You are finally ready to get that body in check. No more unhealthy eating habits; from now on it’s a strict healthy diet. You are really ready to get fit and back into your skinny jeans and the little black dress.

The only problem is that you have become a little self conscious and you are afraid of joining a gym because you don’t want all those fit people staring and judging you, so the idea of a home gym is looking really good right about now.

So what is a girl to do? Join a gym or invest in a home gym?

Let me start by saying that you should never worry about joining a gym because you are afraid or worried that people will stare or judge you. Remember that even the so called fit people are self conscious as well and they keep hitting the gym because they have problem areas. If they were perfect they wouldn’t be hitting the gym as hard as they do. Forget about everyone else and just focus on achieving your goals

5 Reasons why joining a gym is better than investing in a home gym;  

Space – You barely have enough room for yourself as it is now, why loose more space to workout equipment.

Gyms are specifically built to house equipment and to accommodate groups of people. You go there to use it and leave. Storage lockers are provided to store your belongings.   

Cost – Home gyms don’t have to be expensive, but if you want the best equipment and enough of them to vary your workouts it won’t come cheap.

Gym memberships on the other hand are cheap these days. Most gyms offer free trial periods and some memberships are as low as $19.99 per month.  

Mindset - Unless you are truly disciplined (and most of us are not), it is much harder to get yourself hyped-up to workout at home. Especially since your mind considers your home as your resting place.

Yet, as you take the ride to a gym or walk to one, you mentally prepare and ready yourself to workout; by the time you arrive you are ready with one goal and one goal only in mind.

Motivation - What do you have to motivate you at home?  A book?  A DVD? In my opinion, there are way too many things to distract you at home. (TV, phone, computer, couch etc.)

The smell of the gym, the sounds of machines, seeing other people working out, all serve as motivators.  You can also find yourself a good training partner with similar goals to push and motivate you on lazy days where you don’t really feel like working out.

Abundance of equipment - In a gym, you will have access to 20 or more different cardio machines, 10 machines just for working on your abs, chest, arms, legs, butt, back etc.

So how about P90X and all the other home based training systems and equipment?

Although I have not tried P90x myself, I have heard a lot of good reviews about it. Most people who stick with it are able to achieve really good results. On another note though, beware that the majority of fitness equipment and systems advertised on TV are just puffery.

Honestly, you have way more to gain by joining a gym than trying to build your own at home. How many different systems will you have to waste your money on before you find a good one? Or one that works for you?

Don’t believe me, ask all those people who bought into the hype… used the systems for approximately two weeks… lost interest and left it to collect dust.

**Next week we will discuss How to Pick a great gym**