The Lovable Rogue’s Guide to Building a Home Gym
Two years ago, I went rogue. I quit the gym. Now I work out at home in my garage. With the spiders.
And I love it.
7 Things to Consider When Building a Home or Garage Gym
1. Space – The amount of space you have will determine the type of equipement you can use to build your home gym. Don’t let a small space get in the way of your home fitness goals. There are plenty of options that don’t take up much room. In fact, some of the best fitness tools (kettlebells…ahem) hardly take up any space at all. Bands, adjustable dumbbells, suspension systems, pull up bars, and medicine balls don’t require a large area.
2. Others – Don’t let your “me time” turn into “ME time”. So you decided to turn that extra room into a home gym but maybe putting the treadmill on the other side of the master bedroom wall wasn’t such a great idea. Your early morning runs on the treadmill are now turning your sleeping beauty of a husband into Hank the Crank. Or maybe your once friendly neighbors are giving you dirty looks because they don’t like the sound of clanging plates and Metallica blasting out of the garage at 6 am.
3. Climate – You can’t give up your morning runs but you can’t live with Hank the Crank either so you decide to move your treadmill into the basement. Unfortunately you forgot not only does your basement feel like the Artic in the dead of winter but it floods in the springtime. For some, working out is already a discomfort. Don’t make it more uncomfortable by building a home gym in the old barn behind your house if you live inTexas and hate humidity. That said, I’ve known people who put on gloves and jackets to workout in their unheated basements or garages in the middle of a midwestern winter. (Those are the same kind of people who move to the desert because it’s “dry heat”.) If you live in a more temperate climate you’ll be able to use mother nature as a regular part of your routine and may not need machines like a gigantic hamster wheel treadmill. Consider what you consistently can (or will) and cannot (will not) do or tolerate climate wise.
4. Budget – Now you know where you are going to put your gym but what can you afford? If the sky is the limit enjoy your 360º views while using your shiny new commercial grade equipment. For the rest of us on a budget, I have two words. Craigslist. Wait. That’s one word. When I building my home gym I got everything, aside from my kettlebells, from Craigslist at a fraction of the price of retail. I even got some dumbbells off of a local Freecycle group and my husband built us a pull up bar for less than $10 with a galvanized steel pipe and a 2×4.
5. Knowledge – You can afford it (or make it) but can you use it? Sure Olympic bars are bad azz but can you use it effectively without sending yourself to the chiropracter or worse? If your fitness newbie it’s probably best to stick with bands, dumbbells, and basic barbell moves. Or better yet, hire a personal trainer to teach you how to get the most out of your home gym.
6. Frequency – Is this going to be your main gym or is this a “back up gym” reserved for nights you “can’t make it to the gym“. If it’s a back up gym one or two pieces of equipment should be plenty. In fact, maybe you should consider saving some money and using a bodyweight workout as a back up plan.
7. Motivation – The most important question of all, will you use your home or garage gym? If not, it’s…say it with me…worthless. For some people, a gym membership provides motivation and community. Those two things alone may make a gym membership worth the cost and worth wiping up other people’s sweat.
Now for a brief tour of my garage gym.
Dumbbells and barbells (on the floor in front of them).
Squat rack, olympics bar, and bench with a lat pulldown bar that you can’t see in the picture. This has become my least used piece of equipement unless you count using the bench to step up to my …
…pull up bar. Love it. It’s so sturdy a gorilla could swing from it.
“Wonder”bells
10 lb medicine ball
..and bands.
Jump Rope
Gymboss (for intervals and tabata training)
Hamster Wheel
Rower
Kicking Bag (I LOVE this thing and would recommend one over a treadmill. Way less expensive and a killer cardio workout.)
And because I’m soo HARD CORE….
…a hula hoop.
What about you? Where do you workout? Do you have any tips or other things to consider when building a home or garage gym that you could share? How do you feel about spiders?
Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn
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This is my (almost) sane quest for insane health. Let's 
Screw going to the Y, I wanna work out at Casa de Jenn! I don’t have a lot of room in my place so I have my yoga mat, kettlebell, weights stuck in a little corner. I push my coffee table out of the room whenever I work out to give me some more room but I would love if I had a separate room to work out in since I am paranois my living room is going to smell “sweaty”
Amen to the Craigslist suggestion. I check throughout the year but make it a point to check in early February since a lot of people seem to be listing stuff then after not following through.
February! Good idea. Sounds like you have nice little set up if you ask me!
I love your determination. Can I call you Spider Woman since you workout with the spiders?
I’m so snowed in here that I can’t get to my gym which I signed up for the day I arrived here. It’s so frustrating. So I bought a bunch of weights and started doing my own stuff. I enjoy it! And a cool thing is that if I simply walk to my mailbox (1/2 mile away) I burn 150 calories. (HILLS!)
Yeah your walk to the mailbox is cool. For reals!
I’m a wuss. I work out in a gym! I over exercised when I used to work out at home. So now I treat it like some people treat work. There is “workout” mode outside the home.You should be a home gym personal designer! I think most want a home gym but dont have a clue where to start! Sometimes, although it can get annoying, I do like the social aspect of the gym. And the fact that they replenish me with clean towels all the time is wonderful. Plus, I now live in a teeny apartment where if there was a kettlebell, I guarantee you something will break.
You’re not a “wuss”. You know yourself and that’s awesome. Funny you mention the home gym designer! I actually offer home gym consultations as part of my services as a personal trainer but as of yet no one has taken me up on it. I haven’t really pushed my business much though. It’s more for fun and a little extra cash since my husband supports me. I sort of miss the social aspect of the gym.
DUDE. Can i come workout in your garage? I would give my right arm for a full set of dumbbells and barbells and a squat rack. Which, I suppose, would defeat the purpose….
Tee hee!
Great gym tips! Since our budget is tiz-ght I’ve been looking into ways I can get a dumb bell set (that exceeds 8 lbs ;)) at home. I use Craigslist all the time yet I didn’t think to check out the gym stuff. Thanks!!
PS – I think your garage gym is boss!
Ok so you kill me. I love that you called my gym “boss”. I’ve never heard that and I love it!!
I’ve got a few things in the garage too! Like an
Everlast heavy bag, speed bag, and Wavemaster free standing bag.
The gym has a few nice “toys” too
You sound way more bad azz than me. 😉 Sounds like a killa set up.
I love your garage gym! I’d love a kicking bag, but we don’t have space…
I work out at a gym and at home. As far as “equipment” goes, I only have a few sets of dumbbells, which I keep in the hallway closet. I do a lot of “no equipment” workouts at home: lunges, squats, push-ups, etc. I also do some DVDs.
Sounds like a perfect balance of home gym and membership gym.
Mine isn’t as nice as yours, but we just cleaned up and re-set up our basement for my workout at home space. I love having a place at home!
I’ve seen very few homes with basements in CA. I MISS haveing a basement. I’m sure you rock your workout space!
I covet your kicking bag! I’ve often wished I had one right in between my kitchen and dining area to take my frustrations out on (probably much better than banging cabinet doors and slamming drawers LOL)
You have the best home gym I have ever seen!! Am simultaneously jealous and in awe. Did you find most of the stuff second hand or did you have to buy it new? Am also coveting your pink gym boss. Mine’s boring black…
Sorry for my super slow reply. Yes, I found everything but the kbs second hand off of Craigslist. I don’t think, including the kbs which take up a large portion of the budget, the entire gym was over $750. The rower alone would have cost over $1000 had I bought it new. LOVE craigslist.
I would love a home gym like yours! I have free weights, yoga mats, a balance ball and some resistance bands but that’s about it!
My garage is appropriate for a home gym.
nice temperature so i won’t have to go to the gym but you have a nice home gym.
I built my own squat/power rack and it’s great! Just doing compound exercises, and hitting a speed ball and punching bag for my cardio. (Also skipping for warm up/downs)
Your dumbell rack looks awesome though… would love to have those!
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