When I say ‘flexing’, I’m not talking about showing off, I’m talking about flexing a muscle; you know the regular definition, before we bastardized it for slang vocab?
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I’ve been working out, on and off, for years, to varying degrees of success. I’ve delved deep into compound weight training, HIIT and LIIS training and the other usual stuff, but I haven’t been able to sustain things for two reasons; I get injured with ease, and bored just as quickly. It’s something I have been trying to address for years, but these years of experimentation have given me an understanding of the pros and cons of working out at home, or at the gym.
The thing about working out at home is that, it is harder to sustain. While on paper, it feels far more convenient; you don’t have to go anywhere and all the things you need are right there. You can just turn on a YouTube workout video and follow along, or do whatever else you would like. For someone who is relatively self-conscious about their physique, like me, it helps feeling like there are no eyes on you while you do your thing.
But the trade-off is that, firstly, unless you have a designated workout space, your mind starts receiving mixed signals about the purpose of a certain area within your home. You know how they say you should only get into bed to sleep, because it sends your mind the relevant signals? Well, it applies to you jumping up and down in the living room as well. I stopped seeing my living room as a place of comfort and relaxation, rather as one of action and purpose. It sucked.
Secondly, it is difficult to maintain a strong internal locus of control when you’re working out at home, because you are accountable only to yourself. While you could probably remain extremely motivated for a couple of weeks, maybe even a month or two, odds are you will hit a roadblock, where your bed will feel just a little too inviting. Of course, getting off your butt is much easier with fitness gurus like Whitney Simmons or Brandon Carter waiting for you on a laptop, but you’ll always know that you could just not turn on the video. No one would be privy to your great shame, except for you.
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When you step out of home and hit the gym, things are a little different. There are more steps involved before you actually start working out. Wear the right clothes, make sure you don’t stink and familiarize yourself with basic gym etiquette. If it’s your first time ever, all the equipment can probably feel a little daunting. Unless you just intend to hop on the treadmill for half an hour (which is terrible for your knees and hips, by the way), you need to go in with a plan.
While at the gym, you will encounter some stereotypes that hold true; the excessively loud grunter, the person who could bench you with one arm, or the person who has a habit of leaving their equipment all over the place. Whether you like it or not, if you’re a regular at the gym, you become a part of that community. That’s a bit of a double-edged sword; while it will make you feel more accountable about your workouts, you might end up feeling more self-conscious, especially if you tend to feel like people are judging you.
Then there’s a million questions you need to have answered; what does this equipment do? What’s the correct form? Am I doing it right? Am I lifting enough? How many reps? How many sets? Do I look weird when I flex? Why is my butt clenched? The list just goes on and on. It can be pretty nerve-wracking when you’re a novice. If you’re lucky, you will be surrounded by people well-versed in gym etiquette, some who may even give you advice without making you feel like you’re an inferior being.
The main point here is that; working out anywhere will have its pros and cons. Unfortunately, people are more likely to scoff at an overweight person trying to get into better shape in the gym, instead of giving them useful advice. That isn’t the case across the board by any means, but one such instance can sour a person on the gym experience for good.
Working out at home leaves you with absolutely no accountability and no clear metrics for success. But it is a time-saver and there’s millions of workouts for you to choose from. However, if you aren’t feeling a little self-conscious, will you really question whether you’re doing it right? Depending on your goals, either one of these options could work for you. Hell, maybe neither of these is right for you and your future rests in trekking and doing yoga in a garden at the crack of dawn, who’s to say?
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what you do, just that you do something. Maybe you just take the stairs instead of the elevator every day. It sure beats doing nothing, doesn’t it? Maybe you hate running, but you love skipping rope. Don’t run a 5k, but you can learn every rope-trick in the book. If you love the clang on the weights and the feeling of micro-tears in your muscle, hit the weights! Each of our goals are different; don’t be scared to experiment or to be wrong. Just do something. Something always beats nothing.
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