Originally Posted by
Tziva
I don't think that's really fair or accurate. Access to specific pieces of equipment or personal trainers is probably a big drive for people who genuinely are there for fitness, and just because you use a stair machine your gym four days a week doesn't necessarily mean you're familiar with the proper body mechanics for body squats or whatever the fuck at your house. People like the machines because they are often easy to use and you don't need any kind of specialised fitness knowledge. Additionally, if you have a personal trainer at the gym who has always coached you through what to do, you may be somewhat lost without one at home. In fact, that seems like an especially useful aspect of a gym membership. I workout from home but I still pay for fitness coaching to customise my workouts, teach me how to do various things I have no idea otherwise how to do in a safe/proper manner (that you can't necessarily always get from, say, watching a youtube video), monitor my progress, and help me with problem areas. I would even go as far to say that I needed one when I first started because I was doing a lot of things wrong and hurting myself and was not doing the right exercises to help the things I wanted to help.
Do you need any of the machines or weights or whatever from the gym? Of course not. But it is entirely possible people genuinely don't know how to properly workout without them. And look, this is coming from someone who has literally never worked out in an actual gym in my entire life. The closest I've ever been is using the stationary bike in the clubhouse of my old apartment complex. So I'm definitely not holding some kind of pro-gym bias by any means.
(that said, I can't imagine using the gym as a social activity either. Who wants to meet new people when you are at your absolute grossest? Sure as fuck not me.)