There are all sorts of workouts being marketed these days pitching you the convenience of sweating from the comfort of home, but many often wonder, is the payoff reward gleaned from the basement exercise area equal to your local gym or health club facility? Perhaps if you’re following the popular P90X (which boasts heaps of success stories featuring people who’ve lost weight and worked their bodies into stellar shape,) all without ever setting foot inside a gym, it’s more than worthy, as many folks accomplish this feat within 90-days, start to finish!

So, I already know (guessing anyway) that you desire a ripped upper-body, massive beastly legs, and a gangster back rivaling that of Lance Armstrong, but moreso, (and you can bet your life savings) EVERYBODY seeks that awesome, rock-solid & cut abdominal physique…the most sought after region of 6-to-8 pack abs! For this, we’ll illustrate further along a routine strictly for your tummy dubbed Hip Hop Abs. It’s a moderately intense abdominal workout/routine that can be executed at home within a half-hour.

But…how about the remaining muscles in your bod? A near-complete home gym picture begs mention of the equipment you’re familiar with already, “Mr.” Total Gym and similar to a complete-body workout like this, is the infamous Bow-Flex by Nautilus machine–both affordable options…when compared to a $40 (avg.) monthly gym fee!

The question is, however…can these machines (and accompanying workout regiments) truthfully get you into shape, and will they also accomplish the task equal to that of your local gym (using their equipment) instead? Continue reading for the FitHacker.com killer analysis!

Lets kick things off in depth with the popular fad workout, P90X. It is becoming more and more known nationwide, and proves very intense. The P90X uses the concept of muscle confusion, where you perform different exercises and keep your routines diverse– this way, your muscles never get used to the workouts and you’re able to push yourself in different ways every time you workout.

It’s tough to argue with the results people are seeing from the P90X routine, and if followed properly, are truly quite solid & legit! Given the intensity and the diversity of the workouts, it is excellent for those who are trying to get back into shape and even folks already in shape. The manual gives you specific routines and exercises to follow, and having the videos and workout overview provided for you is kind of similar to having your own personal trainer, only minus that ugly hourly rate! On top of the intensity, the P90X workouts will enable you to lose weight at a steady pace. Whether you’re in the gym or at home, an intense workout that targets all your major muscle groups will produce results and the P90X does exactly that.

Hip-Hop Abs is another solid workout routine, but executed alone, simply won’t be enough to kick your gym membership to the curb. I personally did hip hop abs the other day and it is very intense. Shaun T. gives great instructions in the video and it does really target the abs as well as the obliques. Hip Hop Abs also incorporates numerous ab exercises to really hit your core.

I am already in great shape and have to admit–Shaun T’s “ab-sculpt” routine really had me working up a sweat and on top of that, my obliques were very sore the next day…nice! I feel this is option makes for a good “at home” workout, but definitely not fit as a complete substitute for the local gym. “Hip-Hop Abs” is jam-packed full of excellent abdominal routines, and in addition, an intense fat-burning cardiovascular plan…but wait, there’s more. It also features a “total body burn” workout…solid regimen, indeed!

However, if you’re looking to tone many other muscles in your body and are trying to build muscle on top of losing fat, you will need to do a bit more than summoned by the Hip-Hop Abs program. Though individually, as an abs routine, Hip-Hop is very intense and can be a substitute for abdominal machines or crunches at the gym.

The total gym is a different from P90X and Hip-Hop Abs in that, this is a piece of equipment designed from scratch to deliver a total body workout! It uses your body weight as resistance and you can do numerous different exercises on this machine. You can hit your triceps, biceps, chest and shoulders. You can even do your legs but I didn’t find it to be a very intense leg workout. What I did find is that this machine is good at getting your arms and chest toned but other then that it doesn’t do much. This is a good piece of equipment for those looking to get back into shape or for those who just want to keep themselves toned. But if you are looking to build some significant muscle and you want to lose weight fast there are better alternatives out there. I give the gym membership the advantage on this one.

Lastly, there’s the Bowflex. This is similar to the total gym in that it is a machine that you buy, but instead of using your body weight as resistance it has power rods that let you select the amount of weight you want to workout with. This is a solid piece of equipment that has the potential to build some solid muscle and help you slim down and tone up. This is also great for people who are looking to get back into shape or those that are in shape and want to stay that way. You won’t have quite as much direction as you would with the P90X but it is a good option if you are looking to kick that gym membership. I would suggest doing some cardio on the side though if you really want this to be a complete solution to the gym.