At my gym I made a body analysis which identified some muscle dysbalances. This was really helpful to create a workout plan.
There are also a lot of muscles I cannot train specifically when at home, because I do not have the right equipment at home. The trainers in the gym are also really helpful in teaching me how to get my body in a good shape.

On top of that I don't find it easy to establish the habit of doing workout at home. I prefer a change of location and also a dedicated time. My gym, which is located on my way back home from work really helps with keeping my schedule. I am doing this for 1.5 years now, two times a week and it works really great for me.

You see, everybody ia different and for some people like me a gym is a really nice thing. If a home workout is the right thing for you and you can also save money in the meantime, that's a great thing.

Because it's all an impulse decision

"New Year's Resolutions" are the exact opposite of setting good goals

Good goals:

• need to be definable
  • "I will start restricting calories and target a 1lb per week loss"
  • not "get in shape"
• need to be actionable
  • "I will start making plans right now, and implementing them tonight"
  • not "I will wait till a specific time of the year"
• need to be sustainable
  • "I will adjust my strategy to work around my daily habits and otherwise be flexible"
  • not "NO MORE SWEETS"

The simple answer is that you don't need a gym to get fit. Same as you don't need a car to get around when you can just walk / cycle / uber. It just makes things more convenient for some people.

Personally I prefer to run on a treadmill in an air conditioned room rather that out in the sun, some people prefer otherwise and that's fine too.

Lifting heavy things is great, but proper equipment makes it easier to have a balanced workout and is easy to use. It can also be helpful to have a specific place that you go away from home to work out to help get you in the right mental headspace. Necessary? Definitely not, but for me I know I would never have come so far in my fitness journey without the gym.

Gyms are great. I don't want to run or cycle somewhere when it's pouring rain, or when it's -30C outside. I'd have a hard time keeping track and incrementing weights with random heavy objects found outside.

A pair of dumbbells with adjustable weights and a decent indoor cycle machine thingy would technically do it for me, but at the cost of several months of gym membership for the former and years of gym fees for the latter, in addition to taking up space in my home and needing to be moved if I move (because currently I live in a rental apartment to be closer to my job)

And I do really just love lifting weights, it's the only form of exercise that doesn't make me feel excruciating mental anguish somehow. Cycling with a podcast on is also bearable, but then I can't do that safely in the city. Yeah we have pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, but unfortunately you do still have to eventually cross roads and then you have to hear things properly, because vision alone has limited width and assholes can run red lights. It doesn't help that my cycling style whenever I need to actually get anywhere on a bicycle, is literally "uh dude how have you not been hit by a car yet?" because I always leave too late and I don't like going slow. It might all be an ADHD thing, really.

Yeah whatever floats your goat really. My brother used to load his backpack full of textbooks and do pushups/home workouts and it worked for him. To each their own as long as long as whatever you do is working and you use proper technique.