The Perfect Home Gym Setup for Small Spaces
The best tips for any beginner setting up a home gym.
Trips back and forth to the gym, lengthy waiting times at the training equipment and hectic bustle everywhere - at the gym, we are confronted with all this. We all want to do something good for our bodies before or after work and with the least resistance.
With your very own home setup, going to the gym will be a thing of the past. When the word home gym is mentioned, you may think there will be a need for an enormous space and a huge cost to get the necessary equipment. This doesn't have to be the case, continue reading and find out that implementation is less complicated and cheaper than it first appears.
How much space do I need for a home gym?
When you look around a gym, your gaze usually wanders through a large variety of fitness equipment and free weights. Of course, it is usually not possible to replicate this equipment set up within your own four walls. The good news? It's not even necessary. While commercial gyms have to ensure that as many people as possible are attracted by the variety of equipment, your home gym only has to satisfy one person: you! An area of 2 square meters or more is sufficient for the basic training equipment. It doesn't even have to be a separate room.
Beginner 2-meter square combo:
Learn more about the:
Weight Bench with 100KG Vinyl Weight Set
Floor Mat Set - 6 Mats 12 Edges
Skipping Rope
Regardless of whether you live in an apartment or a home, you can build your dream home gym even in the smallest of spaces.
In order to be able to train effectively, a home gym setup with an adjustable weight bench and a set of dumbbells and barbells with a few additional weight plates is theoretically sufficient. If you want to build on this basic setup, you can also opt for a pull-up bar. An ergometer, cross trainer or treadmill can be used for warm-up or cardio training. If you have a tight budget and/or little space, alternatively you can use a skipping rope.
If you are willing to invest in a perfectly equipped home gym, you can also choose from a wide range of multi-gyms. These universal workstations offer many advantages. The biggest advantage is certainly that many exercises can be performed on them, which not only enables very effective but also varied training.
What kind of flooring is suitable for the home gym?
You should pay attention to the flooring in your home gym. It is important to take various facets into account here. If you train at the edge of your capacity, you will not always be able to avoid weights landing on the ground roughly. If you live in a rented apartment, you must ensure that sensitive floor coverings (such as parquet or tiles) are not damaged by training equipment. Noise pollution is another factor to consider. Carpet or linoleum floors are ideal floor coverings for the home gym. Anyone who has more sensitive floor coverings such as laminate or parquet in their training room can use floor protection mats. These mats protect your home gym floor and muffle noise caused by lowering weights. Among other things, they are available as a set in a kind of puzzle system, which enables individual use.
What budget should I plan for if I want to set up a home gym?
The budget is primarily based on the demands placed on the home gym. While there are almost no upper limits, you should calculate costs of around R 5000 - R 8000 for the beginner setup.
For example:
Adjustable weight bench
Set of dumbbells and barbells
Floor protection mats
Skipping rope
Larger home gyms require a larger budget. Many people initially shy away from the cost. In this context, however, you should keep in mind that these are almost exclusively one-off investments. If you extrapolate the monthly fee for your gym membership over several years, you will quickly realize how economical a home gym can be. This is especially true if you're training with a partner.
How do I motivate myself while gymming at home?
Only those who train regularly will be able to reap the fruits of their labour. The motivation factor plays a major role in staying on the ball. While other people can provide the necessary motivation in the gym (e.g. role models), you are on your own in your own gym. Here it can help to play motivating music. Another option is to hang a TV that can play motivational video clips with appropriate music.
The most important key facts for the perfect home gym are summarised:
Even if only a small amount of space is available, it is possible to set up a small home gym with basic equipment from as little as 2 square meters.
The basic equipment for strength training is an adjustable weight bench and a set of dumbbells with some weight plates. Your home gym equipment can be supplemented with a pull-up bar and a barbell with weight plates.
The warm-up or cardio training can be held either on an ergometer, cross trainer or treadmill. If you need to save space, you can use the skipping rope for warm-up or endurance training.
If you want to set up your home gym, you also have to pay attention to the right floor covering. Carpet or linoleum flooring is ideal. Floor protection mats can protect more sensitive floor coverings (e.g. parquet) and reduce noise pollution.
The budget for setting up the home gym depends on the wishes of the athlete and starts at around R 5000 - R 8000. Larger home gyms require a larger budget. In order to be able to better classify costs that seem high at first, it is worth offsetting the multi-year running costs for membership in the gym.
Music or video clips played on a TV can provide the necessary motivation for training in the home gym.