Going to the gym is one of the many resolutions people make at the start of every year to keep fit and be healthy. Exercising at the gym enables you to keep fit, socialize and get access to a wide variety of equipment and machines. While there are several advantages to go to the gym, there are people who prefer to train at the comfort of their home and own a home gym. Provided you have the necessary space, setting up your own home gym has several benefits and can be quite fun.

Depending on your goals, your investment will vary but usually it’s a good idea to have weights and a bench and you can perform a great number of exercises. In fact you can have a full body workout with just weights provided you know the exercises. You can either buy a set of weights or adjustable weights which don’t take much space. A treadmill, elliptical trainer or stationary bike is optional but if you want to add some cardio training in your workout, you can buy one.

A great alternative apart investing in a bench and weights is to invest in a multi-function complete home gym machine like the Bowflex Home Gym Machines or the Nautilus Home Gym. The big advantage with these machines is that you already know what exercises you can do thanks to the training guides and it’s more convenient and easier notably for beginners. Also, it’s not very difficult to fit in a room if you have the adequate space.

Here are a few benefits of owning a home gym:

(1) If you’re the kind to train alone without any distractions and serious about making progress, a home gym is better suited for you as there are less chances in getting disturbed. At the gym, you might get engaged in conversations which can take several minutes and you wouldn’t want to wait 5 minutes before doing your next set when your muscles are already warmed up and pumped. Rest time between sets should be 45-60 seconds.

(2) No need to pay ongoing gym membership fees. Gym memberships don’t come cheap nowadays and to exercise and keep fit, you need to pay your membership constantly. Once you stop paying, you stop exercising. With a home gym, you invest only once and you can train as much as you want. This is really a big benefit.

(3) Save on gas. If your gym is far away from home, you need to spend on transport or gas. With a home gym, it’s in your own house so there is no need to travel. Once you reach home from work, you can exercise right away.

(4) No worry about bad weather. When the weather is rainy or gloomy, sometimes you might get discouraged to travel to the gym. There is no such thing with a home gym.

(5) Train whenever you want. No worries when the gym is closed. Your home gym is open 24/7.

(6) At the gym, it’s not obvious to listen to your favorite motivating music on loud speaker every time. In this case, you need to use your ipod with earphones. If you want to bypass this hassle and train more at ease, your home gym is way more convenient as you can listen to your favorite music on loud speaker every time.

(7) Some gyms are crowded and sometimes you need to wait before using a certain machine or equipment, hence this can disrupt your workout session. With your home gym, there is no waiting time and you can follow your workout as planned.

(8) With your home gym, there is more hygiene as it’s mostly used by you and not dozens of other people. How would you feel if you need to wipe out someone else sweat on a machine before using it?

Owning a home gym is more of a personal choice and also depends on your goals as well but still though, it’s very practical to invest in one and keep fit no matter what.