Home gym’s became all the rage during lockdown periods and have continued to trend in popularity. Particularly with smart training equipment such as Peloton, home workout videos on youtube and various exercise apps that help people shape their own workouts in the comfort of your own home.
It’s created a need for many people to convert a room in the house that has become dedicated to exercise. So, we’ve provided a few ideas to help you exercise from home.
Which Room Will You Select For Your Home Gym?
Obviously, this depends on the size of the house and the options available to you. But we’ve highlighted below the rooms that are best suited to creating a home gym.
Spare Bedroom Home Gym
A bedroom that doesn’t often get used can be ideal for home gyms. Bedrooms are more suited to gyms designed around compact spaces and are ideal for workouts that involve body weight, resistance bands, stretching, yoga based workouts or cardio machines. These workouts tend to be lower impact and require less heavy lifting which you may need to consider if it’s an upstairs bedroom.
Loft Home Gym
Whilst not everyone will have an accessible gym, for those that do loft’s are also great places to dedicate your home workouts. It’s a good space to get away from distractions in the house that can interrupt your workout. Just like the an upstairs bedroom home gym, you will need to consider what type of equipment you will put in a loft. Heavy weights and wall attachments such as pull up bars may not be the best idea for the loft. However, it is another great space for body weight, resistance bands, home yoga and cardio machine based exercises.
Basement Home Gym
Again, it may not be accessible to everyone but if you are fortunate to have a basement they can prove to the ideal gym space. A basement will allow you to kit it out with heavier dumbells and bar weights. You could also include squat racks and bench press. If space will allow you can include cardio machines making it a functional cross fit gym at home.
Living Room Gym
This is a bold choice for a gym. It’s either for people who don’t have a family running around the house or have a large house with empty rooms to use. Or it’s just for the fitness fanatics among us who are happy to swap a living space for a gym. That said, many people do use their living rooms as part time gyms with some yoga mats and resistance bands tucked away in the cupboard. So, if you’re just planning to do a bit of yoga or follow a home workout routine on TV then the living room can serve as your part time workout space.
Garage Gym
Garage gym’s have been a popular space for home gyms over the years. It conjur’s up images of rocky style training as it provides an ideal space for heavier weights, punch bags and pull up bars. However, garage gyms can also be kitted out with smart cardio equipment, indoor bike turbo machines and machine weights. You can truly customise your garage gym to suit the type of training you require.
What Equipment Will You Need For Your Home Gym?
There’s a range of equipment that you can choose from to equip your home gyms. Depending on what your training goals are will heavily influence the equipment you need.
Cardio Equipment
Cardio equipment is great for when the weather isn’t so inviting or you want to follow a structured cardio workout. With so many apps such as Zwift, Trainerroad, Fulgaz and Peloton that enables you to train in a virtual experience and follow a structured plan at the same time, home gyms are being designed around peoples preferred cardio workouts.
Equipment to choose from: Treadmills, Indoor Exercise Bikes, Watt Bikes, Rowing Machines, Elliptical trainers, Step Machine, Ski ergometers
Other considerations: Cycling enthusiasts will want to think about how they cater for turbo machines and space to connect their bikes.
Below are a selection of cardio equipment we like for home gyms:
Peloton Bike
It’s difficult to leave out Peloton when it comes to home bike equipment. A fantastic immersive experience with lots of workouts and instructors to choose from.
Price: £1,345
JLL T350 Folding Treadmill
When space is limited cardio equipment can soon consume the room. That’s why we like folding treadmills which can help to maximise the space available. The JLL T350 Folding Treadmill has a good range of incline levels and hits a max speed of 11.2 mph, which enables you to run at low 5 minutes per mile pace. So, it’s ideal for beginner to good amateur level runners.
Price: £499.99
NordicTrack RW700 Rowing Machine
The NordicTrack RW700 Rowing Machine is a good quality rowing machine with interactive workouts. It streams iFit workouts through its 10 inch HD touchscreen from a range or coaches. Their coaches include top level athletes such as Olympic gold medalist, Susan Francia.
Price: £1,299.99
Schwinn 430I Elliptical Trainer
An Elliptical trainer is a great way to get a full body workout, using both arms and legs. The Schwinn 430I has all the features you need to track and programme your workouts. It’s comfortable and well designed for smooth cross trainer workouts.
Price: £849.99
Strength Training Equipment
There are various types of strength training equipment to suit your strength training goals. Whether you’re looking to lift heavy weights, strengthen your core or simply tone up, it can all be achieved in your home gym.
Equipment to choose from: Barbell, Dumbell, Assisted Machine Weights, Bench Press, Smith Machine, Resistance straps, Body weight bar frames, workout benches, kettlebells.
Other considerations: If you are buying heavy weights, make sure you have the appropriate flooring and spaces to lift heavy weights safely.
Below are a selection of strength training equipment we like for home gyms:
Extreme Fitness Hex Dumbells Rubber Weight Sets
Anyone wanting to incorporate strength training into their programme will need dumbells. Extreme Fitness Hex Dumbells come in a range of 1kg to 50kg sets. The weights are coated with a rubber protective sleeve to prevent any damage to floors and surfaces. A perfect dumbell set to lift heavy weights in your home.
Price: £34.99 to £179.99 depending on the weight of the dumbells
Bowlfex SelectTech 552i Adjustable Weights
If buying individual dumbell sets is going to rack up the costs or space is a premium then adjustable weights are a great alternative. The Bowlfex is a popular among many personal trainers and home buyers and provides a great range from 2 to 24kg. The increments go up in 2 kg which provides a good range for steady progression on most dumbell exercises.
Price: £229
Strongway 20kg Olympic Barbell
If you want to perform some key strength training exercises such olympic lifts, bench press, squats or deadlifts then a 20kg barbell is a must. Strongway provide a solid alloy steel bar with quick release spring collars. The end sleeves are designed to rotate providing a safe and functional bar for home use.
Price: £94.95
K-Sport Multi Level Barbell Rack
K-Sport offer a very functional barbell rack for performing exercises such as barbell bench press, squats and shoulder press. The multi level stations are great for different exercises and also to be able to adjust to your height.
Price: £159
JX Fitness Pull Up and Dip Station
Developing strength through lifting your own body weight is a great way to develop lean muscle and tone up. The JX Fitness Pull Up and Dip Station is a solid and well balanced frame that will fit neatly against the wall of a home gym. It provides additional safety to bars that are attached to walls as there is no fear of the frame becoming detached.
Price: £124.95
Core Zone Resistance Bands
Any home gym needs a selection of resistance bands. They are great for functional strength and core strength exercises. Core Zone are a brand we’ve found that provides a good variety of resistance bands to suit your needs and gym space.
Price: Can vary depending on the product variety
