Skip to the content 
Home gyms are fantastic! They provide an easily accessible personal space which is just perfect for those who want to keep fit but don’t have time to travel to and from the gym each day.
A good home gym is equipped with everything needed to increase stamina/endurance as well as a selection of weights to improve strength. The perfect home gym for you may not be achievable overnight, but it’s certainly a goal you can work towards, no matter what your budget.
Why a Home Gym?
The great thing about a home gym is the fact you have the ability to choose exactly which type of equipment you have available to you each day. In addition to this, there are no monthly fees, no queues, no time limits and no second hand sweat from the person before you all over the equipment! It’s open 24/7 too, which means you can fit a session in whenever you like.
Who Is A Home Gym For?
In short, anyone! Anyone who works full time or has a young family knows that time to work out properly is limited. Fitting that workout in is always going to be easier when you don’t have to add on travelling time or arrange childcare. Mothers, housewives, businessmen/women and even carers can all benefit from having a home gym available.
Where To Begin Creating Your Home Gym:
When creating your personal home gym set aside a specific space which you will dedicate to your workouts. It doesn’t have to be a huge space, just a large enough to jump rope or do jumping jacks in. A room will suffice, or even part of one will if space is tight.
Once you’ve chosen a location, check that the equipment you expect to purchase and use will fit there. It’s important to determine exactly which physical fitness activities you enjoy doing the most before you do this of course. This is a very personal choice for everyone so take your time and plan your space accordingly. Remember to allow space for alterations in the future. Mixing it up helps keep you interested in the workouts, as well as keeping your body guessing and burning fat at a prime level.
Equipment
It’s fine to purchase just a few pieces of starter equipment at the beginning, then gradually build it up over time, especially if you’re on a tight budget. Perhaps you could save towards the next piece of equipment to treat yourself to. It’s great to know that once you’ve paid out for that equipment, it’s yours alone to use.
Don’t feel guilty about buying the equipment either. Consider this an investment in yourself and your health, and that’s definitely something worth investing in!
Cardiovascular Training In Your Home Gym:
There are quite a few surprisingly easy activities that can be done to help build cardiovascular endurance in your own personal home gym. One of these won’t even take place in your home, which means that at the beginning as you slowly grow your gym this is one thing you won’t need to pay out for. Outdoor workouts are free and simple! Nature offers a great place to work out, with ample fresh air, sunshine and environment changes to keep workouts interesting.
Going outside and doing any sort of walking, jogging, running, or biking activity is a great form of cardio. Even hiking can be a great cardiovascular challenge to get the heart rate up! Choose hills and valleys to help build in challenges as you get stronger and faster without having to go longer distances to get workouts in. When the weather is nice, this may be the best cardio you can find!
When the weather doesn’t cooperate and you are stuck indoors a few simple tools can give you all the workout flexibility you need. A simple jump rope is a great tool to have on hand as you can create a workout that fits your current fitness level. You can add more repetitions of jumps as your cardiovascular endurance builds.
Another great option is building a durable box that can be used for box jumps or step-up workouts. Boxes of different heights or building more jumps into your routine can make this more challenging as you get stronger. Doing one-legged jumps, you can work each leg individually for a bigger challenge.
Grab some fitness DVDs which provide a great, heart-pounding workout. Dance videos get you up, moving and having fun whilst dancing to some great music. It can lead to you getting a workout which you don’t even feel you are getting! Tabata and HIIT workout videos are another great way to get work up a sweat, while mixing it up and trying some new routines.
Strength Training In Your Home Gym:
Buying some weights which can easily be stored can help add resistance to any bodyweight workout moves you already enjoy doing. Weights like dumbbells or kettlebells are great tools which can be bought at most box stores like Wal-Mart, Target, or Sam’s Club/Costco. If you are on a stricter budget check yard or garage sales for gently used weights to help save a few dollars. Up the weights as you get stronger without having to increase the repetitions of exercises you do too much to continue saving time! This works great as dumbbells and kettlebells already come in all different weights for people at various points in their fitness journey.
Another great tool to use for resistance workouts are resistance bands. Basically any bodyweight exercise that can be done can have resistance bands added to them (i.e. lunges, squats, etc). One of these can create a whole workout routine around resistance to help build endurance and strength.
Use an ab roller to help work out the core. Do workouts from the knees if you are a beginner, and do them from your toes if you are more advanced! Either way it’s a fantastic core burn!
Alternative Workouts In Your Home Gym:
Another great option for at-home workouts are “alternative” workouts. These are primarily completed with floor mats and poses. These include things like yoga, pilates, or other types of meditation exercises. While they may look easy from the surface, more advanced moves are incredibly demanding on the body, especially to hold the pose for any length of time. It also can provide a great strength and endurance workout as the more advanced poses get more and more challenging as you become stronger. The meditation aspect can also help clear your mind and help you return to life feeling more relaxed and rested than before as you melt away your daily stress.
Conclusion:
No matter what kind of lifestyle you choose to live, an at home gym can offer great, time-saving benefits to help you reach your fitness goals without sacrificing the responsibilities of work, family, friends or school. It allows you to build physical strength as well as cardiovascular endurance to meet your own individual goals.
Weights can be upped to help provide more of a strength challenge, and reps and times can be boosted to help build stronger cardiovascular endurance. All this while doing activities you love in the comfort of your own home! This is the new way to stay fit for super-busy people anywhere! So no more excuses, get up and get moving! After all it’s an investment in YOU, and YOU are always worth it!
Do you have a home gym? Perhaps you’re in the process of planning one? We’d love to hear all about it below!
