How To Create The Perfect Home Gym
Do you have time to go to the gym all the time? For many of us, the answer is a clear no, work, family and everything else constantly get in the way, and that’s normal.
So why not consider creating your home gym? This will allow you the flexibility to work out whenever you want, immediately without the need to drive over there or change and shower in a communal area. It’s easy enough to put together a great home gym, but there are a few decisions you need to make, and here we will go through them.
Choose A Room That Has Enough Space
Where are you going to have your gym? Is there a spare room somewhere in the house that is big enough for setting it up? If not, what about the garage or even a loft conversion, these are often under-used spaces that are doing no good whatsoever. It might sound like a big step but building a purpose-built room could be the way to go, an extension can be a great idea and can really add value to your home as well as allowing you to make the room the exact size and shape that you need.
Another idea is to build a structure in the garden, it’s quite common these days to make a timber summer-house style structure, often termed the ‘man-cave’ these days, although it’s definitely not, or shouldn’t be, a gender-specific idea.
So if you are seriously looking at constructing an extension or out-building, what exactly are the needs of this space. Well, it needs power, that’s a given, even if you are not going to have electric-powered machines, you will want heating and even entertainment in the room or building. You need to start with a good base otherwise it will all be for nothing.
Make sure you are confident and competent in the work if you are attempting to complete it yourself and, if not, make sure you hire a competent, qualified and insured professional. Planning permission can change from area to area so be sure that you are compliant with any codes and gain whatever permissions required as, even if you build to code, you may be forced to tear it down and start again if planning was not obtained in advance.
You should consider if you need a water supply as well, since most of us like to finish off a workout with a shower, it is a key consideration and, especially if you’ve constructed your gym outside the main house building, you don’t want to walk back to the main house for your shower, do you? In this case, you’ll need a good plumber, but using the internet it’s very easy to find one in your area, just look them up and check their online reviews. Any good tradesperson should be able to give you a free quote, so you can check and compare if they are being fair with their cost.
Consider If It’s Your Main Gym Or Not?
What type of gym you want to create depends on whether or not you are going to be using it a lot? For some, it is just a bit of extra exercise as well as going to a much larger gym as well. Because, let’s be honest, unless you are vastly wealthy with a huge house you are not going to be able to kit your private gym out with as much equipment as a large commercial gym, which has the added advantage of other facilities, such as a swimming pool, sauna, there are even some that have such features as a climbing wall and ice skating rink.
But regardless of the size and features of your local gym how much you intend to use your home gym dictates a lot of your choices, you might only want to concentrate on weights, or resistance training at home, or maybe it’s just cardio? If either of these are true then you can pretty much cut the space you need in half or allow yourself more equipment for one or the other types of exercise.
Also, is it just for your use or is all the family going to be using it? You could even consider getting together with a bunch of friends, and/or neighbors to open a small private or community gym? This can be in addition to your home gym or in addition to it, either way, it’s going to be a whole lot closer than traveling to the busy gym miles away.
Free Weights Or Machines?
Are you more into free weights or machines? At the end of the day, unless you are a proper bodybuilder or competitive weightlifter, for a casual gym user the difference is going to be minimal. But for setting up a home gym space for each may be the more important issue, as it’s unlikely you are going to have the room to have an area for both.
If you are being picky the main argument for free weights is that they provide a fuller range of movement when completing your resistance training, but for our needs, the more important detail may be that they take up less space, so if you are comfortable using them, free weights might be more suitable. Take time to research what equipment you need, such as looking for the best squat racks for a home gym. But not everyone is comfortable with free weights, so if you can make the room a machine may be the easiest and best solution here.
Do You Need Cardio Equipment?
Not all gym workouts are about pumping iron, although resistance training is what many people consider gym work, doing cardio can be just as important and should be a consideration when putting together your home gym unless you are doing a lot of outdoor cycling or jogging that is. What would you look for though? A stationary bike, treadmill or rowing machine?
Again space will be a consideration and unless you have a huge area one or two of these are probably all you’ll have room for. Is there one activity you want to train for? This may influence your decision. Otherwise, I always find a good rowing machine to give the most versatile workout, as most of us own a bike or can go running as well, but few of us own a row-boat.
Have You Considered Renting?
What about renting rather than owning your gym equipment?It can be a great way of getting good quality and a variety of equipment at a price you can afford, and often you can change gear regularly and are covered in the event of something breaking or needing replacing.
Sometimes it’s thought that renting machines or equipment is only a solution for commercial gyms, and although it’s certainly more common in a commercial setting there is nothing stopping a private user going down this route, but be sure you have weighed up the cost, if it is light use then it might not be the perfect option for you.
Another alternative, in this case, could be buying the equipment you need on credit as, like the rental, you will be paying a monthly fee but will end up owning the equipment at the end of the process. Somewhere like GymSource has a great range, staff with good advice on what you need and offer payment terms over a longer period, this could make buying your own more feasible.
