<p>I'm looking to lift weights mainly to gain strength for my sports. I swim as well, so it's not like any extra muscle will hurt when I'm in a swimsuit =) But the problem is, I don't know how I should work out. I can pretty much do everything I need to with a set of dumbbells and an incline bench (except the lat pulldowns). So I was thinking I could buy one and stick it in my garage. Another option is to pay for a gym membership, so I could go swimming, running, rowing, all that stuff. But with what gyms are charging these days, would I be better off buying a weight set?</p>
<p>Well, around here we can join the local YMCA for really cheap I think for me it's like $350 for the whole year, so if you have a Y around with a good workout room (ours is really good, plus there are 2 pools, free spinning, yoga, pilates, etc classes) then I'd say to look into that</p>
<p>You can do a lot with dumbells and an incline bench so it's not really necessary to join a gym if you're tight on cash
Plus you can run on the street or if you have trails near your house</p>
<p>Another thing to look into would be a Total Gym. I dont know how much they are but we have one and it's really useful. Probably not the greatest substitute for free weights but if you get that in addition to dumbells you really wouldnt have to join a gym unless you wanted to go swimming a lot</p>
<p>At my gym it's 145 for 3 months, so about 600 for a year.</p>
<p>Gym membership. You can't replicate the energy you get from a good gym. It really helps you work out in ways that are worth your money.</p>
<p>YES gods favorite is completely right. 40 bucks a month for all your weightlifting needs is better than having to buy each piece of equipment.</p>
<p>Yeah but if you buy your own equipment you have it for as long as you want it (it's not like a dumbell is going to break), for gym memberships you just have to keep giving them money. In the long run it's a lot cheaper to just buy the equipment</p>
<p>And actually, personally I'd rather just have my own stuff to use rather than have to go somewhere else with a bunch of other people and potentially have to wait to use machines I want or even just having to drive there.<br>
But it's different for everyone.</p>
<p>gym membership. They will have invested a lot more money in equipment (dumbbells,barbells,machines,racks,etc.) than you will have..</p>
<p>Gym memberships are nice, but if you are looking to save money get a dumbbell set.</p>
<p>Never take steroids. I would go out buy a workout set. You could go to gym ,but it's not going to be as proper.</p>
<p>Uhh I'd say the dumbell set.. I think you should think about your time scheduling first. If you are an extremely busy person, the set would be preferable than the gym membership.
For me, I bought a treadmill (well my parents did) because I'm really busy during the day and I usually start my 'free time' around about 9.30 or 10 or something (after all the tv shows and stuff). And I end up running on the treadmill at like 11. Some gyms arnt open at 11, and if it was open, i wouldnt want to go all the way to the gym at 11ish.. so yeah.
So think about how things would fit in your schedule..</p>
<p>I think YMCA is better because more stuff/trainer and working out with other people without any distractions like food helps you focus and work harder
btw, do steroids actually work? I mean, do you actually gain muscle overnight from frequent use?</p>
<p>Yea I don't get the motivation from a gym, but there aren't that many ppl at the gym near me anyways.</p>
<p>I was also thinking I don't want to put aside the huge amount of time that going to a gym would require, rather I could just go down to the garage and work out if I happen to have time on my hands.</p>
<p>And I'm not going to get to use the dumbbells for more than a year, cuz I don't even want to think about moving a dumbbell set...</p>
<p>both
get the Y membership for heavy lifting and training. Get a dumbell set/free weights for those times at night where you have to use some energy.</p>