Home Gyms: The Ultimate Guide

Going to the gym can be a great way to maintain your health and meet your fitness goals. Getting the chance to socialize, use heavy-duty equipment, and take advantage of the facilities makes leaving the comfort of your home worthwhile. However, it’s not always an option when balancing a busy lifestyle.

Fortunately, you can bring the gym home by creating an in-house fitness area. Follow the steps below to design and build the perfect home gym setup.

Location

The first step for creating the ultimate home gym is to decide on a location in your home. The requirements for how much room you need depend on what kind of workouts you want to do and what pieces of equipment you’ll use.

If you plan on doing body weight training, you won’t need a lot of space. These types of home workouts don’t require much equipment, so you can easily create a gym area in a shared living space like a family room or office. The same can be said for yoga and meditation-based routines. Those workouts typically only need a small area for a yoga mat or blocks.

On the other hand, strength training with weights or cardio-focused routines will require a larger amount of space in your home. Since these routines rely on weights and workout equipment, you may need to dedicate an entire room for your home gym or create a new space. Recently, more homeowners have been converting their basements or garages into their own fitness centers, but if that’s not an option, you could even invest in a workout shed or an outdoor area that’s specifically built for exercise.

Building a home workout space on your existing floor plan can actually increase the property value. Future buyers will appreciate the added square footage and a bonus room that they could use for other purposes. While this can be a pricey investment towards improving your health, it can be more affordable than you think as a homeowner. With the recent decrease in interest rates, researching how to refinance a mortgage can help you financially when expanding your space. By refinancing you can lower your monthly payment, leaving more money in your pocket for building your ultimate home gym.

Lighting

After deciding on a space to build your home gym, it’s time to think about lighting the space. The light we’re exposed to gives our bodies cues. When we see darkness, our body tells us it's time to go to bed, not to work out. No one wants to work out in a dark and dingy area, so wherever you set up, make sure it’s well-lit.

To have a bright workout space, consider adding brighter light bulbs like LED lights into your existing fixtures or you can install a track light that gives you a lot of brightness and a high-end look. You could even invest in smart lighting that’s beneficial to you and the environment. 

If your gym space is indoors, consider working out in a room with windows that bring in natural light. Whether you're in or out of your home, natural light is probably one of the best options for working out. Lastly, you can also install a full-length mirror that’ll help lights in your surroundings reflect and you can double-check your technique and form during routines.

Noise Level

If you’re in a multi-family home or just want to stay quiet, consider soundproofing your gym to reduce noise levels. Lifting weights, jumping, or watching workout videos can get loud. Consider investing in the following options.

• Noise reduction panels: These will help to reduce both background noises and echoes.
• Rubber flooring: It’s soundproof, shock-absorbent, water-resistant, and it’s not expensive. It can also be maintained and set up on top of your carpet.
• Coated Equipment: This equipment can include dumbbells and kettlebells that aren’t heavy metal which won’t make any loud and echoing sounds.
• Use Headphones: This will help you make less noise when listening to music during your workout and can help motivate you when that's all you hear.
• Sandbags: This equipment is used for weight training that can replace loud metal equipment.
• Equipment Mats: If you have a treadmill or elliptical machine consider adding an extra layer of mat to your rubber flooring to ensure a quiet workout.

One great thing about these options is that you'll only need to set up once. Ideally, your home gym should be a peaceful place for you to focus without disturbing others. There are more benefits to a quiet gym than limiting disturbance as it can allow you to focus more on your workout without being distracted by loud bangs and echos.

Equipment

When setting up your home gym, make sure you stay organized to minimize an overcrowded gym space, so try to avoid having too much equipment. Because the pandemic has forced people to stay home, many people are finding ways to use equipment that isn’t bulky and doesn't take up a lot of space in the house. For instance, the AbCoaster® PS500 is the perfect ab building machine for your home gym as it has a sleek design that allows it to fit in a compact space. Additionally, the X3S™ Bench is another great option as it has multi-functional use for a complete ab, leg, and core workout, allowing you to save time and money on purchasing additional equipment.

Here are some more equipment ideas that fit different workout types.

Depending on the type of workout you prefer, it’s easy to find minimal equipment that can allow you to achieve your fitness goals at home.

Storage

The final step for setting up your ultimate home gym is having a storage area. For small equipment like hand weights or towels, you want to have some storage options available to keep your area clean and tidy. Here are some ideas when creating a storage space for your gym.

In the end, the most important step is to plan and start your journey to create your home gym. It may seem hectic in the beginning, but if health and fitness are something you're passionate about, this project can be surprisingly fulfilling. Being healthy is the best investment anyone can have especially while spending more time at home. We hope all the steps provided have given you some comfort in knowing that building home gyms are easier than you think!