What stage are you at in your training?
If you are lifting very heavy weights and you live in an upper flat, perhaps a gym membership IS for you? You have to take into consideration any load, including your bodyweight, the weights being used and the apparatus, on your floors or walls or roof.(wherever the load is applied). Only lift weights at home if the load is not too great for your home, If you are a beginner then a home gym is ideal as you will start with light weights and advance. However if you have access to a garage or a basement or an outdoor area there is no limit to how far you can advance at home.
Are You Motivated?
To successfully workout at home and advance you have to be highly motivated and organised. It is very very easy to substitute a nights training for a night in front of the t.v. and there is not the same motivation once you start your workout to see it through to the end. As well as this alot of people struggle when there is no one else to motivate them or watch them as they are training. Personally I think this has alot to do with your personality and what your motivation for training is. For example if you want to become a bodybuilder and you are a very confident person, you might love the ''performing'' side of lifting in the gym and that might drive you.
Do you have the initial outlay to buy equipment?
This is alot cheaper than you might think, especially if you are a beginner you can buy things like dipping stations, squat racks, benches, barbells and dumbell handles on ebay second hand. There will always be people who have lost motivation for home workouts or people who have purchased new equipment or joined a gym and no longer need there equipment. Make use of ebays ability to localise your search and use gumtree to look for local people selling or giving away equipment. I emphasise looking for local ads to keep postage costs down, after all we are talking about purchasing weights and things are posted according to weight.
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Obviously there are considerations like, expense, how close a gym is to your home, whether the regularity with which you can attend the gym will make it worth while. Whether there are any other facilities at a chosen gym which you will also use. Hopefully this has helped anyone who is trying to make this informed decision.
If anyone reads this and wants specific advice contact me. Thanks for reading! ;)
