Sharing Gym Space

Ever since my very first weights class in high school, I have loved lifting!  

When I met my husband, he was a senior in high school, and one of his few classes he was taking that year was weights, because he loved lifting!

I don't know what it is about lifting heavy things that makes you feel fierce and strong, but it is the best feeling!

In college, I had a gym membership.  After college, I had a gym membership.  Up until we moved a couple of years ago to our current house, we had a gym membership.  When I look back at all of the money we have paid in gym memberships--I could probably pay off my student loans. . . and then some!!

Because guess what??  In spite of having a gym membership, I didn't use it all that often.  My husband did.  He liked the social aspect and the huge variety of equipment. . . but he didn't like sharing.  He would get super annoyed when someone was hogging the leg press or didn't clean their weights off the squat rack.  And while he liked talking, some of those guys could talk and his planned 1 hour work out would turn into 2 - 2.5 hours.  I, on the other hand, did not like being around all the people, I just wanted to do my thing!   


So, when we moved into this house and I realized we had a pretty good sized space and no immediate plans for it, we took the money we would have spent in gym fees and began investing it into our own equipment a little bit at a time.  Starting with a squat rack, a bar and weights, then adding dumbbells when we could.  

And the best thing. . . my kids can use it too!  At the gym, we couldn't take our kids, except during certain times which wasn't always convenient.  Now, they can go anytime!  
So technically, we still have to share, this morning, my husband used it from 6 - 7 am before work.  My son and I did a workout at 8 am and one of my girls used it at 10 am.  We make it work!

Also, I don't force my kids to workout. . . they do it because they want to.  They don't necessarily lift weights either, there are a lot of good cardio options as well!  I have one daughter who prefers not to use the gym, but take the dog for a walk, ride her bike and play outside!  That works too!!  

And the best part. . . you don't have to have ALL the equipment to have a home gym.  Just a little bit of space that you can move around in, a device to stream from, and a plan!!