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Going to gym leaves most people feeling energized and super healthy, and so it should. But there’s always the lingering dread when considering spending an hour and a half in a room of sweaty people. Wouldn’t it be better just to exercise from home? Well, you can… and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune, either.
Research & Location
When researching equipment for your gym, you need to ask a few questions. What exercises do I want to perform? How long will the equipment last? Will I need to buy more in future? And is there a cheaper alternative? You want to avoid getting equipment you will never use, as well as equipment only suited towards beginners. This will help to refrain from wasting money, or having to spend more in the future.
There are some great websites, like dumbbell-exercises.com, who have loads of different exercises listed. Using tools like this will help you determine a small set of equipment, that can perform all of the workouts required.
For a successful workout, you ideally need a separate space with no distractions. This can be hard in small homes, though. You have a few options here, so let’s have a look.
If you have a garage, a spare room or a room that can be emptied; perfect! This gives you an instant home gym, just without any equipment. Just make sure that the space you choose is large enough for the equipment you intend to fill it with, and that the room is secure against kids and pets. Wooden flooring will probably be the best option for a home gym, there are plenty of budget flooring ideas that you can use for your space.
If you have a garden, a large shed with solid foundations can do the trick. In most places, you don’t need permission from your local government to build a shed. So a shed is a great budget alternative to a costly and time-consuming extension. You can buy flat pack sheds, or even design one yourself.
Equipment
Once you’ve established a location and a set of equipment for your gym, you can start shopping! To get real value for money, you should aim to buy large equipment second hand. If done right, this is an easy way to save some big bucks. Head over to a site like ebay.com or craigslist.com and search for something like “Orbit Fitness Treadmills” or “Bodymax Dumbells.” But before you bid or make an offer, look at some reviews for the product you find. Also look at the price of a new example, and make sure that the saving is great enough to justify buying second hand.
For smaller equipment, it is usually not too much more expensive to buy new. Especially with standard pieces, such as dumbbells. It’s usually more expensive to get these items on specialist sites, so use websites like amazon.com to find them.
Decor
Once you’ve bought some fancy new gym gear, you’re going to want to decorate your new gym. Use colors associated with power, if you want to work out hard. And use colors associated with peace, if you want to relax at the gym. But most importantly, make sure you really like it. You’re going to be spending a lot of time here!
This should give you some ideas for your own home gym. Hopefully, you’ll go away from this inspired to get to work and become a home gym owner. Avoid those sweaty seats and wandering eyes, do it at home!
