The Truth About Working Out At Home vs Gym

Why going to the gym is easier than at-home workouts

Here’s one of my all-time favorite questions:

Why is going to the gym easier than working out at home?

While in college in rural Iowa, I had a grizzled psychology professor who gave riveting lectures which led me to become fascinated with the applications of psychology in fitness – especially conditioning and associations. I started to ask myself:

• How can we create a positive association to exercise where people want to keep doing it?
• What negative associations do we tend to create around exercise?

One light-bulb moment was realizing the difference between gym workouts and at-home workouts.

With at-home workouts, you have a lower barrier since you don’t have to drive anywhere… change in a sweaty locker room… wait your turn for the leg press machine… or endure grunting gym rats. But for many people it’s a struggle to maintain a workout routine from home.

One reason is associations.

Think about the emotional associations attached to your living room. Most people associate relaxing… hanging out… and Netflix and chillin’ in this space. So every time you step into that room, those associations start to take over.

Now what emotions are required for working out?

Usually the opposite. Usually higher-energy emotions such as drive or determination to power through a workout and give it your best.

So when you try to work out in a space such as living room, you are mixing associations.

It’s not impossible but it’s confusing for the brain.

It’s similar to why sleep experts say don’t work on your laptop or go on your eye-phone while in bed. That’s because you are mixing up the associations of work and sleep. And it confuses your brain as to which one you are doing.

A gym can become a powerful association for nothing else but intensely lifting weights… doing light cardio… or getting your sweat on.

And the more you do it, the more you build that emotional association to that space - where your mind naturally gravitates towards those higher-intensity emotions whenever you are there.

If you prefer to skip the gym, a home gym can do the same thing.

Here’s a personal example:

A few years ago, I decided to cancel my gym membership and workout in my office. I would do strength workouts with heavy bands and a push-up plus (a more comfortable way to do band push-ups). This worked okay for a season but I noticed it was becoming a drag and required a lot of push motivation to follow through.

When I decided to create my garage gym, this all changed.

Then I had a designated space for working out where I could escape and get away from my work environment that I had been in most of the day. It became a sanctuary of sorts where just being in that space was conducive to attacking the weights… getting after it… and focusing on the present moment.

Whether it’s a gym or a home gym, create a designated space for working out and see what it does for helping you get into a routine, become more consistent and get more traction on your fitness goals.

Kelan Ern

P.S. For more ways to transform your health and fitness, check out a free issue of Mind-Body Breakthroughs. Each month features one of the fittest people on the planet and their tips, strategies and mindsets for helping you breakthrough to the next level.