*You can strength train on a field, on a tennis court, in a playground, on the beach. Anywhere really. Producing force or resistance just requires you to fight gravity. It isn’t about how you look. It’s about your willingness to produce force and be strong. 

*The gym is not just for bodybuilding. The gym is just a place filled with toys and tools to make it as convenient as possible to produce lots of force or resist against gravity in a controlled way. 

*Bodybuilders might be judged for how they look. Even if you don’t enjoy the vanity aspect of the sport, you should be interested in how their muscles work. If you like money, you don’t need to understand how the central bank or Fiat currencies work. But you do know money buys you power. Muscle can buy you literal power. 

*Strength training has many forms: eccentric training, isometric training, concentric, plyomterics. Each of those modes produces very different changes in your muscle. You can choose your exposure and dosage to each. But all are distinct, necessary and useful.

*Yoga cannot replace strength training. Primarily because yoga might help with flexibility and mobility. But it cannot produce the same outcomes as isometrics, plyometrics and other forms of strength training can. Neither can cycling, running, walking or playing a sport. 

*What you enjoy doing might not necessarily be the most healthy or useful endeavours for your joint and muscle health. Part of being an adult is doing what you need to, rather than doing only what you want to. 

*Strength training is what you logically arrive at when you ask a basic question: what’s the simplest way to gain the most amount of muscle and strength with the least amount amount of time spent to sustain and improve quality of life. 

Takeaway 

Venues and settings don’t matter. The work you can do is what the game is about. That costs effort not money. And you don’t need to be a member of any club for that.