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A couple of years ago, had someone suggested to me that I skip my gym membership and work out at home, I would never have considered it.  I was convinced that I didn’t have the self-discipline to work out at home…that I needed to carry myself to the ‘sweat mecca’ in order to get myself to exercise.  There were some great things that I got out of the gym membership back then… group exercise classes, an almost confusingly wide array of strength training equipment and the collective energy of the hundreds of others that were sweating away with me.

It’s true that I often didn’t get to the gym as often as I’d planned…for a whole host of reasons.  First, with an average commute of 30 minutes each way (in traffic), and a minimum of one hour at the gym (meaning 30 minutes actually working out and the other 30 minutes changing, locking up my stuff, showering, changing again), my typical roundtrip gym journey cost me 2 – 3 hours per day.  On days when I was short on time or had other things going on after work, I simply didn’t get there.  On other days, I was wiped from work and didn’t have energy to battle the traffic.  On still other days, I was emotionally drained and didn’t want to battle the mobs at the gym for workout space and equipment.  Still, I was convinced that there was no way around it – workouts had to occur at the gym.  I believed there was just no way I would hold myself responsible to work out at home.

Ultimately my work hours increased, and I knew I could no longer sacrifice the 2 hours per day every day.  I knew I needed to try doing home workouts some of the time in order to fit in my workout schedule on very full days.  So, I set up my home gym.

Something changed when I started working out at home…I realized this was SO much more convenient!  So much so that I found I no longer went to the gym at all and just worked out at home.  So, I quit the gym!

Whether or not you love working out at the gym, setting up a home gym can make sense in a variety of ways for women.  Let’s look at 10 reasons to set up a simple home gym today.

1) Alongside your Gym Membership

Having a gym membership and a home gym is the ultimate in versatility.  Having everything you need right there at home will leave you no excuse NOT to do your workout, even on super busy days.  It’s amazing what you can do in just 15 (super challenging) minutes at home.  On gym days, you can challenge yourself by using the specialized equipment there that you don’t have at home!

2) Save Cash

If you are watching your budget, a home gym is a great way to save money since you make a one-time investment in the equipment and then use it for the long run.  The average gym membership costs at least $1000 per year.  A basic home gym setup can cost as little as $200!

3) Better Workouts

Although it may seem counterintuitive, many women find that they work out harder at home than they do at the gym.  It’s true!  When we know no one is watching (except for maybe a curious husband or kid), we can let loose and feel more comfortable grunting, sweating, stumbling, getting red-faced or just falling down exhausted.  We’re also more likely to try out new things we’re not sure we’re capable of doing, and that at first might not be so graceful!

4) Hygiene

When we work out at home, it’s nice to know that they only germs on our workout equipment are our own.  We also have control over how our equipment is cleaned and how often!  At the gym, you can be at risk for colds and flus, as well as fungus and other skin infections.

5) Healthy Recovery

When we work out at home, we also have our post workout recovery routine right there with us.  A couple of steps to the fridge gets us a healthy protein-packed post-workout snack.  Ice packs are there in the freezer if we need them.  A warm germ-free shower awaits us, already equipped with our shampoo, soap and face wash.

6) No Waits

At home, you’ve got the equipment you need, right when you need it, right where you can find it, without having to wait for someone else to finish using it or alternate sets with a meathead.

7) Save Time

Since your workout clothes, your workout itself and your shower and gear are right there at home, you’re saving a ton of time.  However long your workout is, that’s your time commitment.  No commute, no traffic, no looking for parking spots, no digging around for your shampoo and underpants in your big old gym bag.

8 ) Flexibility

While I do recommend actually scheduling your home workout on your daily calendar, the beauty of the home gym, is that the workout can happen anytime you want – be it at 4:00 a.m. or 11:00 p.m. on days when there’s no other option.

Give home workouts a try, at least part of the time.  You’ll be glad you did, and you might even find you like them better than the gym!  Looking for a great home workout program that will get you the results you want without a huge time commitment?  Give Athlean-XX for Women a try!  The workouts are just 30 minutes long, but they’ll get you twice the results!  Each workout is a challenging circuit routine that combines strength training and fat-blasting cardio to get you lean and toned in no time.  Each day we work a different set of muscles, and there are three workouts for each muscle group: one DVD workout and two gym workout cards, so you can do Athlean-XX for Women at home OR at the gym!  If you’re ready to start your fitness makeover today, join us on Team Athlean!

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