Home Gym Setup - 5 Ridiculous Rules Everyone Ignores
A home gym setup is right up there with man-lairs and bat-caves, on the list of male alone-time fantasies.
But unlike those, building or setting up your personal workout space does not require complicated additions to your house, or a butler named Alfred. What it will require is a lot of careful planning and attention to detail.
Setting up a home gym may be a daunting task. It may seem easy and fun to start such a project, but you must keep in mind that having your own workout space requires more than an adjustable bench and a set of weights.
People that have home gyms have come across various problems that may seem insignificant, at first, but are very important to the overall feel and efficiency of your fitness routine.
It all starts with the planning, so if you have enough space or you intend to build an addition to your house where you can set up the perfect home gym, here is what you need to take into account before you start buying all the equipment.
It may seem like a trifle, but decent and even lighting will help you better your progress, keep you focused and coming back. Good lighting can mean the difference between zero and hero when it comes to the time you spend in your gym.
The best solution is to use led lighting, as it offers multiple advantages. It is cost-effective, it doesn’t need much tinkering, and you can choose the temperature light you desire. Worm white led lights will improve your mood, as they mimic the color temperature of natural light, and make sure your gym is a cozy, welcoming place. But, you can go for a light temperature of about 3000 to 5000k, if you fancy even brighter lights or you feel like they will better improve your mood. Remember, that brighter is sometimes better.
If you are thinking about how your gym is going to look like, don’t forget to take into account the all-important aspect of lighting. It is the first thing you see, and it sets the mood for your entire workout.
First off, equipment will slide and move unless bolted down, and you may find yourself in seriously unsafe situations, because of the lack of grip your floor has. Secondly, a cement surface is impossibly hard to clean and it will damage the equipment if dropped. If you ever tried to do push-ups on a freshly clean cement floor you know that even a freshly cleaned surface is not as clean as you might think.
Epoxy covered floors can be even more slippery and hard to clean than concrete ones, and the resin will scratch and look awful.
What you need for your gym is something durable, protective and slip-resistant. Something like the XMark Fitness XMat Ultra Thick Gym Flooring, or similar pre-size rubber floor mat solutions, that will take care of this annoying problem everybody faces when installing a home gym. If pre-sized mats don’t fit in with the shape of your gym floor, you can always try something like the IncStores Rubber Roll Gym Floor Mat, or similar products that come in a roll, and allow you to cut different shapes. In this way, you will avoid all those little uneven joints or seams between the mats that can be a trait of badly fitting pre-made floor solutions.
Good flooring will go a long way to protect you and your equipment, provide great traction for all your favorite exercise routines, and transform your workout space. As we said before, a gym that looks and feels great will have you coming back for more.
Your very next thought after deciding on a home gym will be to go online and look for all your favorite equipment to fill it with. But here is where another ridiculous mistake may creep into your plans. By now, you are probably wondering how buying too many weight plates be a mistake? Well, this is not just about weight plates. They are the least of your concerns. What should top your priority list, is buying as little equipment as you possibly can concerning your immediate needs and desired workout goals.
It shouldn't matter that your friend Jeff has a rowing machine if you are not into rowing machines. A home gym will earn you bragging rights, buying equipment that you will never use will earn you no rights at all. Confident, strong men will not count their gym progress in the amount of equipment they can pack into their gym, but by the number of workout hours, they pack into their routine.
Start with a quality adjustable bench, a treadmill, a squat rack, a quality barbell with a set of Olympic weight plates, a couple of battle ropes, a sandbag, and resistance bands.
This should be your basic kit when thinking of setting up a home gym.
As time goes by, you can complement these with even more specialized equipment to support your fitness gains and keep you from plateauing.
Cleaning and sanitizing your equipment will make you use it more often and obtain better results.
Being that you and the ones closest to you are the only ones that use your home gym, this may seem like a silly thing to ponder too much on. But from a motivational and sanitary point of view, your gym can not look like that car restoration project you keep in storage and never get anywhere near to even touching because you need to remove all the dust first.
This is where that smart flooring solution will prove it’s worth. Rubber gym floors can be easily cleaned using a vacuum, a mop, and some water with a couple of drops of dish soap.
Equipment is best cleaned and maintained using disinfectant wipes, or by spraying them with Lysol or similar products. Be careful around your treadmill, and make sure you unplugged it first.
Resistance bands and battle ropes are the hardest to clean. Make sure you don’t dip them in detergent. Instead, use warm water with a few drops of liquid soap. Keeping your gym clean and dust-free will motivate you to return constantly. And it will look great when you show it off to your friends.
This is another thing that people fail to take into account when setting up a home gym.
Air quality is among the most important things to have in any workout area. People stress over, weights, benches, machines, or racks and put a ton of effort into the design and functionality of their gym, but they forget about...air.
A place that is not properly vented will be a breeding ground for allergens, fumes, humidity, and mold. All these risks can impact your health as well as your workout area. As you well know, from constantly cleaning and sanitizing air conditioners in your house or car, bad air can be very detrimental to your health and can cause long term issues that are nothing to be scoffed at.
And then there is mold and humidity. A duo that works around the clock in places with low-quality air, or improper ventilation.
So when you think about setting up a home gym, put air quality high on your list of priorities. Make sure you have natural ventilation or invest in a ventilation system that will help you deal with air quality problems. You can also use a high-quality air purification system like Medify MA-40 Home Medical Grade H13 True HEPA to keep things all nice and even throughout the year. You can buy any brand you like as long as it has a good particle removing output.
If you set up your gym in your garage or basement and you don’t want to make other major alterations, an exhaust fan may do a decent job, in conjunction with airing the place out regularly and using air purification devices.
These are the most important things you need to take into account when building your home gym if you want to enjoy your workout area for a long time and get the results you are looking for. All you need now is a decent budget, motivation, and the resolve required to follow up on your home gym workouts.
But unlike those, building or setting up your personal workout space does not require complicated additions to your house, or a butler named Alfred. What it will require is a lot of careful planning and attention to detail.
Setting up a home gym may be a daunting task. It may seem easy and fun to start such a project, but you must keep in mind that having your own workout space requires more than an adjustable bench and a set of weights.
People that have home gyms have come across various problems that may seem insignificant, at first, but are very important to the overall feel and efficiency of your fitness routine.
It all starts with the planning, so if you have enough space or you intend to build an addition to your house where you can set up the perfect home gym, here is what you need to take into account before you start buying all the equipment.
Good lighting is half the workout
Even if you are not a fan of big bright lights, you should make an effort to use them, at least in your home gym. That is especially true for the moments when you work out late or when there is just not enough natural light available.It may seem like a trifle, but decent and even lighting will help you better your progress, keep you focused and coming back. Good lighting can mean the difference between zero and hero when it comes to the time you spend in your gym.
The best solution is to use led lighting, as it offers multiple advantages. It is cost-effective, it doesn’t need much tinkering, and you can choose the temperature light you desire. Worm white led lights will improve your mood, as they mimic the color temperature of natural light, and make sure your gym is a cozy, welcoming place. But, you can go for a light temperature of about 3000 to 5000k, if you fancy even brighter lights or you feel like they will better improve your mood. Remember, that brighter is sometimes better.
If you are thinking about how your gym is going to look like, don’t forget to take into account the all-important aspect of lighting. It is the first thing you see, and it sets the mood for your entire workout.
Add decent flooring
Whether you are building your new home gym from the ground up, or you are just setting up one in your garage, or basement, you must take into account the all-important aspect of flooring. The difference it will make will be well worth the investment. Often, people started out thinking that normal cement or even epoxy protected floors are exactly what they need, but the reality is different. So, although it may seem like a ridiculous drag to take into account, and install, you must know that people do it for a reason.First off, equipment will slide and move unless bolted down, and you may find yourself in seriously unsafe situations, because of the lack of grip your floor has. Secondly, a cement surface is impossibly hard to clean and it will damage the equipment if dropped. If you ever tried to do push-ups on a freshly clean cement floor you know that even a freshly cleaned surface is not as clean as you might think.
Epoxy covered floors can be even more slippery and hard to clean than concrete ones, and the resin will scratch and look awful.
What you need for your gym is something durable, protective and slip-resistant. Something like the XMark Fitness XMat Ultra Thick Gym Flooring, or similar pre-size rubber floor mat solutions, that will take care of this annoying problem everybody faces when installing a home gym. If pre-sized mats don’t fit in with the shape of your gym floor, you can always try something like the IncStores Rubber Roll Gym Floor Mat, or similar products that come in a roll, and allow you to cut different shapes. In this way, you will avoid all those little uneven joints or seams between the mats that can be a trait of badly fitting pre-made floor solutions.
Good flooring will go a long way to protect you and your equipment, provide great traction for all your favorite exercise routines, and transform your workout space. As we said before, a gym that looks and feels great will have you coming back for more.
Don’t buy all the weight plates in the world
Your very next thought after deciding on a home gym will be to go online and look for all your favorite equipment to fill it with. But here is where another ridiculous mistake may creep into your plans. By now, you are probably wondering how buying too many weight plates be a mistake? Well, this is not just about weight plates. They are the least of your concerns. What should top your priority list, is buying as little equipment as you possibly can concerning your immediate needs and desired workout goals.It shouldn't matter that your friend Jeff has a rowing machine if you are not into rowing machines. A home gym will earn you bragging rights, buying equipment that you will never use will earn you no rights at all. Confident, strong men will not count their gym progress in the amount of equipment they can pack into their gym, but by the number of workout hours, they pack into their routine.
Start with a quality adjustable bench, a treadmill, a squat rack, a quality barbell with a set of Olympic weight plates, a couple of battle ropes, a sandbag, and resistance bands.
This should be your basic kit when thinking of setting up a home gym.
As time goes by, you can complement these with even more specialized equipment to support your fitness gains and keep you from plateauing.
Cleaning and maintenance is key
This is one of the rules that home gym owners tend to refer to the most. It is the unseen process that sounds perfectly natural but will require dedication and consistency. It will strike directly at the same cord as those listed above, but when neglected it could spell doom for your workout program. As with all things that require perseverance, the last thing you need is another excuse not to stick to your plan. Procrastination will slowly kill your desire to use your beautiful home gym, and dust, bacteria, and odor will creep in.Cleaning and sanitizing your equipment will make you use it more often and obtain better results.
Being that you and the ones closest to you are the only ones that use your home gym, this may seem like a silly thing to ponder too much on. But from a motivational and sanitary point of view, your gym can not look like that car restoration project you keep in storage and never get anywhere near to even touching because you need to remove all the dust first.
This is where that smart flooring solution will prove it’s worth. Rubber gym floors can be easily cleaned using a vacuum, a mop, and some water with a couple of drops of dish soap.
Equipment is best cleaned and maintained using disinfectant wipes, or by spraying them with Lysol or similar products. Be careful around your treadmill, and make sure you unplugged it first.
Resistance bands and battle ropes are the hardest to clean. Make sure you don’t dip them in detergent. Instead, use warm water with a few drops of liquid soap. Keeping your gym clean and dust-free will motivate you to return constantly. And it will look great when you show it off to your friends.
Make sure you have enough air
This is another thing that people fail to take into account when setting up a home gym.Air quality is among the most important things to have in any workout area. People stress over, weights, benches, machines, or racks and put a ton of effort into the design and functionality of their gym, but they forget about...air.
A place that is not properly vented will be a breeding ground for allergens, fumes, humidity, and mold. All these risks can impact your health as well as your workout area. As you well know, from constantly cleaning and sanitizing air conditioners in your house or car, bad air can be very detrimental to your health and can cause long term issues that are nothing to be scoffed at.
And then there is mold and humidity. A duo that works around the clock in places with low-quality air, or improper ventilation.
So when you think about setting up a home gym, put air quality high on your list of priorities. Make sure you have natural ventilation or invest in a ventilation system that will help you deal with air quality problems. You can also use a high-quality air purification system like Medify MA-40 Home Medical Grade H13 True HEPA to keep things all nice and even throughout the year. You can buy any brand you like as long as it has a good particle removing output.
If you set up your gym in your garage or basement and you don’t want to make other major alterations, an exhaust fan may do a decent job, in conjunction with airing the place out regularly and using air purification devices.
These are the most important things you need to take into account when building your home gym if you want to enjoy your workout area for a long time and get the results you are looking for. All you need now is a decent budget, motivation, and the resolve required to follow up on your home gym workouts.
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