A Good Reason to Skip the Gym

Struggling to feel at home in the gym? You don’t have to go. Seriously, working out at home can be just as effective when it comes to losing weight and lowering your risk of type 2 diabetes.

How do we know? Two groups of people did resistance-training workouts for the better part of a year. Researchers gave some people at-the-gym programs; others were given simple low-tech exercises they could do using household objects (like soup cans), elastic bands for resistance, and their own body weight (think push-ups). By the end of the study, the scientists saw that a gym membership didn’t guarantee success: People in both groups lost about the same amount of weight. And the number of people with abnormally high blood sugar (called impaired glucose tolerance) dropped significantly in both groups.

Our point is: It doesn’t matter where you work out. If you prefer the music, the equipment, or even the eye candy at the gym, fine. If you would rather do your thing in the privacy of your home, perfect. What really matters is that you choose a workout routine you will do, and not just once. We YOU Docs use our homes and the gym for our workouts -- whatever is easiest.

At home, you can keep it simple with a few dumbbells, some resistance bands, and a mat. You don’t even have to get the dumbbells (although, like knives and power tools, the right equipment for the right job does make everything easier). Start with soup cans or filled grocery bags (reusable ones!) for biceps curls and other upper-body exercises.