What are the advantages and disadvantages of working out in the gym?

For those who want to improve their system and are unable to assemble professional equipment at home, the gym is a real tool for improving performance. However, if the time is not fixed, social constraints, or if you only need to maintain a basic amount of activity, it can easily become useless or even an extra burden.

When I was aiming for a personal best in the deadlift, I would put up to 100kg of barbell plates at home. My neighbor came to take pictures of me three times before I even pulled it twice, saying that the chandeliers downstairs were shaking. So when I went to the gym, I just used a 200kg load-bearing rack. The coach who passed by helped me adjust the angle of my back, which was more than twice as efficient as doing it on the video. It is also friendly to novices. My colleague had an old knee injury and wanted to train his glutes. He held on to the elastic band at home for half a month. After each exercise, his legs were sore and his buttocks felt numb. I went to the gym and used a fixed hip abduction machine to adjust the appropriate weight and angle. After three weeks, he found the strength of his gluteal muscles. Not to mention the unconscious people who want to lie down on the sofa and check their mobile phones after practicing at home for 5 minutes. In the gym, everyone around them is banging and banging irons. You are too embarrassed to touch the fish for too long. If you want to take interesting classes, you can choose from trampoline, barbell exercises, and battle rope classes. A group of people can have fun together, which is much easier to persist than aerobics at home.

But if you really want to say that the gym is a must for fitness, I would be the first to disagree. My best friend got an annual pass worth RMB 3,600 last year and has gone there three times in total - she gets off work late and has to drive to the gym for 20 minutes in traffic. It takes another half an hour to change clothes and take a shower. She has to rush home after less than 40 minutes of practice to pick up her sister who is studying late at night. The time cost is ridiculously high and the money is wasted. It’s even worse when I go to a club. Last month, I saw a little girl in sportswear standing next to the Smith rack and walking around three times. Two big guys next to the rack kept chatting. She didn’t have the nerve to come forward in the end, so she just left with her bag on her back. It would be even more troublesome if you just follow the trend and practice without any foundation. There was a young man who just graduated and thought it was cool when he saw others bench pressing 100kg. He added weight without warming up, which directly tore the rotator cuff. It took him three months to raise his arm. There is also the issue of hygiene in public areas. I was too lazy to wipe away my sweat after practicing last summer. I rested my arm on an unsterilized dumbbell rack and developed a patch of folliculitis. It lasted almost two weeks before it healed.

To put it bluntly, there is no absolute good or bad, it all depends on whether your needs match or not. If you have fixed free time, want to systematically gain muscle and lose weight, and like the atmosphere of practicing with others, the gym is definitely a cost-effective choice. If you just want to move your muscles every day, brisk walking in the park downstairs or following video aerobics at home can satisfy you. You don't have to waste money for the so-called "fitness ritual".