You’ve got an elliptical or a Bowflex or whatever sitting in your rec room…do you actually use it, or is it gathering dust? Do you find you exercise a lot more than when you had to make yourself go to a gym?
Yes. I go to the gym for weight training a couple days a week, and use cardio-type equipment at home, when watching a show or lecture. I still get exercise on days when I don’t have the time or the energy to go to the gym, and the weather is too bad to go outdoors.
Yes: I have a treadmill on my porch, and if I bail out on trail running my punishment is to use that boring thing instead. Never fails.
I use my home exercise equipment. I have x amount of time to exercise. Anything that leaves more of x available as actual exercise (as opposed to getting to the gym, changing there, etc.) is a good thing. Plus I can exercise without leaving the child who is still just too young to leave home alone for very long by herself when I am on homefront shift. And of course no waiting for equipment.
Now of course I have no desire at all to make a gym or health club or exercise at all part of my social life. For some that is a motivator. I can see the advantage of getting coached in a gym setting and have considered trying out a local CrossFit gym just for that purpose … but the times don’t fit my schedule so well while my basement does.
My guess is that someone who leaves the home equipment collecting dust is also going to be letting the monthly credit card fee for the gym go through without hardly ever going. If they can get motivated to get on that which is in the home, they certainly aren’t going to travel as well.
I use the exercise bike every day at home. I don’t go to a gym.
I had, and used, a Soloflex for many years. At present, I have and regularly use a set of kettlebells and a heavy punching bag. My family YMCA membership, OTOH, is basically a charitable donation to the Y.
We had an exercise bike once. It was a clothes-collector. I did use it a few times, but frankly, it was not comfortable.
I would like to have a treadmill - I’d walk in front of the TV for sure. Maybe I’ll find a good deal on a used one some day…
I have weeks when I use my cross trainer four times, and weeks when I use it to hang a towel on. It’s still been a better investment than the six months of gym membership I bought that one time, as I can use it when I want, watching what I want, plus I get a towel rack.
Yup, I bought a spin bike around 12-13 years ago, and it gets used a lot in the winter. Not so much in the summer, when I can go outside and bike, but both Mr. Athena and I use it several times a week in between biking and ski/snowshoe season.
It’s a good workout, I have it set up in a nice room (not in a corner in a dingy basement) and we have lots of entertainment options (TV/DVD/Internet) for when we ride. I think all those are the key - I’ve found that watching series, like older seasons of the Sopranos or Mad Men - actually encourage me to get on the bike.
Our rower/bike get used every night in the winter. In the summer it’s a dust collector.
It more than makes up the cost in the winter. During the summer I’d rather be outside; however, given the heat so far this season, it may be used more this summer than it has been previously.
My TM broke, but I used it.
Got a bike, 20-30 min a day (morning and evening sessions), try to shoot for -500 calories total (tho I know their formulas for calculating that are probably inaccurate). Been using it for a year to very good effect.
I would use an elliptical at home if:
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It were gym-quality, like the ones at my gym. I’m a huge person and don’t trust the dinky little ones.
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If gym-quality machines were cheaper. We had a thread in the past year about someone buying one for home use, I think it was around $3k used? My gym membership is $200/year so it’d take over 10 years to make up the cost.
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The gym wasn’t my only excuse to get out of the house every day. It would be most handy to save the 30 mins/day commuting to the gym but since I work from home and live alone, if I was also exercising at home I’d probably go crazy.
I could definitely see me putting to use equipment in my home. But I don’t think I should!
I ride my stationary bike 30 minutes every morning unless I have to be somewhere early, which means I ride 4 -5 time a week.
Although I slack off once in a while, mostly our treadmill sees steady and increasing use - I used to aim for 30 minutes a day of a brisk uphill run, but a year or so ago I upped it to 45 minutes/day.
I’ll sometimes go for several weeks and barely use it, if I’m busy or traveling. But mostly I use it 4-6 times/week.
It was a great investment - it was bought 9 years ago and I’m sure we’ve run many thousands of miles on it.
I also have free weights but those see very little use, I’m afraid. It’s strictly lack of time - if I weren’t working, I’d use them.