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Savings!

That’s probably one of the main reasons why people get their own home gym.

Some of the other reasons are:

Convenience (you can do squats any time you want even at 11pm!)
Crowds (super sets become a possibility, no more waiting for machines)
Music (listen to your own tunes)
Travel (no more wasting an extra 30 minutes driving to and from the gym)

These are all the reasons why I have my own home gym.

I don’t know about you, but I know a lot of people who spend a lot just to be a member of a health club and still end up paying additional per week. It’s freaking crazy. Most people end up paying their monthly memberships but never even go to the gym. They don’t even use what they’re paying for.

If this is you, cancel your membership and save up to setup your own home gym. Don’t waste another penny.

It’s good to set up your own home gym because of the advantages it offers. There is no further outlay of money if you have already amortized the cost of the workout equipment. Once you set it up properly, you’re good to go.

Personally I like to buy free weights instead of machines because this saves me money on a mechanic to fix broken machines. Nobody really ever needs to fix a squat rack!

Second, you are free to work out any time you want without any confinement on business hours. Third, you can listen to whatever music you like and not put up with anything. Sweaty equipment, not being able to super-set, listening to excessive grunting, they’re all a thing of the past when you got your home gym setup.

If you add all of these factors up along with the monthly savings, you’re embarking on a no lose scenario. I HIGHLY suggest it. Personally I still have my gym membership as I don’t mind paying for it. I use it about 60% of the time. I like to socialize a bit and that helps keep me motivated. On other days I prefer to use my own gym equipment in the basement of my house.

I power up my ipod and work up a sweat like nobody’s business.

If you want to have your own workout space, or perhaps a workout room, you’ll need to have some renovations done. Prepare the intended area first before you decide to move in any equipment.

The flooring should be your biggest concern. The sub flooring, especially if it’s made of wood, should be protected. You can buy inexpensive interlocking rubber tiles for this. A thick, low knap carpet is another thing you’ll want to have. Make sure that this material is on the floor of your new gym. Personally I don’t recommend putting your gym in a spare room if you can help it. The best idea is to use and unrenovated basement or partition off half of your garage for your workouts.

If you are planning on wall-mounted equipment, you should consider reinforcing the area where you will attach the devices. That last thing you want is to be doing pullups and your door frame falls apart and you have drywall all over the place. Your wife is not going to like that one bit!

You can fasten sheets of industrial-grade plywood into the studs of the walls. This really helps to reinforce the strength of the walls.

Once your gym is ready, you can move the equipment into the gym-room. This is the party day.

In my gym I have it wired up so that I can play music as loud as I need to w/o disturbing anybody else in the house. It’s quite amazing. This allows me to still fit in my daily workouts at 12am if I have to without waking anybody up!

There are home gyms that combine free-weights and cable-and-pulley machines. Another option is a multi-gym; a central core of multiple purpose weight stacks operated from a number of exercise-specific stations on the perimeter. My preference is a squat rack, some powerblock dumbbells and a bench that can both incline and decline as well as being flat. Throw in a couple barbells and free weights and you’re ready to kick ass.

Using free weight dumbbells and barbells are the best in my opinion. This allows for a more natural range of motion using compound fully body exercises that really help strengthen the joints, ligaments and stabilizing muscles as well as the major muscle groups.

You could also use multi-station gyms like the ones from innovators like Bowflex and Nautilus.

Personally, I have no problem with used equipment. For people who are in a budget, there’s always refurbished goods on sites like Craig’s list or eBay. Again I go back to solid steel dumbbells and barbells. If this type of equipment is used it’s so sturdy and solid that you can’t break it or wear it down. That’s another reason I really enjoy free weights.

It is possible to find slightly used equipment where the owner forgot his New Year’s resolutions to get fit after just a few short months. Or you may find refurbished equipment that carries a factory warranty.

I’ve found that by checking in February you’ll have the best results.

Why? Well it’s because studies show that people who make New Years resolutions tend to stick with them an average of 3-4 weeks. This way the last week in January and the first week in February they start to feel guilty about no staying in shape and that’s when they start to think they can make some money off this equipment instead of it just sitting around in their garage.

Just don’t wait too long though because in April or so, they’ll think they need to start using it to get their summer body. You have about a 4 to 6 week window following January 31st to score some really really cheap deals on home gym equipment.

It is probably best to stay away from elaborate, electronic equipment like treadmills and ellipticals that don’t carry some sort of guarantee or that come from a trusted source. However, if you’re well-versed with these stuff than you can consider it. It’s not really my gig though.

You should be able to work out each body part in your home gym. Really you don’t need much. A barbell a dumbbell (adjustable if possible), a squat rack and a bench and you’re pretty much set. You can do about 90% of all exercises with just that much.

But let’s look further at some options for you.

Here’s the basic equipment you’ll need:

1. Free Weights and Pulley-Cable Equipment o Cast iron or rubber-coated weights (avoid the cheap plastic, filled ones) totaling about 300 pounds.
2. A straight Olympic style bar.
3. An easy-curl bar.
4. Dumbbells – either a set of pre-loaded ones, or handles to use with the free weights.
5. A lat-machine, free-standing or wall mounted.
6. Squat Rack.
7. Bench Press bench, preferably with an attached rack.
8. Weight Storage Racks.
9. One or two padded benches.
10. A three foot two-by-four for facilitating calf raises and squats.
11. A Multi-Gym Set-Up.
12. A Bowflex, Nautilus or Multi-Gym from any of a number of manufacturers.
13. A few free weights, with dumbbells or an easy-curl bar for specific exercises.

If you have money constraints, you may consider the way I worked around it.

After having set up a couple of workout areas in several garages over the years, I finally decided to invest some time and very little money in building my own racks, benches and wall-mounted equipment.

I sketched some basic designs of equipment in the local fitness club, complete with dimensions and some idea of the materials used.

I then took some classes at the local community college, specifically Basic arc-Welding. It wasn’t an easy class but I was somehow able to get through it.

For 10 bucks a class, I was able to use their welding machine and other tools. With that, I was able to make my own set of squat racks, four weight storage racks, a bench press bench, a decline-incline bench and a wall mounted lat machine.

I’m just wired to build things. If you’re not just buy this stuff. In about 5 months of your gym membership you’ll be saving money.

The benches were made out of angle iron, steel pipes and heavy plywood. My total expenditure was only $80. And all it took was two hours a week for eight weeks.

I was able to get an Olympic weight set and a couple of easy-curl bars from a clearance sale. I bought two more weight sets from home-gymers who had lost their initiative. You can’t beat that can you?

I was able to get 700 pounds of plates, five bars (that includes a six-foot Olympic bar) and several dumbbell sets.

I’m telling you, setting up my home gym was the best thing I ever did. It gives me so many options. I never have to schedule my entire day around whether or not the gym is going to be crowded or not.

Including the welding expense, my total investment was less than $300. Today’s inflation might double that amount … but, maybe not.

So those are just some of my ideas on a home gym setup. If you’re into setting up your own home gym let me know your thoughts below.

I’d love to hear how your own home gym plans are coming!

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