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I was getting up at 5am and going to the gym near my home at least three times each week for more than a year before the virus closed the gym. We have some basi

I was getting up at 5am and going to the gym near my home at least three times each week for more than a year before the virus closed the gym. We have some basic equipment at home (exercise bands, jump ropes, etc.) and plenty of space. Exercising at home started out OK, but I have dwindled off to next to nothing. I greatly look forward to returning to the gym when it is safe to do so. I can see how a more extensive piece of equipment could lead to more consistency, but I am not willing to spend the money to find out. Companies that will rely largely on subscription services would need to get creative to keep me on board.

delfinom 6y ago
Alot of what makes physical gyms work are just that, they are physical spaces that (a) you at minimum to traveling there out of routine (b) you just spent that time getting there, better work out instead of getting back on that tempting couch or bed 2 miles back at home ;) I've only ever seen working out at home long term for very disciplined people and it's not large group either.
- nkozyra 6y ago
  Well also, critically, variety of exercise. I have a dip station and a bench and some dumbbells. You can get maybe 30-40 exercises out of that and bodyweight exercises. It gets old quick. I'd love to do cable stuff or step machine, etc.
  - com2kid 6y ago
    For me it is seeing the results. I'll happily do the same 6 motions for months if I keep seeing improvement. IMHO learning proper motion takes so long that after working out constantly for 8 years, I don't think I'm confident that I know 40 different strength training motions to a sufficient degree. Heck I was benching for a year before I got /good/ at it. (This was before the plethora of YT fitness videos, it is much easier to learn now!)
- nmfisher 6y ago
  As someone who's averaged 5 days a week in exercise for the past 13 years now, even I worry about losing discipline if I switched from a commercial gym to a home gym. The commute (which has always been a short walk, jog or cycle for me) has curiously always become part of the routine. It'd be interesting to see relative drop-out rates for home-gym-goers vs commercial-gym-goers. I suspect the former is far higher. It's probably not as important from a commercial perspective though. A sale's a sale, no matter if the equipment never gets used.

delfinom 6y ago

Alot of what makes physical gyms work are just that, they are physical spaces that (a) you at minimum to traveling there out of routine (b) you just spent that time getting there, better work out instead of getting back on that tempting couch or bed 2 miles back at home ;) I've only ever seen working out at home long term for very disciplined people and it's not large group either.

nkozyra 6y ago
Well also, critically, variety of exercise. I have a dip station and a bench and some dumbbells. You can get maybe 30-40 exercises out of that and bodyweight exercises. It gets old quick. I'd love to do cable stuff or step machine, etc.
- com2kid 6y ago
  For me it is seeing the results. I'll happily do the same 6 motions for months if I keep seeing improvement. IMHO learning proper motion takes so long that after working out constantly for 8 years, I don't think I'm confident that I know 40 different strength training motions to a sufficient degree. Heck I was benching for a year before I got /good/ at it. (This was before the plethora of YT fitness videos, it is much easier to learn now!)
nmfisher 6y ago
As someone who's averaged 5 days a week in exercise for the past 13 years now, even I worry about losing discipline if I switched from a commercial gym to a home gym. The commute (which has always been a short walk, jog or cycle for me) has curiously always become part of the routine. It'd be interesting to see relative drop-out rates for home-gym-goers vs commercial-gym-goers. I suspect the former is far higher. It's probably not as important from a commercial perspective though. A sale's a sale, no matter if the equipment never gets used.