I am 8 weeks out today.? And I am having trouble deciding to join a gym. When I worked and was losing weight before, I loved going to the gym in the same city I worked in, used the treadmill, stationary bike, and weight machines and it felt great. I also walked during lunch with friends.

My life right now as a noncareer person consists of raising two grandkids age 7 and 10 full time and square dancing a few times a month, living in a tri-level house doing chit-ton of laundry, and housework. (Also my husband is retired and home a lot.)I live on 10 acres 2.5 miles from a small town with a gym, and 10 miles from Anytime Fitness. My adult daughters think I should get a treadmill, (I really don't have room, of course they would say sell your longarm quilt machine - not happening) and it would not help with much muscle building anyway which I think I need at age 62.

Our small gym has enough equipment to satisfy anyone, plus 10 free fitness classes a week, yoga, showers, etc for about $360/year. Anytime Fitness would be closer to $480, I think. So I don't know if 'I can fall in love' with the gym again....

You don't have to join a gym to build muscle. My best friend lives 15 miles from a gym. He joined it, but found that it was too hard to find the time and discipline to go religiously. He hired a personal trainer there to teach him how to workout total body with nothing but dumbbells. He now walks, does exercises without the need of weights (pushups, dips, squats, abs, etc.), and uses 20lb, 30lb, and 40lb. sets of dumbbells to work things like shoulders and back.

He left the gym, bought the weights at Walmart, and got into great shape.

Maybe you could try that. You could start with lower weight, and gradually increase over a long period of time.

My mom also has bands that she exercises with. She is 73, and she gets great workouts with the bands.

That's a thought. I do have a few videos, in fact one with walking and using bands, pilates, and hula.

I saw kettlebells at Aldis, are they useful at all as weights?

I guess it doesn't matter where I exercise, as long as I exercise?

I love kettlebells. I worked with a trainer for the last year and they are great for both strength and cardio. Just be careful that you are using correct form, as you can hurt your back if done wrong. I belong to a gym but have some kettlebells at home for the days I am too busy to get there. The resistance bands are a great idea too and take up virtually no space! I pack mine when I travel for work.

21 hours ago, DropWt4Life said:

You don't have to join a gym to build muscle. My best friend lives 15 miles from a gym. He joined it, but found that it was too hard to find the time and discipline to go religiously. He hired a personal trainer there to teach him how to workout total body with nothing but dumbbells. He now walks, does exercises without the need of weights (pushups, dips, squats, abs, etc.), and uses 20lb, 30lb, and 40lb. sets of dumbbells to work things like shoulders and back.

He left the gym, bought the weights at Walmart, and got into great shape.

Maybe you could try that. You could start with lower weight, and gradually increase over a long period of time.

My mom also has bands that she exercises with. She is 73, and she gets great workouts with the bands.

Is your friend finding that squats without weights or even with dumbbells sufficiently challenging? My tiny 5ft frame is working up to 100 lb squats, I wouldn't be able to hang on to a dumbbell that size.

OP - I invested in some basic home equipment: a bench for ~50, a squat rack for ~70, barbell for ~30 and weight set for ~100. All the items I bought off Amazon and they are enough to work out all the major muscle groups unless I develop aspirations to be a fitness model or something.

It depends on what you're looking for. I joined a gym because they offer fun classes like glow aerobics. They also have child care which does fun stuff with the kids to keep them active. Best way to knock a 2 year old out

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I joined a gym 5 weeks out and started working out with a trainer. It has been a great decision for me. My trainer knew up front my lower caloric intake. In the last 4 months with him (I'm not quite 6 months out yet) I have grown so much and gone from struggling with basic body weight exercises to being able to do real weights (deadlifting 110 lbs, squatting 95lbs, bench pressing 45lbs, etc). For me being at the gym is motivation to keep working and my surgeon said the reason I likely don't have lose skin is from all the gym time i'm putting in.