To Gym Or Not To Gym For Muscle Building or Fat Loss?

Most who pursue muscle mass gains or fat loss feel that joining a gym is a prerequisite, and so, following a rather food friendly December, millions crowd the lobbies of local gyms, signing up for a multi-year membership, believing that they've just taken the first step towards a bodybuilding or fat loss transformation. But if we consider the number of people who actually continue attending the gym following their contractual commitment, we find that the once excited patron fueled with zeal for substantial change suddenly fails to walk through the gym's front door as February approaches.

Most believe that sloth is the natural enemy that prevents most from pursuing a pattern of muscle gain or fat loss consistency, and never analyze whether in fact the gym environment itself may sap motivation for many, eventually causing most to quit the pursuit of muscle gain or fat loss completely.

But why? Is it possible for the gym to actually reduce motivation, when in fact such an environment should be helpful towards achieving significant results? The true reasons will be found within the first few workouts, and clearly becomes one of the primary reasons why most lose their toleration for gym attendance long before achieving their physical fitness goals.

Let's pretend that you are prepared for an intense weight training workout, and you encounter numerous friends who decide to attend at the same time as you. What will likely happen now? Will they experience the best weight training and aerobic workout of the year, or will the next hour that follows focus upon discussing last night's Monday Night Football showdown? Let's instead assume you attend the gym and happen not to locate any acquaintances, but as you scan the territory, quickly sense that every machine you need for your weight training workout is occupied, with a 10+ minute wait for each. Do you think this will lead to an effective weight training workout, or encourage a visit to the neighborhood drive thru to try and gorge the mounting frustration away?

Also, let's not neglect the most many additional common excuses to skip the gym for a day, such as bad weather (five feet of unexpected snow fall might make navigating the freeway inconvenient), automobile breakdown (a flat tire always interferes with melting a spare tire!), and traffic jams (shouldn't be late for dinner)! Some may say that these obstacles cannot occur regularly, but once momentum is hampered, and even one workout is missed, the mind becomes far more accepting of the next skipped bodybuilding workout, and this attitude will soon lead to another habit, one which is much more enjoyable; furniture sitting, without the distraction of a gym visit for your weight training workout.

So, what is the alternative? I perform my weight training in my basement, having built over 60 pounds of muscle mass and lost 50 pounds of body fat, without a gym membership, proving that neither muscle increase nor fat loss requires waiting in line for machines or paying expensive bodybuilding gym fees. In fact, my muscle building success was achieved in my own basement, with basic weight training equipment, and I was able to achieve far more discipline with my weight training workout routine than most who must contend with the inconvenient gym environment, specifically because I am in control of my surroundings, and can eliminate distractions that interfere with my ability to perform my weight training workout session.

I am not claiming that achieving a bodybuilding caliber physique or producing consistent fat loss is impossible through gym training, as many with such memberships produce excellent results, but for those who have the option to invest in some basic weight training equipment, I believe doing so is extremely convenient, offers no distractions, and is far less expensive over a several year period than joining a local gym. Achieving success in muscle gain or weight loss is in great part due to mental concentration, a factor which suffers greatly when subjected to an unpredictable group of circumstances, and this is why I have always opted for training at home, and achieved extremely impressive muscle gains and fat loss progress specifically because I have always been able to proceed with my weight training workouts in a systematic, controlled fashion.

Don't frown upon performing your weight training workout sessions at home until you've experienced the inconveniences of attending a gym, but if you decide to join a local gym facility, please make sure not to sign a long term membership until you have regularly trained for three months and have proven to yourself that the distractions and roadblocks will not interfere with remaining committed to your weight training workout routine.