A membership to your local gymnasium can set you back a lot of money each year. Often, you’ll pay a lot and get very little value in exchange. Many people sign-up promising themselves that they’ll go practically every day but then life gets in the way. If you’re not visiting as often as you’d like, you should consider setting up a space inside your house to workout. Creating the best home gym for you often ends up being a smaller and much more valuable investment than a membership. With many workouts now available for free online, it’s much easier and cheaper than ever before to get a good workout in from the comfort of your own house. So, how do you create the best home gym for your needs? Check out our tips below.
Find space
The key to creating the best home gym, is to find a great space for it. Before you get busy lifting weights and swinging kettlebells around, you’ll need to think about where you want to set up all of your equipment. At a minimum, you’ll want to ensure that you have space for something like a yoga mat. Even just a yoga mat gives you a lot of the room you need to do a variety of core and strength exercises. From this space you could do a good HITT workout, although you might want a bit of extra room to jump around. If you’re lifting weights; you’ll want to clear more floor space, both to give you room to do your exercises and also to ensure you have space to pack your equipment away. For those of us who live in apartments, finding space can be a challenge. Clearing space in your bedroom or lounge room is often the easiest way, otherwise store we suggest storing equipment that you can take with you to an outdoor space like a park inside a closet.
Stock up
Once you’ve found space to create the best home gym, it’s time to stock up on equipment. The best home gym for you will be one tailored to your specific needs and goals. You should also think about the space you have at your disposal. A big treadmill for instance may not be a good idea in a tiny apartment, but a jump rope can be a great way to get into cardio. If you have space in your home then a treadmill or an exercise bike can be a great way to meet your fitness goals. In terms of strength training equipment, it’s a good idea to consider items like kettlebells and resistance bands, which take up very little space but can help you to tone up. Balance balls are also a popular choice for the best home gyms.
Recovery
It’s always important to ensure that you have a bit of recovery equipment as well. Luckily recovery items usually don’t take up a lot of space. A foam roller and a cool down mat can do a lot to help you cope with soreness and fatigue.
It’s worth keeping in mind that you don’t need to go out and buy everything all in one go. Pick the most important items to you and start to build up from there. That will ensure that you get the best home gym for your without overspending.
Come up with a storage plan
If you’re creating a space with a lot of equipment then storage is going to be an essential. An organiser or box can help with storing items when they’re not in use. For heavy equipment like dumbbells, you may want to invest in a weight rack.