Creating Your Perfect Home Gym

Published

3 months ago

January 17, 2024

There are many reasons why someone might want to avoid the gym. Some of them might be due to membership prices, commuting to and from, finding the time to go or even feeling uncomfortable in the public setting. Home gyms offer a convenient and personalised solution to those problems. Whilst the initial expense might take your breath away, you’ll eventually be saving money.

Space

The first part of creating your perfect home gym is choosing a location for it. You may already have a space in mind or you might be at a complete loss. Basements and garages tend to be popular choices as they’re often dumping grounds with leftover space. Another option is a spare room or some people combine their home office with a gym if they can.

It’s often better to have your home gym on the ground floor of your home because of the heavy equipment. You also want a well-ventilated space to maintain a healthy indoor environment!

Flooring

Choosing the appropriate floor is crucial for your gym and there are a few things to consider.

The type of workout you’ll do plays a key role in the flooring you should choose as you may need something incredibly strong. Large equipment such as treadmills can cause stress to your floors and heavyweights can cause damage too.

If you decide to have your home gym upstairs, you may need to reinforce the structural integrity of the barrier between the floors. Using thick pads can reduce some of the impact.

A lot of workouts involve direct contact with the floors such as push-ups or press-ups. You might want to consider a floor that’s nicer to touch.

A problem you might not think about is sweat. It won’t be an immediate problem but eventually, the build-up of sweat can discolour your floor or cause damage further down the line.

Some of the better options for home gym floors are: rubber floor mats, solid wood floors, cork flooring and luxury vinyl tiles (LVT). These can offer durability, shock absorption, scratch resistance and more benefits for a home gym. They’re also relatively easy to clean!

Lighting

Natural light is always ideal and positioning your home gym near windows will allow you to benefit from daylight. Sometimes it isn’t possible though, in which case you can choose bright, cool-toned artificial light to simulate daylight. It’s best to have ceiling lights positioned to evenly distribute light across your home gym.

Furniture

The easiest thing to do is consider what equipment you need and go from there. Don’t just think about the now either. Think about your future fitness levels, where do you see yourself in a few months or years?

You should look for pieces of equipment that are multi-functional and can easily be stored too. This will help you optimise the space in your home gym. You can get foldable benches, storing them against the wall, and storage racks or shelves to keep your equipment organised and accessible.

Decoration

Give your home gym some personality and soul by decorating it.

In a classic gym, you eventually get used to the countless mirrors covering the walls. Whether you love them or not, mirrors are an effective way to make your home gym look bigger. Practicality-wise, they do help you watch your form and technique.

If a wall full of mirrors isn’t all that appealing, then you could consider some motivational posters. Something that helps you push through those final reps in your workout.

Another thing to consider is colours. Some might find this irrelevant, but it could be a good idea to think about a colour palette for your gym. It should be something you love that will inspire and motivate you. According to colour psychology, pale blues and greens are energetic colours that are refreshing and calming. Reds are also powerful and known to encourage you!