It is that time of year again: First, you stuff yourself to the eyeballs with Christmas food, adding some booze for good measure, all the while spending far more time on the couch than the treadmill. Then comes New Year and it’s resolution time. Not surprisingly, research has shown that the most common resolutions involve a better diet and more exercise.

Unfortunately, such good intentions seldom last. New Year resolutions are made with good intentions, but unless you have a clear practical plan to back them up, whatever they may be, they won’t last very long.

New Year, New Gym Goals

This can be particularly true when it comes to diet and exercise. Part of the problem is that if you decide to go jogging or join a gym, the dark and grim days of January are a tough time to do it. Yes, the days are starting to get a little lighter, but it will be months yet before it isn’t grim and dark in the mornings, or you can go for a lovely jog on a light evening.

In the same way, motivating yourself to go to the gym, especially when it is dark and often cold and wet before or after working hours, can be a very hard thing to do.

These considerations are the first and best reason to invest in home gym fitness equipment. This means that whether it is dry and sunny outside or pouring rain in stygian darkness, you merely need to step into the room with all the gear and get started.

Other practical considerations include the fact that there is no travel involved, so no getting in the car when the roads are icy or flooded, while you are not constrained by opening times, should your area not have a gym that opens 24/7.

In addition, if you sign up for a gym you can often get timed sessions, so exactly when and how long you are in the gym can be pre-determined for you. Having a home gym means you don’t have to worry about that as you have complete flexibility.

Of course, the weather and time are not the only issues when it comes to consideration. However, they do tend to get ignored by gyms when they consider factors in people’s motivational struggles.

How Home Gyms Help With Common Issues

PureGym, for example, skips these issues while listing reasons for a lack of motivation. However, its list of reasons for lacking the desire to get on the treadmill or lift some weights is still worth considering in the context of people having home gyms.

A lack of accountability is an interesting one, as the situation may differ for those living alone from those who share the home with someone else. In the former situation, the lack of someone to share goals with and be accountable for achieving them may be applicable in both instances.

However, in the latter case, whoever you share the house with could take on the role of the person you are accountable to. This can work better than in a gym as they will nearly always be around, whereas the folk you share a gym with will have their own lives and schedules that may not match yours.

The lack of a clear goal and purpose was a second issue mentioned. This is a fair point for anyone, however, whether they have a gym membership or work out at home. There are still lots of measurements you can use if you have a home gym, be it to lose a specific amount of weight or to make it part of a fitness drive with some other end goal, such as to run a 10K.

A lack of perceived progress comes into a similar category to the one above. Once again, it is often dependent on you having goals and whether or not you are hitting them. However, if having a home gym means you are able to spend more time at your convenience working out, the chances of you meeting your goals will be greater.

Make It Fit Your Lifestyle

The other issue PureGym raised was lifestyle changes, listing disruptive factors like moving to a different area, a new job, or starting a relationship.

However, the flexibility of a home-based gym can help with these. The gym equipment will go with you if you move. The fact you can use a home gym any time means that changing working hours won’t have the same impact, while a new relationship might just be enhanced if you enjoy working out together without having to both fork out for a gym membership.

Given the choice between starting a gym membership or investing in home gym equipment, you may just find your New Year resolution to get fitter is more likely to endure with the latter.