Benefits of home fitness

The biggest benefit of home fitness is that it essentially uses very low decision-making costs and time costs to help ordinary people transform "exercise" from a "task" that needs to be specially arranged into a daily living habit - and for people with different needs, its adaptability is much higher than the traditional gym model.

I followed the trend and got a three-year fitness card a few years ago, and I went less than 20 times in total. Looking back now, the start-up costs every time I go are really too high: I have to pack a change of clothes and bathing supplies in advance, I have to be stuck in traffic for 20 minutes on the road, and I have to queue up in front of the elliptical machine and dumbbell rack in the gym during the rush hour, waiting for my turn, and half of the enthusiasm for exercise I have saved all the way has been used up. It's like an APP that requires you to watch a 30-second advertisement when you open it. Originally, I only wanted to use the two-minute function, but after a long time of tossing, I lost interest.

Of course, there are also many fitness enthusiasts who complain that home fitness has no atmosphere and no equipment. They lie on the sofa and scroll through their mobile phones while practicing, which is purely for self-comfort. This is not unreasonable. I have a friend who bought a yoga mat without dismantling it. It has been gathering dust for half a year and just sold it on Xianyu. If your goal is to achieve results in three major events and prepare for bodybuilding competitions, then the adjustable dumbbells and elastic bands at home will definitely not be able to meet your needs. The professional equipment and training atmosphere of the gym are indeed irreplaceable.

But if you observe carefully, you will find that for the 90% of ordinary people who just want to maintain body fat, improve the shoulder, neck and lower back pain caused by sitting for a long time, and lose some belly fat, the advantages of home fitness are really too painful. When I first got into fitness, I always felt like everyone was looking at me when I went to the gym wearing tight pants. If I didn’t do the deadlift correctly, I was afraid of being approached by a personal trainer to sell me. But I didn’t worry about it when I practiced at home. If Pamela made a mistake in a jump, she would just collapse on the ground and drink an ice coke and wait for two minutes. You can do it again if you want, and no one is watching to find your mistakes. For social terror, this is worth all the "fare".

Not to mention the flexibility in time. My current colleague, a programmer, gets home from get off work at almost 8 o'clock every day. If he were asked to change clothes and go to the gym, then take a shower and go home after training, he would probably have to work hard until 11 o'clock, and he would not be energetic at work the next day. Now he spreads a yoga mat in front of the TV in the living room, and plays fitness videos while eating. As soon as the bowl is put away, he can follow it with 20 minutes of core training. If he is in good condition, he will add 10 minutes of dumbbell shoulder press. If he is in poor condition, he will practice Ba Duan Jin for 15 minutes to loosen his muscles and bones. There is no need to rush for the group class time in the gym, and there is no need to work hard to make up for the "fitness time". He practiced this way during the lockdown last year. The lumbar muscle strain that he often suffered before has not hurt him for half a year now.

I also tried to exercise at home for two months last winter. At that time, it was minus ten degrees outside and I really didn’t want to go out to get some air. I just relied on a pair of 15kg adjustable dumbbells and a yoga mat. I practiced four times a week. In two months, my body fat rate dropped by 2%. During the physical examination, the previously high triglyceride levels returned to the normal range. To be honest, I used to think that practicing at home was just nonsense. Only after I tried it did I realize that as long as the movements are standard and consistent, the effect is really not much worse than going to the gym. There is something even more "wild" around me. I didn't even buy dumbbells, so I relied on two 5-liter mineral water bottles filled with water as weights. In three months, my waist circumference shrank by 6 centimeters. In the summer, I could still fit a fist into my waist when I wore jeans that were so tight before.

Oh, yes, there is another benefit that is easily overlooked: after exercising at home for a long time, you will gradually find an exercise rhythm that suits you, and you will not be tied down by the "clock-in anxiety" of the gym. You don’t have to walk a few kilometers to get enough exercise steps in your circle of friends, and you don’t have to compete with others on bench press weights. If you are tired today, do 5 minutes of stretching, and tomorrow if you are energetic, run on the stepper for half an hour. Follow your own physical condition, and it will be easier to persist in the long term.

Of course, this does not mean that home fitness is perfect. If you have poor self-control and want to touch your phone after practicing for two minutes, then place a yoga mat directly next to the sofa and do a few glute bridges and sets of shoulder external rotation while watching a TV show. It is better than standing still. To put it bluntly, whether you practice at home or go to the gym, the essence is to make yourself more comfortable. If you feel that the ritual of going out for fitness can make you more motivated, then the gym is of course a good choice. However, if you are afraid of trouble and don’t have much time, home fitness is definitely the best solution for you to stick to the exercise - after all, exercise that can be sustained for a long time is the exercise that is really good for you.