This article was written from my own experience of going through the process of setting up my own home gym so I could workout at home on days that I wasn’t able to go to the gym – The first gym I trained in was literally a huge garage (a large industrial warehouse) in an industrial warehouse area. It had old school equipment and a very traditional home garage gym feel and was my favorite all time gym to train in. After training in many new modern “life-style” 24/7 gyms, it is no wonder I am going full circle back to my roots of training in a garage gym.
Creating your home gym but not sure where to start? Plan and create your own ultimate home gym with these 5 easy steps.
Step 1: Ask yourself these 2 questions:
“Before buying a tonne of equipment or even being overwhelmed with where to start in this process ask yourself these two questions.”
- What are my goals?
- What do I enjoy doing?
Your goal may be to lose weight, get fitter or build muscle and strength – get clear on the goal you are after.
What you enjoy doing will be personal to you. It may be cycling, rowing, running, lifting weights. Get clear on what sports or exercises you enjoy doing as this well make it easy for you to spend time on it and enjoy the process.
Every purchase and decision you make of adding equipment or including things in your home gym should come back to these 2 questions.
Maybe your goal is to lose weight and be fit and healthy and you really enjoy cycling – buying a spin bike is a great option.
Less is more. Consider what you will want to do before purchasing anything.
Step 2: Find your space
The next consideration for you to make is space. Where are you going to dedicate space for your home gym? A spare room, garage, outside?
Also to note that in my case I have two home gym spaces. I have an inside cardio space in a spare room and as I have a detached garage I have my strength equipment (squat rack, FID bench, weights etc in the garage).
This also makes it easy as I see the cardio equipment often to encourage me to use it. This is especially true for cold winter mornings where I don’t have to leave the warmth and comfort of my home to start the day with a cardio workout.
Step 3: Choose your equipment
Avoid “as seen on TV” equipment when creating your home gym unless you have tried and tested the equipment and know it is going to work for you. Otherwise stick to standard equipment that has stood the test of time. Creating your home gym can be as expensive or as cheap as you want. As minimal or as maximal as you make it.
When creating your home gym you might include some of the following:
- Squat rack – make sure it has spotters / also useful to weight plate holders as a place to store weights without needing extra storage equipment
- Weights bench – flat or an adjustable flat incline decline (FID) bench or also with leg conditioner attachments for leg workouts, ab exercises etc
- Olympic Barbell – I prefer these for proper gym feel (also research why else should)
- Weight Plates – Rubber coated is quieter and perhaps safer for your feet some have handles which make them multipurpose e.g. using them for trap shrugs etc.
- Dumbbells – (Adjustable)free weight exercises for the bench (flys, shoulder flys etc)
- Cardio equipment – warm up / keep fit / burn fat (bike,rowing machine,treadmill, skipping)
- Clock – tracking breaks between reps / sets
- TV or Laptop (for spin classes, HIIT / Yoga Classes etc. (could be a laptop in a room)
- Poster – inspiration / decoration
- Mirrors – For checking posture and form
- Plants – Add colour and life to your space and keep the air fresh
- Flooring – Keep workouts quiet, protect floor / weights etc. rubber tiles / mats
- Yoga Mat.- Stretching and building flexibility manduka the only mat youll need
- Kettlebells – For kettlebell workouts
- Fan / Cooling – For warmer weather
- Storage – If you are getting lots of weights / dumbells
- Stereo / Headphones – To blast those pumping workout hits
- Whiteboard – to track workouts and doodleing =)
On a budget? Buy second hand – you can get amazing deals on used equipment. It’s better to have good quality second hand equipment than cheap, flimsy new equipment. You can also sell and upgrade equipment as time goes on. Choose quality over quantity. Have less good quality equipment than more cheap equipment that may not last. Stick to the essentials. Get versatile equipment that can be used for more than one exercise rather than isolated exercises to increase functionality and range of exercises you are able to perform.
Most gym equipment manufacturers have sales. Buy new equipment when it is on sale there is often big discounts when doing this. Invest in good quality – it will have better resale value in the long run and last a long time. Buy right first time. Don’t buy gimmicky equipment.
Start your home gym small and grow as you start using it. Add one piece of equipment at a time unless you are 100% clear on your requirements.
Step 4: Plan Your Space
Imagine the equipment in your designated space. Make sure there is enough space for the equipment you are choosing. e.g. height of ceiling for height of racks. Make sure you factor space around rowing or cycling machines etc.
Consider lighting, cooling / heating and flooring.
Make sure to get equipment that is strong and stable. There is nothing worse than wobbling around on a unstable equipment like a cheap weights bench rather than focusing on lifting the weights and whether your bench is going to be able to handle it.
Step 5: Evolve Your Home Gym
Continue to evolve your home gym. Start small buy one thing at a time. Try new exercises to keep yourself motivated. If you are not using your home gym enough or equipment don’t go out and purchase more equipment. Use what you have and once you are consistently using your home gym then look at adding more equipment later. Save up to get what you really want. Don’t cut corners and buy cheap equipment. This should also come from your training needs vs wanting new equipment.
Conclusion
I hope these 5 simple steps have given you some direction for creating your home gym and designing an inspiring workout space. All the best with building your dream gym and smashing those goals!