Some people wonder why I keep exercise equipment at home, when the average gym has the most sophisticated workout equipment that one’s heart can desire. I’ve usually justified this making an excuse about saving time, my odd work timings etc, but decided today, to put forward what I thought are the main reasons for you to keep exercise equipment at home.

To begin with, this is the equipment that I have at home.

1) Kettlebells : 24Kg, 16Kg, 8 Kg (now used as a doorstop)

2) A custom built Pull-Up rack, 8 1/2 ft tall, to accomodate pullups with legs straight. This device also has an attachment that allows me to secure a bar across it to perform inverted rows.

3) A heavy punching bag (4ft).

I strongly believe that that most gym equipment is unnecessary for building a functional and powerful body. A regimen of bodyweight exercises and cardiovascular training, backed up by a sensible diet is sufficient to bring most people to a decent level of fitness.

My own exercise regimen consists primarily of body weight exercises – namely pullups, pushups, and un-weighted full squats. I occasionally do lunges, and rarely ever do crunches.

I have been using Kettlebells for high intensity workouts, alternating 35-60 seconds of activity with 15 seconds of rest, for 16 or so cycles. Kettlebells themselves are quite amazing, I consider them to be a complete weight training system that you can store under your bed.

So, why keep exercise  equipment at home?

Unless you live in a matchbox 20 floors above Manhattan, you probably have enough space to keep some basic fitness equipment at home.

1) Ability to use uncommon systems of training.

Until a few months ago, no gyms in Hyderabad offered Kettlebell training. I learnt about Kettlebells from another enthusiast who was kind enough to spend time with me trying to teach me the basic exercises (Thanks so very much, Vicky!). With no gyms offering this training, it made sense to get my own equipment and exercise at home.

2) Save on the gym commute.

I did have a Gym membership, but even the daily 20 minute round trip to the gym is precious time saved by working out at home.

3) Hygiene

Yup, in Hyderabad in summer, even airconditioned gyms can smell like the galley of that ship in Ben-Hur.

4) Circuit training.

This is hard to do in a gym, especially if there is a waiting line for weights and benches.

5) Focus

Every other person in a gym seems to be a fitness expert. It helps to be able to exercise without someone coming to you to discuss the latest fad that he discovered in a $39.99 E-book.

6) Dress for comfort

I’ve found, that while lifting kettlebells, the most comfortable gear is the Jockey 1005 – ‘stripper briefs’, as a friend calls them. Now, how many gyms can you exercise in wearing something that minimal?

7) Economy

All my equipment combined cost less than a two-year membership at a decent gym.

Despite being single and having limited social commitments during the week, I have often found it dififcult to find time to exercise, write, or do my daily mindfulness meditations.  I work precise hours, and am usually home at exactly the same time, except if I have taken a detour to the supermarket  or the nearby fresh food market.

A few days ago, I did something different. As soon as I got home, I switched off my cellphone and deactivated the WiFi on my laptop.

Bliss.

I did a 40 minute kettlebell workout, and a 15 minute heavy bag workout, the chocolate meditation from mindfulness and then another 20 minute mindfulness session. I also read a few chapters of ‘The Hiram Key’, and tucked in to bed on schedule.

The next day, I did something similar. Only, instead of switching off my phone, I put it on silent mode. After I accomplished what I wanted to, I spent 15 minutes returning the calls and messages that I had missed, and another 10 minutes on the net, responding to email and Facebook messages. The urgency of getting to bed cut short any impulses to linger online for a while.

Here’s my theory:

Progress or achievement are driven by action, but lots of the activities that we occupy our time with are passive.

TV, Facebook, aimless web surfing, video games, etc, are actually time vampires that add little value to our lives for the time that they consume.

Now Don’t get me wrong – I think Facebook is an amazing way to stay in touch, and I really enjoy watching a nice movie – I also check www.cracked.com everytime I need a laugh. However, don’t most people feel that they spend far more time online than they should?

I can imagine that if you have greater responsibilites like multiple jobs and kids, you might find it harder to make time, but you can start with finding your time vampires. Dealing with them will help you find the ‘me’ time.