Treadmill/weights at home or gym membership...wwyd?

Most treadmills & bikes at home turn into clothes racks after a couple months. With the price of gyms being so cheap like Club4 and planet fitness, it’s basically no risk to join and see how things go. If you see it’ll be an ongoing thing you’ll stick with and prefer to do it at home, then look into buying equipment.

Just my .02 because I’ve bought my share of $2000 clothes racks. I now pay $10 a month for club4 and use it six times a week

If I had the space for a small basic home gym consisting of a rack and some dumbbells, that would be the route I’d go.

I hate the big gyms. I have a small gym that I go to and it’s just the right size for me. Considering I don’t have a home gym, this is the best for me right now.

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With the price of gyms being so cheap like Club4 and planet fitness, it’s basically no risk to join and see how things go. If you see it’ll be an ongoing thing you’ll stick with and prefer to do it at home, then look into buying equipment.

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This is the answer. If you dont stick with it while paying a monthly fee you won't magically stick with it because you spent $3k.

I am a member of 24hr and pay $300 a year which lets me bring two guests so one of my teenage sons comes with me.

I guess my first two questions would be:

Have you ever had a gym membership, and have you ever had a home "gym"?

If the answer to either of those is yes, then assess how that went. Did you workout consistently with either? One more than the other?

Now, me personally, I like the idea of having both options, and with my adjustable bench and adjustable powerblock dumbbells (thank you H&F board) I can get in a pretty solid workout at home if I don't feel like going to the gym for a workout. Buuut, I much prefer going to the gym because once I'm there, I'm there. Might as well hit it hard. If I'm at home and am not feeling it, I can say frick it and go lay on the couch instead.

This leads to my final conclusion: Spend $500-$600 on adjustable dumbbells and an adjustable bench to have on hand at home, then join a gym for $10-$20 per month, and have both options available.

I'd suggest gym, because 75% of the battle for most people is just getting out the door. You could also buy two kettlebells and a workout mat, and see if you can even carve out time to get to your garage three times a week. If you fantasize that you're going to work out at home after breakfast today, tomorrow as soon as you get home from work, after you put the kids to bed Saturday, you're probably fooling yourself. It is something that almost everyone needs to have a consistent schedule for, and home gyms encourage you to think, "in a few more minutes," and you'll never get out of the chair.

Crunch fitness here is like $10 a month. Its a no brainer for me

man, i'm in almost the same boat as you.... i had a gym membership for years and would go during lunch because before and after work just didn't work out with getting kids out the door in the morning and every sports practice ever after work.

Started working from home in the fall and put my gym membership on pause and bought a bench and a set of dumbbells. I'm honestly loving having my setup at home because i can knock out a workout whenever, no need to find time to leave, workout, and come back. I did prioritize organization and i have a space for my lifting stuff. Make your workout area comfortable or you won't use it. Now my kids are getting into some body weight stuff, i want them to be excited and want to work out. And not that she's working out but my 3yo imitating me doing lunges or calf raises is the absolute cutest thing.

Since my initial dumbbell purchase i've got a set of adjustable dumbbells and now a full fledged squat rack with plate weights. This thing escalated quickly. But like i said, i use it almost every day, be it 5am if i wake up and cant go back to sleep, mid morning or mid afternoon if i catch a break, lunch time, right after work, or hell 10pm once the kids are down for the night.

You don't have to spend a ton to get started and if you end up not liking it, you're only out a few hundred bucks.

Personally i would go straight to a set of beginner adjustable dumbbells and a bench. You can get that for $300. If you actually use your stuff, upgrade and/or add that cardio machine (treadmill, rower, etc). But like someone said, it's free to run outside.

As with all things, you can go as expensive or as cheap as you want. All will get the job done.

I went the garage gym route and I’ll never go back. No drive, no waiting on a rack, set up exactly how I like it.

I don’t feel like it’s really all that limiting. I have a squat rack, 315lbs of free weights, dumbbells covering 5 to 45 lbs, and a cheap lat pull attachment that I can hang free weights on. With that I can squat, deadlift, rdl, bench, lat pull, curl, and delt raise. If there’s some magic exercise beyond those I’m missing out on, I’m not losing sleep over it.

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you aren’t committed enough to go to a nearby gym, you won’t be motivated enough to work out at home.

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I disagree, I’ve struggled to be consistent going to a gym when it means more time in traffic and when I get there I may have to stare at some a-hole curling in a squat rack, or even worse I’m the a-hole taking way too long because I want to sit and experiment with my form and I feel pressure to get out of the way.

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The gym scene isn't really something I love, and the covenience of being able to work out when I can is alluring,

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Think the OP answered own question…

I’m team home gym. Convenience is key for me. Also wife & teenager using it

Options are unlimited for set up. I got a package deal from Rogue for barbell & plates. Also got a rack from them that folds into wall however I always leave it out…