Whether you train at the nicest gym in town or right in your living room, you gotta learn to work with what you got. Now if your goal is to be a powerlifter, you’re going to have to lift some weights, or if you want to be a marathon runner, you will actually have to go run. But that doesn’t always mean you can’t be adaptable.
When I started getting into bodybuilding I was lucky enough to have a small home gym. I had a small set of free weights, bench, cable machine, pull up/dip rack, heavy bag, and treadmill. I didn’t have everything, but I made what I had work for me. The cable machine was given to us from my dad’s friend who got a new one and had to free up room in his house, I bought the pull/up dip rack in high school when I would off and on workout, the bench got upgraded as a Christmas gift one year, and the heavy bag had been updated over the years. The only original equipment is the free weight set my dad has had ever since I can remember. With this equipment, I set up numerous training routines and built a physique I was proud of.
This home gym really worked out great for me because I was very self-conscious of myself when it came to working out. I didn’t feel comfortable signing up at a gym, even though 99% of people don’t give judgement there, so I did what I could in my basement until I felt comfortable venturing into a gym. Even though it wasn’t the best equipment or as much as an actual gym had, I think the biggest benefit was that I didn’t have to leave the house. As soon as I got home from work I would change and head right to the basement to train. I didn’t have to worry about my workout space being crowded at certain times and could just do my thing on my own terms.
I trained in my basement for 2 years and was extraordinarily happy with the gainz I had made. Once I got to a certain level I wanted to try out physically going to a gym and around the same time I wanted to try working out very early in the morning. So at my college, I was able to get a student membership for super cheap. For about 6-8 months I went and trained at 5 in the morning. There wasn’t many people that went at this time, but it was a totally different experience having that much equipment available to me. I was able to try all kinds of movements that I didn’t have access to at home. It was also the first time I got to train with a normal 45lbs Olympic size barbell opposed to the smaller one I had at home. Even though I didn’t become fond of training early, I’m glad I tried it out and got used to going to the gym.
Since I didn’t feel like going to train early anymore and my school’s gym didn’t have hours that always worked out for me, me and my girlfriend went to go sign up at World Gym together. Little did I know, the World’s I signed up at was one of the bigger gyms in my area and had a lot more equipment than a lot of other places around us did. Over my time training at World’s I’ve come to love the gym. Not only do I really enjoy having access to all sorts of training equipment, but I love the people and atmosphere as well.
So regardless if you have a few pieces of equipment at home, have a gym membership, or even just follow bodyweight/plyometric routines and run outside, you gotta learn to work with what you got. Just because you start your journey in one positon, does not mean that’s the only path you can take. I may have started working out at home, but as I grew and my goals changed I moved to training in a gym.
If time is your problem, maybe investing in some home gym equipment is a great way to start until your schedule frees up. They make all kinds of basic equipment for a pretty decent price and you can find used equipment easily online. I did love getting home from work and in less than an hour have my workout done. I didn’t have to take time driving to the gym and then while I was there I didn’t have to wait for anything to open up. Sometimes I end up being in the gym for way to long because I run into people and chit chat to. So benefits and disadvantages can be found in any scenario.
If having enough money is the issue, there are a lot of gyms that have memberships for as low as 10 bucks a month and if you watch for deals, you can sign up without having to pay the startup fees. If you still can’t afford that, all you have to do is hop on YouTube and search for bodyweight/plyometric/yoga workouts. Then all you’ll need is an open space to get a workout in. Sometimes you can make what you need. In my old house when I was really young, my dad had nailed in two 2x4 drops from the upstairs floor joists with a hole cut in each and then had a black piece of pipe going across to act as a pull-up bar. Or when I used to workout at home and got strong enough that bodyweight dips were easy, I grabbed an old backpack to start throwing weights in, rather than spend money on a dip belt.
You can achieve some pretty high fitness goals without having access to a lot of equipment. Your dedication and persistence is what will allow you to reach your goals. If your main goal is to just lose weight or “be healthy”, your options are pretty endless when it comes to finding accommodations for training. If you would like to get into weightlifting or some sort of sport, you will have to probably put in some sort of money investment, whether it’s in a gym membership or home equipment. In either case, just make sure you set goals that are attainable in your current situation and then grow from there.