Key Compenents of Creating a Home Gym

Introduction

One group of people that have been inconvenienced during the Corona virus are those who regularly go to the gym. That means in order to stay in shape if you are a gym goer you will need to figure out a different way to stay in shape for the meantime.

One way that can be cost effective is creating a home gym. What you get for a home gym is dependent on your budget and also what you want to do during quarantine. The rest of this article will talk about all the key factors that you want to take into consideration before creating a gym at your house.

Where

If you don't live in a large house or apartment this one may just not be possible. But depending on what type of exercises your going to be doing you may not need much space. If nothing else you can try to find exercises that do not require equipment. Since there are a million articles written about that I won't bother going into the details for that.

In most houses, more than likely you will be able to find space in a spare room or a garage. If you have a multi-story home you also may need to think about the types of exercises your going to be doing and whether or not you would be disturbing other people in your home if you live within anyone else if any of your exercising includes jumping around.

Budget

It's no secret workout equipment can get expensive. But at the same time with some equipment such as weights and especially with weights, that's not something you can really break. Therefore, you should be able to buy a lot of equipment used and not have a problem finding equipment at a discounted price. In order to find discounted equipment you can go on sites like Amazon or EBay or there is also another store in some areas called Play It Again Sports which specializes in used workout equipment. You can also try apps such as Letgo and Offerup which is a lot like craigslist.

Equipment

This one may or may not be the trickiest. Obviously, it depends on what you want to do while your at home. If your wanting it to use very little space you can buy an all in one Bowflex, however those often go north of $1,000 if your wanting a true total body workout. You can also buy something as simple as a bench with weights.

When it comes to weights you have regular dumbbells, barbells and adjustable weights. The main advantage to adjustable weights is you don't have to drop weights and then pick the new one up. However, price wise they typically do cost significantly more. On average, regular weights cost around $1 per pound while adjustable weights can cost north of $200 and up depending on how much weight you actually need.

Motivation or lack thereof

The main downfall of working from home is motivating yourself. The amount of motivation people have when it comes to exercise and other various activities in general, varies. If your a highly motivated person then by all means just do it. But then on to the obvious question.

How to find motivation

Motivation can come from many sources. If you have someone that you live with that is either a roommate or a spouse that may be the most obvious. It goes double if you are mutually trying to accomplish the same goal. If you can't then there are numerous social media groups that you can join for motivation. The main thing to remember when it comes to motivating yourself is knowing what motivates you and figuring out a way to make the end goal happen.

How to find workouts

If you aren't a personal trainer and you don't really go by a specific routine this one can be tricky. For this there are several options you have. One is to get with a buddy and workout together and create a workout plan. You can also try to find a friend who has some knowledge in fitness and see if they aren't willing to help out. If not there are numerous free apps you have.

Or if you have some money to spend there are some paid sites such as Burn.com and Beachbody On Demand that have entire workout programs built for you. With Beachbody there is also an entire performance line that you can use.

Finding the time

If you were doing it from a gym before this one shouldn't be hard. Working out from home saves time because you don't have to drive back and forth or sign in to the gym. At most you may have to sign in to whatever app your using. If you find that you don't have the time it may be a matter of watching TV 30 minutes less a day or getting up 30 minutes earlier.

Do it in an order

When a workout program is being built you want to do it in a certain order. For example if a part of your regimen is lifting weights and you know your arms are going to be sore the next day then lifting weights again would not be a wise idea. Instead you may want to make it leg day or add in some extra stretching. But this all goes back to getting with some type of fitness trainer to figure out which order you should do your workouts in. If you do choose to use Burn.com or Beachbody On Demand they do have fitness calendars where you can do certain programs in a specific order of workouts.

Rest days

This one is more important than you may think if your not experienced with working out. The reason taking the rest day is important is because your body needs a day to rebuild. When you lift weights or do any other type of high impact exercise small tears occur in your muscles and you need the rest days and the nutrition to get the tears to heal. Overusing a muscle can cause injury and eventual burnout.