The Best Reasons to Work Out at Home, According to Our Readers

The Best Reasons to Work Out at Home, According to Our Readers
Contributor: Beth Skwarecki

Working out at home has been a big change for many of us. Even if you’ve had a home gym for years, pandemic fitness is just different. Not long ago we asked readers, what have you actually liked about working out at home? The answers were thoughtful and, honestly, inspirational. So here’s a tour of some of the best things about home workouts.

No excuses

While some people have trouble working out even when the gym is right there, others managed to make the convenience work for them. With fewer demands on your time, you have to face the fact that the only thing standing between you and your workout is the willingness to lace your shoes and walk across the room.

As we’ve written before, motivation doesn’t always require big plans and big emotions. Sometimes all you need to do is remove a few barriers (like that commute) and commit to starting small.

[referenced id=”842143″ url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2018/06/how-to-motivate-yourself-to-exercise-every-morning/” thumb=”https://www.gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/06/22/x1a63igvvcnzpaofgbkt-300×169.jpg” title=”How To Motivate Yourself To Exercise Every Morning” excerpt=”Long before I noticed any fitness benefits of doing burpees every morning, I noticed something else: I really, really, did not want to get out of bed. Because once I got out of bed, I would have to do my burpees.”]

You can make as much mess and noise as you want

Curl in the squat rack? What is this world coming to?

The truth is, the rules of gym etiquette are there to make life easier for others. If you’re the only person in your basement, you absolutely can curl anywhere you want. You can drop the weights. You can drag every bench and barbell and pad to wherever it’s most convenient to do hip thrusts, and nobody is going to stop you. As an inveterate bar-dropper, I approve this message.

No one else is curling in the squat rack

The flip side of being able to be a jerk in your home gym is that nobody else is there to be the jerk in your home gym. You can finally escape the awful music, the people who don’t clean up after themselves, and the guy who always snags the good barbell clips before you can get to them.

You can start small

Without other people, there’s nobody to judge you but yourself. If you worry you’d look silly only doing a short workout, then so be it. Nobody is there but you! And a small habit can easily snowball into a more consistent one.

[referenced id=”1033828″ url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2020/12/consistency-is-the-solution-to-most-of-your-fitness-problems/” thumb=”https://www.gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/10/20/hpwnw7aenn6ouwdxf4q0-300×169.jpg” title=”Consistency Is the Solution to Most of Your Fitness Problems” excerpt=”I work out every day. I don’t really get sore. I don’t worry if I have to miss a workout. I make progress over time. I have good days at the (home) gym, but I almost never have bad days. My secret, while effective, is extremely boring. It is, simply,…”]

No creeps

Enough said.

Home workouts are now the norm

If you had a hard time getting into home workouts before, give it another try — the pandemic has changed the whole landscape. As ForTheWebs notes, online workout programs are now often written with home exercisers in mind.

New challenges to explore

Several readers mentioned that they changed the focus of their workouts when they changed locations. Folks are out here strengthening their cores, amping up their cardio, and even doing frickin’ dragon flags. Amazing.

[referenced id=”1027945″ url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2020/09/what-to-do-when-youre-bored-of-your-home-workout/” thumb=”https://www.gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/09/23/qnfml5blynzjmfqaqpqh-300×169.jpg” title=”What to Do When You’re Bored of Your Home Workout” excerpt=”It’s been over six months since gyms first closed, and if you never returned, you’re probably pretty sick of pushups and chipper YouTube workout instructors by now. Maybe you already fell off the wagon and are wondering how you can motivate yourself to climb back on.”]


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