Hey guys,
This week’s blog post is going to be an in-depth guide to setting up a home gym. In this blog post, I am going to over why we should choose to have a home gym, tips and advice to built our best gym and 8 ways to stay motivated to train at home.
I’m also going to go over how to choose equipment based on the space and size of your home, what equipment to choose based on your budget and the equipment price list based on your favorite sport.
Furthermore, I am going to go over the best brands depending on the equipment you decide to use in your home gym set up. Finally, I will go over the total cost of your home gym depending on your space and equipment.
Firstly, why should you choose to build a home gym?
Due to the uncertainty of the safety measures brought on by the Corona virus, we should aim to have a plan B in case the government decides to shut down public spaces again.
A home gym also alleviates travel costs and issues related to transportation/traffic. You can also train wearing anything you want and circumvent issues like gym membership prices, small talk and interruptions, sharing gym equipment and crowded gyms.
Having a home gym also helps us stay consistent with our training as have full time access to our own equipment.
“’Exercising at home makes your routine more sustainable – there’s no travel involved and your post-workout shower is ready there for you,’ adds Chloe Twist, personal trainer at OriGym Centre of Excellence (Clark, 2019).”
Check out this post on the benefits of home vs gym training.
Tips and considerations for home gym training:
Important things to consider while training at home are your social needs, your fitness personality and the type of motivation that works for you.
If you are more extroverted, you may find that the small talk and gym friends energized you along with your training. If you are more on the introverted side, a home gym is just right for maintaining your social battery.
Check out my post on the 10 female fitness personalities to find out a bit more about your personality style when it comes to training.
My ultimate recommendation when it comes to being extroverted and having a more social driven desire for your fitness levels is to balance out home training with gym training (I do this).
While the idea of training at both the gym and home might seem a bit extra to some, when a fitness-obsessed extroverted person isn’t heavy into a party or nightlife lifestyle, their fitness social life does tend to lend itself useful in that respect.
It is therefore crucial to do one or more of the following things:
- Sign up for a regular gym and use it 2 or 3 times a week, alternating with your home workouts.
- Ask your friends or family to train with you at your home gym.
- Join an online fitness community where you can be held accountable and motivated to train.
- Hire a personal trainer to come train you at your home gym.
- Hire an online personal trainer.
Furthermore, consider your fitness personality in terms of motivation. Are you intrinsically motivated or do you have tendencies towards being more people driven?
Does motivating and inspiring others on your fitness account give you more of a drive to train then maybe just getting a work out in for health reasons?
Self awareness will help guide your home gym journey.
1) Consider how much space you have for equipment:
Questions to ask yourself: how much space do I have?
Do I have enough space to hold larger pieces of equipment?
“Space should be your starting point. No matter how ambitious you are, the space which you have available will be a determining factor when creating a workout area or setting up a home gym (Marier, 2022).”
2) Make sure to measure both your space and equipment
Furthermore, make sure to take furniture, household items and walls into consideration as equipment.
For instance, you can use the wall for wall sits, your couches and chairs for triceps dips, hip thrusts or lunges.
8 Ways to stay motivated while training at home
If you need help in the motivation department, here are 8 tips towards finding your motivation while training at home:
1) Have goals and write them down
2) Get into the habit of training first
3) Find a fitness program that you enjoy following
4) Eliminate distractions
“To get the most from an at-home workout regime remotely, you need to minimize distractions and schedule time to workout so you can remain consistent (Heiser,2020).”
A few practical ways of doing this are to divert the house phone or place your phone on silent and to inform family members that could potentially distract you not to disturb your workout.
“Take steps to remove or minimise these – like diverting the house phone to answer phone or putting a sign on the door to ask family members to answer the door if anyone calls round (Clark, 2019).”
5) Perform bodyweight exercises if no weights are available
“No weights? ‘You can do bodyweight training such as push-ups, planks, squats, bicycle crunches, lunges and bridges for great gains too, as they double as cardio moves too,‘ she adds (Clark, 2019).”
6) Create a great music playlist
“Music works well at keeping you motivated and focused while at the gym, but if you forget to play it while at home then your mind can wander,’ says Emma Kowalski, a personal trainer who runs the fitness classes at Xtreme Events. So sort yourself a banging playlist (Clark, 2019). “
7) Switch up your exercises and increase intensity
“To keep your body guessing and ensure you’re progressing towards your health and fitness goals, make sure you try new moves, or make classic moves like the squat or a push up more challenging (Clark, 2019).”
8) Make sure that you have someone to hold you accountable (online community or offline)
This is similar to knowing your social needs and fitness personality, in any case, training with friends, joining a community or finding an online app/virtual coach can help you stay committed.
“Having someone to hold you accountable will also go a long way toward making sure your at-home gym actually gets used. (Heiser,2020)”
Budget tips:
Firstly, what type of sport are you into?
Crossfit
Weightlifting
Pilates
Yoga
Cardiovascular
Tennis/swimming/football
Resistance training (light/moderate)
Consider your space options:
Living room
Basement
Garden/terrace
Bedroom
Balcony
Guest room or guest house
Attic
1) Do your research about the equipment required for your sport first
“Take some time to research prices, and remember that one person’s “trash” can be a strong woman’s treasure! From closeouts to garage sales, from online classified ads to simply asking around, you can get incredible deals on second-hand equipment, and find the pieces you covet at a fraction of their usual retail cost (Marier, 2022).”
2) Set aside a budget for the home gym based on your research
“Outfitting a home gym can run anywhere from a couple hundred to several thousand dollars. Having a clear idea of how much you’re willing to invest will not only guide your purchases, but encourage you to be as creative as you can to make the most of your available resources.” (Heiser,2020)
Miscellaneous items to spice up your home gym setup:
Mirrors
Mats
Cushion floor/add foam
Cupboards/shelves/baskets for equipment
Brighten up the room with wall paint or feel good/motivational decor
Speakers
“If you already train at a gym, you will recognize the more reputable names such as Precor, Life Fitness, Freemotion, Hammer Strength, York, Rogue, Perform Better and TRX (Calderone,2020).”
Brands to invest in:
“The biggest mistake people make when buying equipment online is not knowing the quality of the source,” says Ron Martin, sales manager at FitOne Fitness. Purchase from companies with a reputable name in the commercial and studio gym settings, even if you’re buying the home version of their gear (Calderone,2020).”
“If it’s been a while since you had a membership and you’re unsure what is best at present, consult a specialized fitness equipment store and sales staff (steer clear of big chains) to steer you in the right direction, or attend a fitness conference expo (Calderone,2020).”
Equipment to invest in:
Resistance bands: (range from $6-$30 usd) these are the cheapest on the list and are the most space friendly.
“‘Resistance bands are the cheapest and most versatile piece of equipment to have at home,” says Froerer (Heiser,2020).”
Sliders: these are also cheap and space friendly.
Medicine ball (range from $30 to $141 usd) versatile and can build full body strength and mass.
Pull up bar: great for building upper body and core strength.
Stability ball: great for developing core strength.
Kettlebell: versatile piece of equipment, great for building muscle mass and full body strength.
Dumbbells: centerpiece to any gym facility, most versatile and can help build an entire physique.
“The movements you are able to do with a single dumbbell, or pair of dumbbells, in a home gym space are almost limitless,” says Froerer (Heisser, 2020).
Suspension trainer (trx): these take up little space, can help build strength.
Bench (foldable/regular): useful for weight lifting style training.
Parallel training bars: great for calisthenics style of training.
Barbell and plates: ideal for building muscles and gaining strength.
Jump rope: inexpensive, space-friendly, great for fat loss and cardiovascular fitness.
Hip thrust machine: you can find these on Bret Contreras’ website or Instagram (Booty By Bret) or in Lebanon (Booty builder Leb on Instagram)
Squat rack: great for building lower body muscle mass and strength.
Cable machine: great for building full body muscles and strength.
Treadmill/elliptical/rowing machine: more expensive than the rest of the equipment on this list but a great investment for fat loss.
Punching bag: great for building strength and burning fat.
Ab roller: great for developing core strength.
Foam roller: fairly inexpensive, good for stretching.
Ankle weights: great for building lower body strength and mass.
Cost of equipment:
The price of your home gym will vary according to the size of your designated home space, sport of choice and equipment budget.
You can, however, expect to pay from a few hundred dollars to over 10,000$.
“Cost will range from several hundred to several thousand dollars, but they include stations to train every muscle group on the body (Broser,2022).”
Sample home gym budget:
Sample Total Investment: $400-500
Your favorite celebrities and influencers have spent thousands on their gyms, making them state of the art training studios.
Manifesting your dream home gym
If you want to manifest and build yourself a luxury or high-tech gym, I highly suggest you go on Pinterest and check out the high end home gyms that are out there.
Don’t set any limits on your fitness lifestyle as health is wealth.
Check out this post on how to visualize for a successful manifestation of your dream home gym. Remember that the key to manifesting is by feeling and acting like you already have what you desire.
Make sure to add an emotion to your visualization session.
In conclusion, setting up a home gym is definitely a worthy undertaking especially during these uncertain pandemic times.
Be aware of your fitness personality and social needs first and then dive deep into researching the equipment needed for your gym.
After setting up a budget and visualizing your dream gym, you will be ready and motivated to maintain your dream body for as long as you want!
I hope that you guys enjoyed this in-depth guide to setting up a home gym, please let me know what you thought about it in the comments section below.
Sources:
https://asweatlife.com/2021/01/how-to-set-up-a-home-gym/amp/
https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/blog/articles/thinking-setting-home-gym/
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/fitness/a35067506/home-fitness-gear-guide/
https://www.totalbeauty.com/mobile/content/slideshows/at-home-workout-tips-200731
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/uk/fitness/fat-loss/a28770065/home-workout-tips/
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