I’m guessing that if you’re  reading this article you are looking to improve your health and fitness and are thinking that buying a piece of home gym equipment might be the answer to your solutions.

Well before you make up your mind have a read of this article and let me try to give you some helpful advice

Lets Look at the Pro’s first shall we;

Saving Money with your Home Gym Equipment

If you’ve been looking at the costs of buying some home gym equipment you might have also compared prices with getting a Gym membership instead but let’s face it a membership to a local gym can be very expensive, not only do you have to pay a monthly fee quiet often you also have to pay a joining fee.

You might think that a one time cost for home gym equipment  is expensive but  in the long run it works out much, much cheaper than joining a gym.

Imagine years and years of gym membership costs, with monthly fees costing from anywhere from $60 a month to hundreds of dollars you could own your own piece of high tech gym equipment for less than a year’s gym fees.

You can even start off with some cheap home gym equipment costing less than a couple of hundred dollars and then upgrade.

In the last few years gym equipment has developed in terms of technologies and design.

These current technologies were at first only found in commercial gyms a but as the prices have lowered even someone on a modest income is now capable of purchasing a full featured home gym.

Even if you can’t afford a home gym you can buy  cheap home gym equipment or books or DVDs on how to work out at home, really there is nothing stopping you.

Save Time by Using Home Gym Equipment

Another money saving factor of owning your own home gym equipment is that you don’t have to pay for gasoline or use public transport to get to your local gym, not only do you save money that way you also save time and as the saying goes ‘time is money!’

So these are the cost benefits to owning a home gym but remember you’ve got to make use of the equipment you buy to make it worthwhile so make sure that once you get your home gym equipment up and working that you use it regularly.

The Flexibility of Home Gym Equipment

Flexibility is an advantage that can make a huge impact on our lives. You will be able to commit to your fitness as with a home gym you can work out any time, there will be less time constraints to skip training sessions. You will certainly be able to save time on you weekends for instance you could do a quick half hour work out and then spend the rest of the time with your family.

I’ve always thought if time is tight a 20 minute drive to the gym and back, for a 30 minute work out seems a waste of time. Using my home gym equipment I can quickly change into my workout gear do a quick work out and then laze about watching TV afterward content that I’ve done my work out for the day and that I can do what I want in the comfort of my own home with no one judging me!

Another reason why I went down the home gym route was that the busiest time at the gym always seemed to be when I wanted to train, I’d finish work around 5 drive down to the gym and everybody else would have arrived at the same time. This meant either a gym session that took twice as long as I waited to use the machines or more often than not me getting frustrated and leaving early without getting a good work out.

Work Out in the  Privacy Of your own Home

This is my personal deal breaker for owning  home gym equipment.

Here’s my routine, I change into my scruffy, comfortable work out clothes that includes my favorite ripped up t shirt. I then put my mp3 player in its docking bay and blast out my inspirational track list through the speakers, I don’t have to listen to the rubbish they are playing at the gym Britney Spears or the latest teenage wonder that you’ve never heard of. Next without any distractions I get into the zone and can grunt, groan and shout to my hearts content and once I’ve finished my work out I come in from my garage and stick the TV on and crash out until I have the energy to go and shower!

No one to judge me or distract me, for the guys there are no distractions of looking at pretty women and for the women you don’t get guys hitting on you all the time of course these could be pro’s as well depending how you look at it!

If your just starting out trying to get fit you might also feel more comfortable working out at home, gym clubs can sometimes feel a little intimidating at home you can work out at your own pace and with the weight or resistance you feel comfortable with. The only person you are in competition with is yourself.

On a final note on the pro’s of owning a home gym is in these uncertain financial times life can sometimes throw you a curveball and you may have to cancel your gym membership leaving you high and dry. Having your own home gym equipment is to your advantage your health would not be a casualty and in times of stress and hardship it has been scientifically proven that exercise is extremely beneficial to your body as well as your mind.

So now to the con’s;

The Expense of Home Gym Equipment

You’ve probably looked at some of the costs of home gym equipment and seen some of the high end machines that cost thousands of dollars, while these machines are state of the art and will give you a great work out, there are other machines that have excellent work out capabilities for a lot less and lets face it your probably not training to compete at the next Olympic Games but to get yourself looking fit and healthy.

You can always start with a cheaper machine then upgrade or add equipment as time goes on.

Home Gym Equipment and Limited Space

This foldaway gym gets great reviews

I‘m lucky in this regard I have use my garage as my work out area but I understand that some of you might be limited for space. There are foldaway gyms and some gyms require space on either side so if you are limited for space check that you have enough room and look at machines that provide a complete work out. check out some folding Gym’s here.

Training & Camaraderie

It can be a lonely road owning a home gym, you have to have a certain amount of self discipline to work out by yourself regularly, also at the gym you can sometimes get good training and coaching advice from the staff and other gym members and usually when you join you get an induction course on how to use the machines.

The negative side to all this is that I always seem to attract the know it all who will tell me I’m doing everything wrong even though I know I’m doing it right! Trying to shake these people is usually impossible and I end up cutting my session short.

If its not the know it all, there always seems to be someone on the machine I want to use who is on it forever, I usually just have to go on to the next machine and it ends up disrupting my routine.

I’m not at the gym to look at pretty women [ there's a time and a place!] or make new buddies I’m there to work out and I get a lot less distractions at home. But if you’ve got a partner or spouse, older children or even a friend who wants to keep fit on a budget maybe they can join you for your work outs.

My Conclusion

I‘d say if you can afford to buy some home gym equipment then do it. If you do not have the space at home or cannot afford the one off purchase for a home gym or some  then I’d find a cheap local gym and pay the monthly membership.

Whatever you do, make sure you do your homework first, check out your local gyms and compare them if your looking at a home gym you wouldn’t go wrong looking through some of our consumer reviews.

If you decide on joining a gym or purchasing home gym equipment remember the only way you will see results is through taking action.