Most who pursue muscle building or weight loss feel that joining a local gym is a requirement for achieving results, and so, following a rather calorie friendly December, millions crowd local gyms, signing up for a multi-year membership, believing that they've just taken the first step towards a muscle building or weight loss transformation. But if we consider the number of people who continue attending the gym after their contractual commitment, we find that the once excited patron fueled with zeal for a significant transformation suddenly fails to walk through the gym's front door after the first few weeks.

Most assume that sloth is the natural enemy that prevents most from pursuing a pattern of muscle gain or weight loss consistency, and never analyze whether in fact the gym environment itself may obstruct desire for many, eventually causing a large number of men and women to quit the pursuit of muscle gain or weight loss completely.

Yet, how could this be? Is it possible for the gym to actually reduce motivation, when in fact such surroundings should be helpful towards achieving significant results? The true reasons will be found within the initial 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 prepared for an intense bodybuilding workout, and you encounter one or more friends who decide to train at the same time as you. What will likely happen next? Will the group experience the best weight lifting and aerobic workout of all time, or will the next hour that follows focus upon discussing last night's Monday Night Football showdown? Let's instead say you visit the gym and happen not to locate any acquaintances, but as you scan the territory, quickly sense that every machine you need for your weight lifting workout is occupied, with a very lengthy wait for each. Do you think this will contribute to an effective bodybuilding workout, or encourage a trip to the local fast food drive thru to try and munch the anger away?

Also, let's not forget the most many additional excuses to abandon the scheduled workout for a day, such as weather (two feet of snow might make navigating the highway inconvenient), car breakdown (a flat tire always offers justification to take a nap), and traffic (couldn't be late for lunch)! Some may believe that these unexpected circumstances cannot occur often, but once momentum is ruined, and a workout is skipped, the mind becomes far more accepting of the next skipped bodybuilding workout, and this attitude will eventually lead to a new habit, one which is much more enjoyable - couch sitting, without the interference of a gym visit for your bodybuilding workout session.

So, what is the alternative? I perform my weight training at home, having built over 60 pounds of muscle mass and lost 50 pounds of body fat, without a gym membership, proving that neither muscle building nor fat loss requires waiting in line for machines or spending large amounts of money on expensive bodybuilding gym fees. In fact, my muscle gain and fat loss success was produced in my basement, with inexpensive weight training equipment, and I was able to produce far more consistency with my bodybuilding workout routine than most who must contend with the inconvenient gym environment, specifically because I am in control of my environment, and can remove distractions that obstruct my ability to perform my bodybuilding workout session.

I am not claiming that achieving a bodybuilder physique or producing consistent weight loss is impossible through gym training, as many with such memberships achieve very impressive results, but for those who have the option to invest in some basic weight lifting equipment, I believe doing so is extremely convenient, offers no distractions, and is significantly less expensive over an extended time frame than joining a local gym. 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 group of circumstances, and this is why I have constantly opted for training at home, and produced extremely impressive muscle gains and weight loss progress specifically because I have always been able to proceed with my bodybuilding workout sessions in a systematic, controlled fashion.

Don't frown upon performing your bodybuilding 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 to avoid signing a long term membership until you have regularly trained for at least two months and have ensured yourself that the inconveniences and obstacles will not interfere with remaining committed to your bodybuilding workout.