Designing and creating your own home gym can be a really effective way to stay in shape more easily. After all, when your gym is in your own home, it’s more accessible and you can make sure you always have access to the exercise equipment that you want to use.
However, the process of actually creating your own home gym can take a fair bit of time and effort to do properly – which is exactly why this article aims to outline some of the best tips on what you should include in your home gym plans.
Getting the Space Sorted
Of course, the very first part of your exercise room is going to have to be the room itself. Without that, it won’t matter what else you plan or provide; you are never going to be able to actually set the space up. So, what do you need to think about when trying to set aside the actual room for your home gym?
Firstly, you need to decide whether you are going to be converting an existing room in your home into the gym space or whether you are planning on building an extension for your home. There is plenty of planning and organization that will have to go into both of those choices, but if you decide on the latter, then you are going to want to get the process of building that extension underway ASAP.
Regardless of how you clear the space, there are plenty of things you can do to help better prepare your chosen room to work as a gym beyond simply emptying the space. For example, you might want to consider investing in a high-quality gym floor installers service to set up your new home gym with flooring fit for the purpose. Not only does this help to make sure that the room is better designed for exercise, but it also makes sure that your floor itself can stand up to the punishment that consistent workouts will put it through.
Setting Up Your Equipment
Once you have the actual room ready, you’ll want to start investing in the right equipment to get your home gym operational in the way you want it to be. Of course, there are plenty of different devices that you might like to use in your exercise journey, but some great options you might want to keep in mind are:
- Adjustable Dumbbells and Barbells: Weight training is an extremely effective way to improve your strength and toning, and by utilizing adjustable weights, you can help to avoid overstraining yourself, too.
- Resistance Bands: A great alternative to training with weights, resistance bands allow you to engage with quality resistance training to improve your strength and toning as well.
- Exercise Mat: An essential to provide a padded surface for plenty of exercises, these mats are particularly useful for yoga and other exercises that include extended contact with the ground.
- Yoga Blocks and Straps: Of course, if you really want to get the most out of regular yoga, then these tools can help to improve your interaction with your yoga exercises and help you to make faster progress.
- Cardio Equipment: Depending on your space and budget, you have plenty of options available to you for cardio equipment – including everything from a treadmill to an elliptical machine.
Regardless of which devices you decide to set up as a part of your home gym, try to remember the importance of varying the kinds of exercise you engage with. In particular, you should be careful to always stretch before and after you engage with serious exercise – both to protect yourself from injury and to improve the natural strength and flexibility of your body.
Keep Things Entertaining
At this point, your new home gym is going to be functional – but that doesn’t mean that it’s going to be a lot of fun to use. When it comes right down to it, one of the most important factors that can contribute to your willingness to continue your health and fitness routines is your ability to make the act of exercise fun – which is exactly why you should put some effort into making your home gym as fun as it is functional.
One great way to do this is by installing a sound system in your gym space. A good sound system might be expensive to source, but it is well worth the expense to provide yourself with quality sound and the ability to surround yourself with workout jams and podcasts. Sound is one of the most fundamentally important factors that can determine how much you enjoy an experience, so working to make your home gym better in terms of sound can do a lot to elevate your entertainment in the space.
What’s more, you could install a wall-mounted TV or even a projector that can allow you to watch your favorite shows while you are exercising. Again, this calls back to the point of making your exercise routine more entertaining and engaging. Plus, you could connect these to your new sound system, meaning you’ll have great sound quality along with your visual entertainment.
Motivational Spaces
Finally, it can be difficult to realize how much progress you’ve been able to make with exercise when you are living in your own body every single day. So, you might want to consider the benefits of creating a motivational space in your home gym to help keep your spirits up.
There are plenty of inspirational materials that you could potentially include in this area, but you should also be sure to keep a journal in this area. By making regular entries in that journal, you can look back on your exercise journey and relive your own experiences.
Not only can this be a great tool for self-reflection, but it can also allow you to get a real insight into how much progress you’ve made since beginning your journey – which can be a massive sources of motivation. You might even want to consider including the occasional photograph in your journal as another form of insight into your progress.
