I'm thinking of joining a gym, as I'm beginning to be tempted by some of the benefits.
For a renter (like me) living in a country (like Australia, Canada, etc) with expensive and/or volatile rental markets, on a fairly basic passive income, we have to be prepared to potentially live out of hostels or very basic shared facilities. (Hasn't happened yet, touch wood, but who knows in future, if stocks tumble and inflation sets in?)
Some of the benefits include:
Obvious one: equipment to maintain and improve physical strength and overall stamina, always a good thing
Ability to keep fit even during very bad weather, e.g. long spells of heavy rain, snow in Canada. Air conditioning to exercise during extreme heat, e.g. 40+ degrees Celsius days in Australia sometimes.
Treadmill gives you a kind of nice private space to zone out and think, plan, listen to an audiobook, etc.
Electricity outlets. Not just for your phone but even a small discreet portable battery you could charge up and carry with you later, to power up your phone, laptop, electric lantern or maybe even boil a small USB kettle to make up some instant coffee on the cheap.
Showers and bathrooms. Great if you live out of a car, camper van or very basic accommodation such as hostel or large share house to save costs, which might not have the best shower facilities.
I do live out of an RV (converted school bus) and the shower at a gym has been attractive to me over the last few years. I do have access to a gym (and shower) through work but I’m using it less and less. We will go swimming at the public pool when we all really need a shower, otherwise it’s sponge baths for us. You get used to it pretty quickly.
In the summer, a short solar water heated shower is amazingly refreshing and effective. Has to generally be done in the day light hours and any wind can affect the comfort of the shower.
Anyway, I do think that some people like the gym for equipment they don’t want to have to buy, swuat racks and heavy plates. But, the biggest drawbacks are the costs and the time spent commuting to the gym.
I built a home gym. I still go to the gym. Having a place dedicated to the thing, where other people are doing the thing, is helpful. For me, critical. The focus makes up for the commute time.
The best membership trick I learned, was to join via an insurance program, instead of directly with a gym. I get access to most gyms, nationwide, for forty dollars a month. Options run as low as twenty.
Stopping can be done via the website, even pausing up to three months via the phone. No hard sells, no games.
A gym membership is a [$$] solution to a problem. If your problem is that you want to do resistance training and don’t have an area to do it in your current living/working situation, then it can be a good solution. Or if your problem is you live in a van with no shower, then it can also be a reasonable expense all things considered.
However, I would not join a gym just to do basic aerobic/anaerobic exercise like running, cycling, climbing stairs, etc. Those can easily be performed outside and provide many more benefits towards a typical ERE web of goals. I would join a gym if I wanted to get bigger/stronger/faster with progressive resistance training and didn’t have the space or equipment to do it elsewhere. You can get pretty far with body weight training, but using gym equipment will lead to faster progress especially if you are already in decent shape.
I don’t think it’s worth joining a gym in an attempt to add (non-physical) resilience to your life since gyms will close during economic downturns or other disruptions. To this day, most gyms in my area that used to be 24/7 before COVID never returned to those hours.
Charging a bunch of devices at a gym or trying to boil something is a great way to get your devices stolen or get kicked out of the gym.
Zero need for a gym membership, find merely a couple sets of kettlebells and you are set for life. You only need to do weight and strength training maybe 2 - 3x a week tops for 20-30mins each session tops.
As commented above focus on running, hiking, rucking, swimming, cycling, climbing or your favourite sport outdoors. Then also focus first and foremost on a healthy diet as the single best overall health activity you can endeavour on
I see zero need for a gym at all and I trail race and bike race competitively.
If you end up living in a hostel or in a vehicle, well maybe look at it as an extension of your housing/lifestyle arrangement at that point. Until then it is a drain on your monthly expenses and this is ERE, so my efforts/perspective are to shine a light on a leaky ship not enable buying a new boat.
What about the value of joining a gym as a third place or in order to promote social motivation? I am considering joining a 5 star strength and power training facility located just a mile from my current domicile. It would be pretty pricey, but I don't think anything is going to improve my overall optionality as a chubby 60 year old female more than making strength training my new group hobby. I don't want to diet down to flat-butt, frail-thin either. I want to be as strong and phat as possible for a female my age. According to my recent genetic testing related to athletic ability, I have a quite high potential for strength training, but a fairly low pain threshold, so I think social support might make the critical difference in my case.
I'm a bit puzzled about the expectation that gym bathroom/shower facilities are somehow better than what is found at a hostel or shared housing?!
The electrical outlets at a library would be preferred because this way you'll be sitting right next to your gadgets. I presume a hostel/shared house would have electrical outlets anyway, no? In any case, best not do the tea kettle thing. I just can't figure how that would go over well.
The only benefit of a gym would be if you like working out at gyms or you prefer the types of workouts that are only/more easily available at gyms. Oh yeah, also the social aspect. Some gyms are de facto meat markets.
The money I spend on a monthly gym membership or daily/weekly passes while traveling is the highest value per dollar I get out of all of my expenses.
Even if the cost increased significantly I would still spend the money.
The variety and quality of equipment would cost thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars to replicate in a home gym, the spaces are typically climate controlled which can be a benefit if your climate is extremely hot or cold, looooooong hot showers, a safe place to lock your belongings if you need to, and the motivational environment to push yourself.......some gyms also offer pools, saunas, steam rooms and other amenities.
Now, some people, especially newbies might find the gym environment intimidating, and that's understandable. But for the most part, the gym culture is pretty welcoming in most of the world, and I try to do my part to help others feel welcome, even if it's just a smile and nod.
It's also goal dependent. If you want to be really good at pushups and stretching, you don't need any equipment at all. If you want an efficient and proven path to some serious strength or size goals......then it's hard to beat the equipment at most commercial/private gyms.
For resistance training, you are working/paying to maintain a controlled space either way. Having a home gym in a big city can mean paying more (or giving up equivalent benefits) than an equivalent gym membership would cost. If I had room for a squat rack I'd put a laundry machine there instead.
A 24-hour gym adds some redundancy if the water, heating, electricity or internet goes out at home - all of which I've experienced and leaned on my membership to mitigate. If you're doing DIY (i.e. slow and limited-scope) renovations it could save you thousands from not needing to rent a secondary place just because you've got no washroom.
Plus, I have it on wifely authority that working out at the gym keeps the smell at the gym. Some things you can't buy...
I'm a bit puzzled about the expectation that gym bathroom/shower facilities are somehow better than what is found at a hostel or shared housing?!
The electrical outlets at a library would be preferred because this way you'll be sitting right next to your gadgets. I presume a hostel/shared house would have electrical outlets anyway, no? In any case, best not do the tea kettle thing. I just can't figure how that would go over well.
The only benefit of a gym would be if you like working out at gyms or you prefer the types of workouts that are only/more easily available at gyms. Oh yeah, also the social aspect. Some gyms are de facto meat markets.
Good tips, thanks Jacob!
Kicking myself that I didn't think of the library. Just went into one yesterday, they do indeed have power outlets, and pleasant quiet spaces to work / study.
For cooking / boiling, I guess it's probably best to rely on a hostel or similar with dedicated cooking facilities. You're right to point out that public places with an electrical outlets probably aren't cool with people doing cooking / boiling there. Better for charging devices, etc. When I lived in hostels in past years, cooking facilities were great - often even better than what was available at private share rentals or AirBnB.
One thought I had was - if at some point I'm really stretched for cash and need to cook healthy meals, maybe I'd just book a hostel twice a week and do 2-3 days worth of cooking on those 2 days, store in containers and take with me.
These are, in a way, kind of "worst case" planning scenarios, but I just like the feeling of safety in being able to have some kind of plan.
You can probably get a decent stove for the price of one or two hostel night.
Also depending where you live, cooking on fire on public places might also be an option
