Is The Gym An Obstacle To Muscle Gain or Weight Loss?

Most who pursue muscle mass gains or fat loss feel that joining a local gym is a prerequisite, and so, following a rather calorie friendly December, millions crowd local gyms, signing up for a multi-year membership, believing that they've just made the initial leap towards a muscle building or fat loss transformation. But if we analyze the number of people who continue attending the gym following their contractual commitment, we find that the once motivated fitness enthusiast fueled with desire for substantial change suddenly fails to walk through the gym's front door after the first few weeks.

Most believe that sloth is the natural enemy that prevents most from pursuing a pattern of muscle gain or fat loss consistency, and never analyze whether in fact the gym environment itself may be offering an insurmountable obstacle for many, eventually causing most to quit the pursuit of muscle gain or fat loss completely.

Yet, how could this be? Is it possible for the gym to actually reduce motivation, when in fact such an environment should be conducive towards achieving significant results? The answer will be found within the first few workouts, and clearly becomes one of the primary reasons why many lose their acceptance of regular gym attendance long before producing significant results.

Let's pretend that you are ready for an intense weight lifting workout, and you encounter numerous friends who decide to train at the same time as you. What will most likely happen next? Will the group experience the best weight lifting and aerobic workout of the year, or will the next hour that follows focus upon discussing last night's Monday Night Football showdown? Let's instead say you attend the gym and happen to do so without meeting any friends, but as you scan the territory, immediately sense that every machine you need for your weight lifting workout is occupied, with a 10+ minute wait for each. Do you believe that this will lead to an effective weight lifting workout, or encourage a trip to the local fast food drive thru to try and gorge the bitterness away?

Oh, and let's not forget the most many additional excuses to skip the gym for a day, such as weather (two feet of unexpected snow fall might make navigating the highway difficult), car breakdown (a flat tire always offers justification to take a nap), and traffic jams (shouldn't be late for a date with the TV)! Some may say that these unexpected circumstances cannot occur regularly, but once momentum is hampered, and a workout is skipped, the mind becomes far more accepting of the next skipped weight lifting workout, and this attitude will eventually lead to another habit, one which is much more entertaining; furniture sitting, without the distraction of a gym visit for your weight training workout.

Is there another option? I perform my weight training in my basement, having built over 60 pounds of muscle and lost 50 pounds of body fat, without use of a gym, proving that neither muscle increase nor fat loss requires waiting in line for machines or spending large amounts of money on expensive bodybuilding gym fees. In fact, my bodybuilding success was achieved in my basement, with basic weight training equipment, and I was able to achieve far more discipline with my weight training workout regimen than most who must combat the often frustrating gym environment, specifically because I am in control of my surroundings, and can eliminate distractions that interfere with my ability to perform my weight training workout routine.

This is not to say that achieving a bodybuilding caliber physique or producing consistent fat loss is impossible through gym training, as many with such memberships produce excellent results, but for those who have the option to buy some basic weight lifting equipment, I believe doing so is far more convenient, offers no distractions, and is significantly less expensive over an extended time frame than joining a local gym facility. Achieving success in muscle gain or fat loss is in large part due to mental focus, a factor which suffers greatly when subjected to an uncontrollable set of circumstances, and this is why I have always opted for training at home, and achieved extremely impressive muscle building and fat loss progress specifically because I have always been able to move forward with my weight training workout sessions in a systematic, controlled fashion.

Don't frown upon performing your weight lifting workout sessions at home until you've experienced the inconveniences of attending a gym, but if you decide to sign up for a local gym facility, make sure not to sign a long term deal until you have consistently trained for three months and have ensured yourself that the distractions and obstacles will not interfere with remaining committed to your weight lifting workout routine.

Francesco Castano authors MuscleNOW.com, a bodybuilding routine for building muscle mass without supplements or drugs. He also owns IncrediBody.com, an online fitness superstore selling fitness equipment at guaranteed lowest prices.