People always think that to build a great physique you must go to the gym for hours as a time, several times a week. People think that if you want to get the body you want you need to be able to afford those expensive gym memberships. Well I'm here to say that it's all lies. So the classic battle between home workouts without weights and the traditional gym workouts are up for discuss again. Hopefully I'll shed some more light on the two and tell you why you can get the body you want with either method.

Benefits Of A Home Workout Routine Without Weights

These sorts of workouts can help you build muscle if you place enough stress on the muscles during the workout. Although you can do this with just your bodyweight, equipment like resistance bands and weighted vests help tremendously. The idea is to exhaust the muscles so you cannot perform another rep of the exercise as this ensures when the muscle repairs itself it does so so it can handle that strain again. This is how you get your muscle to grow bigger and stronger.

This is where the equipment helps. You can tire your muscles out quicker, and therefore your muscles will repair bigger and stronger as they tired out too quickly. This is why in a traditional gym routine you see sets with up to 5 reps for strength workouts. Tire the muscle out quickly and the greater the strength gains. As you get stronger, the muscles will increase in size.

Another benefit of these workouts are the fact they can be performed anywhere, not just at home. No need to have to make your way to a gym just to do your workout. Because you don't have any equipment you can move from each exercise in your routine with ease, unlike at a gym where you might have to set up machines or wait for someone to finish. With bodyweight exercises you can perform an equivalently workout in a fraction of the time.

The major benefit of bodyweight workouts are the fantastic fat burning opportunities with every workout. You can set your metabolism on fire with a short 20-30 minute workout because of the lack of rest between exercises. Like I've mentioned, you don't need any equipment so you can perform circuits with no rest and keep the work rate high and not waste any time getting ready for your next set/exercise.

I bet in the gym you spend alot of time sitting there or waiting to use a piece of equipment...

Keep the rest periods short and the work rate high and you'll turn your body into a fat blasting furnace. These sorts of workouts are typically known as HIIT workouts, or High Intensity Interval Training.

Benefits Of A Gym Based Workout

One of the great benefits of going to the gym, in my eyes anyway, is the lack of distraction. If you're working out at home you have everything around you to distract you. Whereas when you're at the gym you are there for one thing... To whoop your own butt in a sweat inducing workout. So long as you aren't being the little socialite and spend most of your time talking to other gym goers.

Most gyms also have fitness classes you can attend for free as part of your gym memberships. These are great because if you are the sort of person that gives in easy, you're more likely to stick one of these workouts. If there are 15-20 other people in the room who are swimming in their own sweat, would you be the only person there who is slacking and refusing to do the workout. No! You'd stick it out so people don't think you're lazy.

If you're this sort of person, I'd recommend trying out a class at a gym and see if that helps your motivation. I've worked with people who have done this and then found that they actually enjoyed it and found they had more motivation to do their workouts at home too.

What Can We Take From This

Both methods can get you results you want. Both can build muscle, both can burn fat, both can improve your cardio. To me, it all comes down to your level of commitment and drive to do your workouts.

If you're the sort of person who is self-motivated to do your own workouts and make sure you make time to get them done, then I cannot see why you wouldn't choose to workout at home. Save yourself the money on the monthly gym memberships and spend it on the right nutrition or on some new gym swag.

If you're the sort of person that needs that kick up the butt then I recommend trying out a few classes at your local gym. Most have a pay as you go plan so you don't have to pay out a monthly membership just to try it out. The gym is a great place if you're easily distracted from doing your workouts. Go there, stick your headphones in then kill your workout. If you find the motivation to workout at home too, you can do that. Find some good bodyweight exercises to make a routine to do at home.

Either way, you can get your workouts done. You just need to find the right ways to motivate yourself so you do get your workouts done. I hope you find what works for you. If you have any questions, leave them below!