun. I can’t imagine a gym banning them.
Haven’t done an isolation movement in over a year. I’m not training to be on stage or even for size. Just for strength and fitness.
I work out at home, I prefer it.
Pros:
Wear whatever I want.
Put whatever music I want on.
Don’t have to drive to and back.
Open 24 hours.
No one there to bother you or get in the way.
Take as much time as you want and hog the equipment all you want.
No fee.
Cons:
No one to get advice from.
Gotta buy all the equipment and make space for it.
home gym- keep a cellphone near by in case you break all your shit lol…
I train at home and get the best results there. It also helps that one of my training partners is 325-330 lbs at about 6’1", has a Master’s Degree in exercise physiology and is very motivational.
I have more equipment than will fit into my garage, so some of it sits outside in the back yard. I have a power rack, standing calf machine, leg press machine, lat pulldown machine, flat, decline and incline utility benches, dumbell rack up to 80 lbs. (wish they went heavier but have olympic DB bars for heavier lifts), dip bars, a hyper-ext.
bench that I can perform glute/ham raises on, 12 olympic bars of varying types and about a ton of plates. All this is packed in the garage which is about a 12’ x 24’ area. It also has a kick ass surround sound system. I have more equipment in storage and plan to start a small gym in the future.
I either built or bought the equipment for a little of nothing but it has taken years to accumulate. Yeah, I’m bragging a little but my home gym is somewhat of a conversation piece among local lifters.
That being said, start with a power rack and an olympic set and just go from there. It will be money well spent with no regrets.
how motivated a person are you?
Its harder to slack off in a gym because everyone can see you. you probably know people there and you want them to see how hard you work etc etc.
you can have an excelent workout in a home gym. you can build serious muscle and it will cost you less than a years membership if you spend a bit of time looking through craigs list for second hand stuff.
it all depends on who you are.
the other advantage of comercial gyms is that the generaly have professional trainers who whilst they might not provide the exact type of program you need should be able to provide you with information and a live demonstration of any lift that you have read about on here.
I think the home gym is best because it is right there and you cant so 'oh its freezing out there I dont wanna drive to the gym etc. Plus its a one off thing no membership month after month or years etc.
Plus you feel more comfy in your own place and you can grunt and do what ever you want with out people looking at you lol.
I think a good bench press, squat rack and some dumbbells that you hold plates on them that you can take off or put on and if you can get a chin up and dip peice thats all in one.
That right there is a great gym for the house bro.