Gym Rat vs At-Home Fitness

I am (was) an admitted gym rat.  I love(d) the gym.  I love walking in to the spacious building, smelling the sweat/cleaning solution combo, listening to the humming of the treadmills, grunting of the muscle-heads, clang of the weights, and up-beat music blasting from the aerobics room.  I love "competing" with the unsuspecting person next to me on the elliptical, showing off my strength on the chin-up bar, and using the ONLY machine that will isolate those pesky inner and outer thighs (you know the one I'm talking about).  I love socializing with the people I know, slightly nodding at the familiar faces I see every single day, yet do not know, and probably never will.  And...dare I say it?  I like feeling attractive at the gym, I like a wee bit of attention and RESPECTFUL admiration.  Am I allowed to admit that?  Well I just did because it's the truth.  The point is, I feel at home in a gym.  All through college and in the few years after college (before I got married), I spent a LOT of time in the gym first as an athlete, then as a personal trainer.

When I became a Beachbody coach, I was very unsure of how I would enjoy at-home fitness.  Going to a gym gave me something to do, something to look forward to, and a sense of community.  Working out at home with my DVD player wouldn't give me any of that.  Skeptically, I pressed play to my first workout of P90X3 with Tony Horton.  When I wasn't rolling my eyes at his corny sense of humor, I was gasping for breath, sweating bullets, and grunting painfully through the workout.  I became a believer.  What's more, it literally took me 30 minutes from start to finish.  

Here's the thing, there are days where I pushed myself at the gym.  There are days where I gave myself a heck of a workout.  But if I'm being honest, most days, I did my thirty minutes of elliptical, a few lunges and pull-ups, looked around, socialized, and called it day.  Even as a personal trainer, knowing exactly what to do and how to do it, I STILL didn't do it.  I did not push myself, and rarely had someone else to...(except the unsuspecting person on the treadmill who was running faster than I was and for longer...WHAT?!)  

The DVDs I have since used (P90X3, T25, and PiYo) challenge me way more than I ever challenge myself.  Tony Horton, Shaun T, and Chalene Johnson may not actually be with me in person, but boy do they push me through the TV.  I find myself talking to them as if they were there, and working out like they could actually see me.  

Do I still love the gym?  Yes.  Will I ever go back to working out at a gym?  Absolutely.  But I am SOLD on Beachbody's at-home fitness DVDs, as well.  Even if you are gym rat like me, they are perfect for those days when you won't have time to drive to the gym, check in, wait for your machine, go to the bathroom, make small talk with an acquaintance, and drive home.  Incorporating quality and effective workout DVDs in to your normal routine could give your body and metabolism the change-up and boost it needs.  

I look forward to walking in to a gym again and enjoying the variety and community it provides, but at-home fitness will always play a role in my workout regimen.