Are Gyms Stupid?

I belonged to a gym for years, actually gave up before the first lockdown and haven't gone back yet.
I have been keeping up with yoga and going out in nature as much as i can to walk and cycle. I miss swimming but too much of a wuss to go in a river or whatever until the weather gets nicer again.

Gyms have their place, and if you are fortunate to be able to go at unpopular times like me they needn't be crowded. As for hygiene - just wipe down before and after as necessary and wash your hands before eating something (and have shower after of course), it's not a health risk even if it makes you feel a bit icky.
Gyms are great because you can measure your progress (and you will make progress), and youre a lot less likely to injure yourself compared to heaving a tyre or log about your back yard or whatever. And if you do injure yourself, or have an old injury, you can exercise in a way that will protect it by using machines etc. Should be staff their who can advise if you go somewhere decent.

So they have their place, although personally i'm in no rush to go back.

 

I broke all my strength records in my home gym, which is in a garage so basically outside with fresh air if the door is open.

I noticed that I have much better concentration in the home gym. In a normal gym, all those people walking around cause distraction. I also have trouble breathing there sometimes because not enough oxygen.

I also did lots of exercise outside with push ups, various exercises with a dumbbell and also HIIT sprinting. Also swimming in the sea is 1000x better than swimming in a pool for many reasons. But I don’t live near the sea so can’t do it too often.

 

Great topic.

I spent 1 year at a gym. It was motivating and sometimes social, but there were too many downsides.

- bad hygiene not just on equipment but change rooms/toilets
- athletes and body builders hogging the equipment
- getting in my car after a workout on a hot day is not fun lol
- girls in gym outfits were an unnecessary distraction...

I now workout at home with a bullworker. Can take my time, have any food I want right after, and got better gains for it!

I have also found, however, that when I do some manual labour like gardening or moving crap outside, it really compliments the structured gym style exercises.

The mix of fresh air, vitamin D, and moving your muscles in various ways rather than a set rep is probably great for physical and mental health!

 

Yes the food right after is also a big plus in the home gym, and I forgot to mention being able to put up my own music loud. Heavy metal! In the gym they often put up music that fits better as elevator music or hip hop with ridiculous lyrics. And no metal through headphones it’s not the same

 

Ah yes the music... There were always the same songs on a loop. At home I'll control the music and volume thanks!

 

Gyms aren't stupid, I like the gym I go to but it's weird you're thinking about all these irrelevant reasons for why a gym isn't ideal but ignore the one reason to go to the gym, to get stronger, build muscle and be healthy.


I like outdoors and I've trained outside, I like calisthenics too, you've made it into a either or situation where you can't like both, yeah you can build a great physique with gymnastic rings and calisthenics but they usually ignore legs and there is only so much you can do for them outside of a gym setting.

Nothing outside beats a barbell back squat in terms of leg development.

Anyway, you should just do what you like, I personally like everything, it all works, it's just down to your preference and what's optimal.


Reading your post feels to me like you're shitting on one of my friends for another of my friends.

Put respect on the gym and if it's not for you then don't go there.

 

I used to workout at home for many years. It had its advantages and disadvantages, which I won't list them all. I also have taken my workouts outdoors and enjoyed that too. Getting some sun and fresh air is always a good idea. I'll still do that sometimes when the weather is good. But my preferred method is going to a gym. The biggest reason is my focus is just not as good at home as it is in the gym.

Another big reason why I prefer the gym is the access to all the equipment. When I worked out at home I only space for dumbbells and resistance bands, which worked great, but there were a lot of things I could not do at home that i can do at the gym. Maybe I would feel different about that if I had the space to set up a garage gym and get all the equipment I would want.

Another big benefit of the gym for me is the social aspect. Sure the crowds suck, but living alone, one thing I learned with Covid lockdowns was how much of the social aspect I got from going to the office and the gym. When the gyms reopened and I went back it felt like seeing long lost friends.

There really is no right or wrong way for someone to workout. You go to the gym, that's great. You workout at home, that's great. You workout outdoors, that's great. And if your routine includes a combination of all 3, that's great too. The most important thing is to find something you enjoy and stick with it.

 

Sure working outside is nice. But here in Finland it is not ideal the whole year around. I have done body weight exercises and after a while if not starting to go all out calisthenics I require additional weight. I think that a mix of added weight, body weight and cardio exercises with plenty of walking and doing stuff is the best option for me. I do agree with you that going to a commercial gym is not the greatest experience, especially during this pandemic. I am fortunate enough to have a small gym in our apartment complex, before moving here I would do exercises in outdoor gym with my own body weight. So I think it all comes down preference. I remember working out -20c and it was fine by me but I am sure that not everyone wants to work out in a rain or when it is freezing outside. Stuff like deadlifts and squats tend to need additional weight that usually only exists in gyms, if one does not want to spend a fortune buying their own set.

 

In the future I want to learn handstands, front lever, pistol squats, muscle up etc, I also want to learn how to dunk a basketball so I'll be doing training specific towards raising my vertical jump in the future.

I'm thinking of maybe even go a period where I only do rings for my upper body, I bought rings last year and trained 3 months outside using only bodyweight, but right now I just want to get strong and build muscle.

 

Haha one just needs to wear enough clothes and its fine.

 

Gym is for Darwinist cucks and their brain just work as primitive spirit-less animals.
They do gym because they want to feel the predominant alpha male subject, as you said, they stay in their small territory for hours and hours and do the same thing and you can't pick the gym tools in their territory, because they see you as a competitor.
And a lot of these just want to show they are better than everyone, they receive a lot of adrenalyne just because they suggested themself to think everyone will see them as divine humans (they watched too much hercules and 300) and they scrape you like they want to make you feel weak. "Bro i'm just here for make my legs strong i don't fucking care about you4 cuck byciptes. Better exit and go run do some exercices at home like pushups instead of ear gorilla screams at gym.

 

This was just for trigger people bro, don't worry.