I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’
– Muhammad Ali, boxing champion
I would drive to the gym every day. Every damn day and it was getting tiresome. It was breaking my wallet (or at the time – my parent’s wallet) in gas and it was costing me an hour in precious time every day. Oh, and by the way this was a time before podcasts were really popular and I didn’t listen to podcasts. I would get to the gym and train. I swam a lot then, so I would mainly swim laps over, and over, and over. I would get out and shower in the gym locker room, and it would feel good despite all of the likely infectious bacteria on the shower-room floor. I would even get my best friend to go with me at the time, and we would go out to eat after our training session and would probably consume just as much if not more calories we burned during our training session. Nearly exhausted but happy and full at this point, we would go home and play video games shooting zombies until it was dark, and that’s when we would go hit the bars.
Now you should know by now that working out is key to getting over a breakup, and I know going to the gym can be a good time as well – I used to have some good times driving to the gym everyday with my best friend, eating out, playing video games, then going to the bars and drinking (or more accurately chaperoning my best friend while he drank to make sure he didn’t get into a fight he couldn’t finish or handle). But in terms of efficiency and getting a workout in that actually gives you results and furthers you as a human being, I would say taking the time to drive thirty minutes to a gym does not accomplish this. With all of the money on gas you have to spend, all of the wasted time in the car, and all of the likely places you will end up eating out at afterwards because you are hungry as hell when you are done with your workout and driving home, in my opinion most of the time driving to the gym is not even worth it. “But Zach!” you may cry, “how am I going to work out and get a good pump in if I don’t drive to the gym and get a workout in?” I am going to tell you exactly how – you work out at home. Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of good workouts to be had by going to the gym, and heck, even I go to the gym sometimes because sometimes it’s fun and just like it. But, listen to my words – I mainly go to the gym because it is fun and I like it. Did you hear what I said? Did I say I go to the gym because it allows for a more efficient, easier, and effective workout? No. Did I say I go to the gym because it saves me more time and money in the long run? No sir. I go to the gym for fun, not efficiency and to be effective. I guarantee almost each and every one of you bros go to the gym on a regular basis, and here is why when you don’t work out at home you are making a huge mistake:
- It will save you a ton of money and anxiety, and you will be less likely to die
Like I said earlier, when I would go drive to the gym everyday, I would spend a fortune on gas, food, and even random protein powders I didn’t need (and all of you probably do this too). All of this can be saved if you just leave the damn car keys on the kitchen table and get a pump at the homestead. Not to mention it will also save you the anxiety of sitting in traffic, trying not to wreck, and surviving driving on whatever interstate you have to drive on to get to your gym. If you are one of those people who take pre-workout powder instead of actually drinking something sensible and healthy like coffee, then your chances of dying will increase if you are driving with these crazy powders in your system. You will be so jacked up that you will probably be driving 90 mph on your entire trip to the gym, and your safety will likely be thrown out the window.
2. It will save you a ton of time
Not only does your wallet take a hit when you drive to the gym every day, but something even more precious gets taken from you when you have to drive to a gym – your time. I used to spend an hour every workout on just driving to the gym. I used to drive to the gym seven days a week (yes, I would even drive to the gym on days I did cardio). In one year, I can calculate that I was spending 364 hours of my life on just driving to the gym, which is equivalent to a little over 9 full work-weeks. That is also an understatement, because I probably wasted even more time than when I got to the gym because of all the distraction of hot girls, equipment, etc. at a typical local gym.
3. Your workouts will actually be better and more focused
Which brings us to our next point, you will be more focused and probably have just as good if not better workouts at home in comparison to the gym. I can’t tell you how many times I would get distracted and start fantasizing about some hot girl I would see at the gym, and because some of the hottest girls on the planet are regularly found at gyms, this was eating much of my precious time when I got to the gym. You may also cry at me, “Zach! I cannot get a good workout at home like I can at the gym! How am I going to replace all of the equipment I use such as a squat rack, machines, dumbbells, weights, etc.” Here is my solution to you – buy your own. Seriously. It’s really not that expensive. Don’t believe me? Here, let me show you. They will pay for themselves in a matter of mere weeks. Here is a simple and not very complicated equation done in good ole’ Excel that will likely make you feel like an idiot for driving to the gym to prove it to you:
Referring to figure 1 – lost gym time, we can see even if you make just $12 an hour you are actually losing $4,032 a year in lost wages (aka if you would have been working during that time you were driving to the gym). You can actually buy a simple squat rack and put it in your garage for pretty cheap – mine was only 100 bucks. I made that money back in a week for the amount of time I saved not driving to the gym, and mind you we are not even factoring the cost of gas here.
4. You will have more energy for your workouts
You will also have more energy for your workouts. Think of all the energy it takes to drive to a gym and focus on traffic/rude people. This could all be saved for curls, triceps extensions, and of course squatting more weight.
5. You will be able to keep your workouts more “keep it simple stupid”
I have preached about keeping it simple before, but it really is a useful idea to implement in your life to make it better, and this also applies to your workouts. When you keep your workouts more simple and avoid the daily hustle and bustle of a mainstream gym, you will have more time and more focus to get your workout in and get out. You will be able to execute a simple, effective workout to reach your goals, and avoid the stressful complications of choosing between 15 different pieces of equipment at a gym.
6. You will make more progress in the long-run
Consistently working out at home will in my belief lead you to make more progress in the long-run because of all these points made above. Being able to save money, save time, have consistently better and more focused workouts, having more energy for workouts and having simpler workouts will lead you to progress towards one thing – hitting your goals, whatever they may be. So if you’re like me and you’re goal is usually to pack on muscle, or maybe your goal is to lose fat, or maybe your goal is to just be overall a more healthy person, it is my belief that working out at home will lead you achieve these goals and help you get over your breakup, and ultimately, become a better man.
Like this post? I highly recommend you check out my other similar post, Workout Post-Breakup – The Perfect Workout To Help You Get Over Your Ex-Girlfriend, which describes an effective workout to help you get over that girl who broke your heart. Also check out my post The Best Workout For Getting Over Your Breakup, which in my opinion tells you the single most important workout you can do to help you get over your ex-girlfriend that you probably haven’t thought of.
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Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or medical professional. Please do not take my advice as if I was a doctor or medical professional, as I am not qualified to give that kind of health advice. Please be smart, and use your best judgement when starting a new diet/health/exercise plan and consult your doctor before starting a new diet/health/exercise plan. Thank you.
How To Get Over a Breakup 