When we start working out from home many of us begin with a set of dumbbells in the corner of the living room but, when you're building a home gym, it can be overwhelming. We spoke with JayJay Anthony, founder of the Home Gym UK Facebook community, about the questions that get asked most often, and Mirafit are here to guide you in the right direction.

Before you get distracted by what type of barbell you need or the ratio of strength to cardio equipment, it is important to get your gym ready first.

Where is Your Home Gym Based?

Are you kitting out a garage gym? A shed gym? A spare room gym? A box room gym? You’ll need to approach each of these differently, but the most important thing is to get your room dimensions. You don’t want to buy a full Power Rack only to find that your ceiling is too low and can only fit a Short Power Rack or find that your spare room isn’t wide enough for your new barbell.

What is Your Home Gym Going to Be Used For?

Understanding your training style is key to avoid ending up with equipment you’ll barely use; do you want to focus on resistance training, cardio or strength training? Mix and match? Want to fit in some Battle Ropes? Are you going to use the gym alone or will multiple people be using it? Do you want a dedicated weightlifting, strongman or HIIT gym? It is important to know the purpose of your gym when you start planning as this will dictate how the space is used.

Preparing the Space

If your home gym is in a cluttered environment, then you’re less likely to use it. Some storage boxes in the corner of a garage are not a big deal but if the floor is covered in random bits and pieces then it won’t feel very inviting, and it also poses a safety risk. Cleaning and tidying your space will allow you to plan the layout of your gym a lot easier.

Flooring

Getting the right gym flooring means you’ll be protecting your floor, your equipment, your ears, and your relationship with your neighbours. Dropping weights directly onto a concrete floor, especially in an enclosed space, can be incredibly loud, damage your floor and scratch your plates. Laying down some rubber flooring and getting some drop pads can help.

Insulation and Air Flow

If you walk into your home gym in July and you’re sweating buckets before you’ve even loaded the Bar, then you’re going to find it harder to get the most out of your workout. If you are building a shed gym or a shipping container gym, then you’ll need to make sure that there is enough fresh air getting in. If you are building a garage gym, then you may want to insulate so that you don’t turn to ice when you touch your equipment. Insulating also helps to increase the longevity of your equipment by protecting it from the elements

Decoration

Simple tricks such as painting the walls, laying down proper flooring, getting some mirrors and putting in some nice lighting can make your gym Instagram ready. Like the bare bones look and don’t care about decorating? We won’t judge. All gyms are awesome!

Sound/AV

If you follow a lot of YouTube workouts, then staring at your phone screen isn’t ideal. Wall mounting a TV can make it a lot easier and setting up some speakers means you can listen to any music you want without worrying about your earphones losing battery in the middle of a lift.

Safety and Security

If you have kids or pets, then it’s important to properly secure your home gym so that they can’t access the equipment and hurt themselves. It’s a good idea to lock external doors to your gym when you’re not using it and store expensive equipment away from the windows.

It is also important to know that some gym equipment needs to be bolted down for safety and stability. If you are renting your gym space, you might not have permission to drill into the floor, so should purchase equipment that doesn’t need to be bolted down.

Ready to buy kit? Check out the second part of our guide to building a home gym.

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Tags: Misc > Gym Planning