But going to a public or membership gym to workout is not for everyone. And with the prices of home gyms coming down everyday, maybe it's time to look at the practicality of buying a home gym system for your personal use.

Here are four good reasons why you might want to consider buying or building a personal home gym system:

1) It will save you time - Going to a gym is like going out. You can't just put on your scruffy clothes and begin your workout. You have to look good. This means preparation time -finding clean clothes, matching your outfit, prepping your hair = etc. If you have your personal home gym system, you waste no time at all.

2) It is convenient - What could be more convenient than going downstairs to the basement, starting your warm up exercises, and doing your workout? No battling inclement weather, rain or snow. No fighting rush hour traffic. No waiting for your favorite workout machines to come free. No waiting for the gym to open, if you like to workout in off hours. You workout whenever you want and at your own pace.

3) You can personalize your equipment - Do you ever get tired up constantly changing machine settings to where you had them last time you worked out? Or do you find it a hassle to change weights on the resistance machines to your last settings? With your personal home gym, your settings are always as you last left them.

4) You don't have to exhibit your body in public - Not everyone is an exhibitionist. If you are shy about exposing your body - especially if you've overweight, the last place you want to be is in a public gym. More and more it seems that gyms are a place to workout at once your body is already in reasonable shape. Anyway, having your personal home gym system lets you get in shape without suffering the fear of embarrassment.

In many cases, for less than a few thousand dollars, you can design or build a home gym to meet your personal specifications.

If you're a runner, you can find yourself the perfect treadmill that will match up well against those in the health clubs. If you want to work on your abs, you can buy a quality exercise ball that will give you abs of steel in no time flat. Maybe you're into Pilates. If so, you can now find specialized Pilates home gyms at inexpensive prices. Whatever your exercise needs are, odds are you can find a solution for them in the marketplace.

Being in shape is important. And today, aside from laziness, there is absolutely no reason that you can't get in exactly the kind of shape you desire without giving up your convenience.