Tips to Create Your Ideal Home Gym

One of the great things about our homes in Grand Forks ND is the inclusion of a rec room in many floor plans. This gives owners the flexibility to use this extra space as they see fit and makes it easy to change things as their interests change. One thing that a lot of people have been doing over the past year is creating their own home gym. Why spend lots of money on equipment you don’t necessarily use. A home gym lets you customize your space to fit your personal exercise needs and interests.

First, you need to think about the space you have available and how much of it you want to dedicate to your home gym. You could use the whole rec room, or you could divide it into sections for different hobbies. How much space you have determines the amount of equipment.

That leads us to what you envision having in your home gym. Cost and space could limit certain desires, but most likely you can find items to replicate what you most enjoy and want to incorporate into your workout. Free weights, yoga mats, floor space for video workouts, treadmill, pilates machines — think about what you most want and need and make sure you have space. If not, rank your equipment in order of most important. Perhaps you could use an unfinished basement, a garage, or the family room for certain workouts in addition, to allow for more space.

The reality is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a solid well-rounded home gym setup. Equipment-free exercises, such as pushups, situps, lunges — and burpees if you’re up to it — don’t take much space. While the Peloton may be enticing, it’s not really necessary, especially if you’re not sure you’re going to use it enough to justify the cost. Start with other equipment that is more affordable, like resistance bands for stretching and strength training, a kettlebell and/or dumbbells for weight lifting and resistance, and a yoga mat for yoga, pilates, and basic stretching. As you develop a routine — and stick to it — then you can consider and more easily justify more expensive equipment.

There’s no reason to spend a fortune on equipment. Many of the basics mentioned can be found in regular retail stores like Target, rather than sporting goods stores, where items might be more expensive. Once again, if you’re sticking to the workout and want to upgrade, do it gradually to keep costs under control. Even larger items like stationary bikes and treadmills can be found for less at second-hand sporting equipment stores or online markets like Facebook, Craigslist, etc.

If you do have equipment like a treadmill or bike, you may want a tv or tablet to keep you entertained while you exercise. In addition, make the most of online workouts that are free and use basic bodyweight or smaller hand weights to give you a great workout. Plus, there are tons of workouts available, ranging from basic cardio to ballet-inspired workouts. You can easily mix things up so you don’t get bored doing the same workout all the time and you don’t necessarily have to spend much or any money to do them. You’ll find plenty of workouts on YouTube, for example.

Make your workout space somewhere you want to be. Have everything set up and ready to go so that when the mood strikes, you have no excuses. Consider adding in mirrors if you want to work on form; music to keep your energy up; and even a small fridge to keep cold drinks on hand as you work up a sweat. Keep a few towels around and anything else that will make the home gym experience feel positive and you’ll soon find that having your own gym in one of the homes in Grand Forks ND is better than any professional gym.

Categorised in: Things To Do, Tips to Create Your Ideal Home Gym

This post was written by Crary Real Estate