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Gym memberships are expensive – and, if you actually have a membership to a gym, then you know this full well! And it’s not just the expense that makes people wonder if they want to keep going to the gym. There’s also the fact that not everyone likes to work out around so many other people! You may even have been spending your life avoiding the gym because you feel self-conscious.
But there’s something about gyms, right? They’re great environments when you need to get into the mindset for exercise. Perhaps that sort of environment is precisely what you need. In that case, have you ever considered developing your own gym space at home? It might be more of a realistic accomplishment than you think.
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Considering space
People may well wonder how exactly one could fit a gym space inside their home. But the fact is that you don’t have to dedicate some permanent space to it. You could have the equipment out of the way when not in use. When it’s “gym time”, simply make some temporary space and get the equipment set up. If you’ve got some way of sheltering things, you may even want to consider having the equipment out in the garden. In any case, you might want to consider noise absorption for your gym space. Using this kind of equipment can get pretty noisy!
Weightlifting
Weights and cardio are the two things I think about when we talk about gyms, so it’s important to focus on those areas. This is definitely the area that has the potential to take up quite a minimal amount of space. After all, a few free weights may well suffice for your purposes. If you have a few of varying weights, which helps with the sense of progression that the gym often offers. But some people will prefer to use machines. Whether or not you use free weights or machines may depend on how much room you have. For many, however, there are a few important distinctions they need to consider.
Cardio
A lot of people go to the gym with the aim of improving their cardiovascular fitness above all else. There are, of course, a few gym nuts who wonder why you’d only focus on that area: couldn’t you just go for a run, after all? But the gym often offers equipment that can improve cardio in much more effective and gentle ways when compared to running. Ellipticals, for example, are one of the most popular pieces of cardio-focused gym machines. Websites like Indoor Ellipticals specialize in recommending ellipticals that are fit for use in the average home.
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Yoga
Some people see yoga as something people do instead of focussing on muscle or cardio. But yoga is actually a fantastic supplement to both. In fact, it’s a great way of stretching your muscles in preparation for your workout and relaxing when you need to spend time away from tougher exercises. Thankfully, as you can imagine, you don’t need much room or equipment to do yoga! Make sure you have a yoga mat to go with your cardio and weights equipment in your home gym space.
