Fitness is a passion and passion does not have any boundaries. When it comes to exercising and keeping your body fit, you can do it anywhere, whether it be a big, fancy gym, or at your home. Sometimes having a gym membership can be pretty expensive or sometimes you just don’t have the time to go to the gym. So, what do you do? Easy, you build your own gym at your own house.
Many people have their own house gyms, it’s good to always have access to your machines so you don’t have excuses to skip your routine. But how do you build a gym in your house, especially when your house is not that big.
Building a house gym
When we think about a house gym, we usually imagine a big house with big halls and a full length mirror where one can setup everything and have a fully furnished gym. However, while there are some people with big houses who have setup their own gyms, a setup can also be made in a small house. All you need is a little planning and some creativity to create a perfect home gym wall mirror.
Photo by Platinum Homes by Mark Molthan
So, in this article, we will go through the ways you can manage a house gym when there is not too much space at home. So,let’s start.
How to manage a house gym in a smaller space
First, you will need to think clearly. Have a complete round of your house, look at all the furniture that you need and the stuff that you can do without.
Once you have got the complete idea of what you want you can now start planning.
Got a separate room?
It would be better if you can spare a separate room for your gym. You don’t want to spread all of your machines in your whole house and it would be easier to design a standard full length mirror. If you don’t have a whole room, just select one side or one part of the house where you want to setup the gym. It’s good to keep things organized in one place.
Empty the space!
Now that you have allocated a part of your house to your new gym, you need to empty it for the new machines that are going to decorate this place now. Remove all the furniture and all the other stuff that’s lying around. The gym needs this place all to itself. When space is empty you will be able to have a better look at how many things you can fit in here and how big your gym is going to be.
Photo by Urbaniak Construction, LLC
It’s important to have everything crystal clear before you start investing in machines because you don’t want to buy something that’s not that necessary and that doesn’t even fit the room. When space is small, you need to be super smart to manage it and make it look like it was always big enough to setup a gym.
Now to the Fun Part!
The most exciting and most important part starts now. The machines! Now at any point, you must not forget that your space is small so you cannot fit all the machines here. You must be practical and realistic in this matter. Choose wisely what machines you want.
Photo by Handcrafted Homes, Inc
If you are an expert at exercising, you will very well know what machines are the most necessary and what machines you don’t need. However, if you are not an expert, let me help you out a little bit.
The Machines You Need
Now when you start selecting the machines, you will see that there are so many of them and all of them seem to very important. However, for a basic house gym, you don’t need all of them. The ones you need, let’s talk about them.
Treadmill
Well, this is a must. The treadmill can be used for so many purposes apart from running, if you are really a fitness freak you will find all the right ways to use it and make those muscles. And let’s face it, a gym does not look real without a treadmill. It’s like a basic necessity of a gym. So, look for a good treadmill, it does not have to be bigger in size, those big sized treadmills are for big gyms. Find a moderate size and manual or electric, it’s your own choice.
Photo by DeGraw & DeHaan Architects
Dumbbells
You got to have those muscles, so dumbbells are necessary. And your home gym wall mirror will let you keep track of those muscles getting strong as you exercise.
A stationary bicycle
If you don’t want the treadmill, the stationary bicycle can work as an alternative to treadmills and rowing machine. It can give you that aerobic fitness and get you all warmed up for the exercise.
A fitness ball
A fitness ball can also be used for a variety of exercises, exercises like chest presses, dead bugs, planks and many more can be done by a fitness ball. So, it would be good to have it around.
Some yoga mats
Have some yoga mats for yoga and some other exercises. It’s a good relaxing exercise, so when you are not in the mood for something aggressive try something relaxing.
These are some of the most important things that you must have in your gym. Apart from these, you can also add some other machines of your own choice, however, make sure that you don’t overcrowd the place. Leave some space to move around so it doesn’t look claustrophobic.
The mirror wall
How can we forget this one? It’s a must-have for a gym. You want to have a complete look of yourself as you exercise in your gym, so a full length mirror is necessary to create a home gym wall mirror.
You will need to take some external help for this. Call an expert and cut out a big mirror of the size of your wall. Cover the whole wall with a mirror and there you go, you have a complete mirror wall.
You can paint the other side walls with good soothing color, don’t go for some harsh, bright colors. Choose a color that’s relaxing to the eyes.
So that’s it, you have all the right machines, you got a mirror wall, you got the colors right and that’s it, your gym is now ready. So, what we learned in managing in house gym in a smaller space is to not overcrowd it, choose what’s necessary and just be smart in designing it.