I just couldn't do it. I do my daily 2 mile runs on the treadmill at home where I have my music, my TV, my air conditioning at the temperature I want it to be, etc. Plus I don't think I'd like half the people I see hanging out in gyms. I can't put my finger on what it is exactly, but I just don't think I'd fit in.

Maybe it's me

I don't go to a gym either, I tried one of them Golds gym trail memberships and hated it. So I bought a Pro-Form Treadmill, and a Bowflex and setup my own home gym. Its nice to work out then not have to drive back home or whatever. I get up, drink some orange juice and do my workout.  Most of the people hanging at a gym are there to to hang out, not work out.

I've spent money several times on gym memberships...Last 2 I belonged to were Ballys (where I had an awesome trainer) and Gold's (where I followed said awesome trainer to when he left Bally's)
I now lift at home in my home gym based upon everything I learned from him, and I have a treadmill for cardio. I liked going to the gym, not to socialize...I was not the girl in the Fonda co-ordinated leotard...but in order to learn from others.
If you're a runner (sounds like it) that is definitely more "solitary" a workout than the social setting of a gym so it sounds like you're saving your money for good reason. I home-gym because I have 2 demon children who would eat even the biggest muscle head alive should he get in their way

I don't have the space or money for adequate equipment at home, and if I did, I still wouldn't have a spotter when I need one.  The gym is my best option right now.

I am not a huge gym fan and prefer to be outdoors doing the swim/bike/run thing.  The gym is still important and I force myself to go in the summer.  Winter is easier.  I have enough $$ tied up in swim/bike/run stuff that I just go to the gym on base for my strength needs.

What's up with all the treadmills though?  Aerobic machines are OK for injury recovery or if the weather is pretty severe, but people please - get outside and enjoy the enironment!!

Quoted: What's up with all the treadmills though?  Aerobic machines are OK for injury recovery or if the weather is pretty severe, but people please - get outside and enjoy the enironment!!

The treadmill rocks since here in FL its like an oven and if you try to run outside you will die. Plus its better for your knees than if you run in asfalt.

I've done it before, won't go back.  

- I don't enjoy listening to the "motovational speaker" spotting his buddy on the bench.  You know the, "C'mon... 3 more you fucking pussy!!! C'mon.. you can do it... PUSSY!!!" guy.  
- I don't enjoy the smell.
- I don't like having to wipe down other people's sweat from the machines.
- While I do appreciate people wanting to help, and don't dismiss the spirit of the gesture... I don't want/need advice from every third self appointed expert on... everything.
- When I was younger, I had wider horizons.  Now, I enjoy a very narrow spectrum of music and I'm intolerant of everything that doesn't fall in that spectrum.
- I hate the way most guys behave in presence of the gym-bunnies, and that while I've never met them before, they think it's somehow appropriate to approach me with comments like, "check out the pooper on that one!".  I'm no prude, but for all they know that could be my girl.  Or... the big dude behind me.  I'd sure hate to be bludgeoned w/ a 20lb dumbbell for some comment I didn't even make.

Quoted: Quoted: What's up with all the treadmills though?  Aerobic machines are OK for injury recovery or if the weather is pretty severe, but people please - get outside and enjoy the enironment!! The treadmill rocks since here in FL its like an oven and if you try to run outside you will die. Plus its better for your knees than if you run in asfalt.

Spent 2 years on the Gulf coast.  If I had to run in the daytime during the summer it would be a treadmill, but I ran after the sun went down.  Not a treadmill fan - I like to be moving.  I will use a treadmill for speed work if I can't make it to the track though.

I wont go, Id rather find stuff to do here

I prefer to do my walking on an indoor track.  Outdoors is nice (sometimes), but the indoor track:

- is climate controlled
- is carpeted and easy on my feet, ankles, knees, and hips
- is free of hazards such as uneven ground, obstacles, biga** dogs, etc.
- is in one place, so when I get tired I can quit.  I don't have to walk back once I get far away!
- is located in a community center with an automated defibrillator and people who know how to use it.  This is a factor for us old, fat guys.  Seriously, though, if I sprain an ankle or have some other problem, help is only a holler away.  Outdoors can be problematic in that regard.

Quoted: I will use a treadmill for speed work if I can't make it to the track though.

The Forerunner will set you free.

While I prefer to run outside. My Treadmill gets most of its miles put on in the winter. Or if I am on call I cant be far from a phone or my car So the treadmill gets used. But I love running outside even in the heat Work on my tan breath the frsh air in the park.

I myself don't like gyms either for the reasons listed above.  I would rather run and do pullups and situps plus pushups.

Max

I dont go to the gym because I dont have the money/time (only 17). I workout by doing nothing but crunchs, push-ups, and pull-ups/chin-ups since I dont have any equipment. I do 1 technique until I physically can't do it anymore then I move on to the next technique. Im not sure if thats the right way to go, but I notice a difference after each workout.

Quoted: Quoted: I will use a treadmill for speed work if I can't make it to the track though. The Forerunner will set you free.

The gym has its uses, no doubt.  Weights can do things for you that calesthenics can not match.  I just don't get the people who are whirling away on treadmills, stationary bikes, or even worse - the elliptical when the weather is fine to be outside.  

I am recovering from a pretty nasty case of tendonitis and am limited to the elliptical alone now, with maybe an occasional dip in the pool.  I hate that elliptical, I hate it.  I hate not moving anywhere, I hate not feeling the breeze and watching the ground go by faster as I work harder.  I hate not feeling the heat of the sun, the dampness of the rain, or even the cold of winter, but instead just the same sterile motion over and over again while I sweat in front a TV screen with headphones covering my ears.  It's like being in the matrix and knowing that you are not free.  I can't wait until I can start to run outdoors again.

Depends on what you want to do. If you just want to run, then you certainly don't need a gym membership: just go run.

If you want to weight-lift, you either need your own weight set or a gym's.

I prefer to lift at home and bike or jog outside. The exercise bike gets more use in the winter, cause the snow is too deep to ride in. Of course the snowshoes come out too.