Ok so we move house this month and have a large garden (0.5 acre) where I intend building a posh shed. In there will be a home gym. I am hoping to get ideas on size, equiptment etc. I have been training for a few years but want to get away from public gyms especially at this time of year.
Who has a home gym? Any cheeky pictures? I think I will want a rower, running machine, cross trainer, bench, not sure I’ll bother with a power cage. I’ve got the rower, running machine and cross trainer already. Other ideas welcome. :)
Why wouldn't you buy a power rack? The best piece of equipment you can buy? So many options. Squat,press,bench,pullups,dips,rack pulls, list is endless.
That would be first on the list and build the gym around that.
Olympic bar
Weight plates
Power rack + pullup and dip attachments
Adjustable bench
If you have extra money to burn, dumbbells
You say you have the cardio equipment already.
Suppose it depends what you are into but the above will see you well.
Main issue with a power rack is size. I’d love the lot but I’m trying to decide what I need. I’m hoping to build a shed around 15 feet by 20 feet, that’s not very big for a full gym so can’t be wasting floor space, it will soon fill up. It’s about organisation I guess.
Honestly, i'd just save the money as it'll never be as good as going to a proper gym, you sound like you have all the cardio kit anyway, so maybe worth looking for a more free weight based gym that could help with you doing barbell stuff, i always found you lose motivation without having people around.
Exactly this.I don't know anyone who uses anything they've bought for the home.Total waste of money,just look at the for sale ads for same.Originally Posted by Argee1977
I've got a similar set up, large she'd area.
I've got a treadmill and then a squat rack and free weights.
I was told the same, you won't use it, it will be a fad etc but I've used it everyday for about 6 years now.
Throw kids into the mix and it's brilliant, you can just walk outside do a session and back in. Saves the wife moaning for being out the house for a couple of hours.
My son in law has a few outbuildings i.e. stables, summer house, play rooms. He has converted one into a home gym. All the machines, equipment, was free from people who were giving the kit away as long it was collected due to the weight. Think he just needs a rowing machine.
I'll get some pics up for you soon.
Disagree 100%.......I’d much rather have my own gym with no-one else in it. I’d never have to wait for equipment, I wouldn’t have to put up with the shit music, I wouldn’t be surrounded by folks pretending to train but spending more time playing with their bloody phones whilst hogging equipment. Get rid of the music and ban the use of phones, that would be a big step forward.
I don’t have enough space for a home gym, I have to endure using a local public gym. If I had my own set-up I’d use it far more often. I try to visit the gym when there’s hardly anyone in, but that’s hard at this time of year.
Not sure about the attraction of building a gym in a shed, even if it’s well insulated it’ll need heating in winter and it’ll get too hot in summer. My stepson uses half his integral double garage, that seems to work OK.
I have been going to my local gym for a while but I do get fed up of waiting for machines, the poor condition of some equipment, dumbbells being all over the place because no one returns them to the rack, if they do they are out of order and not even in pairs, after a session your hands are dirty and that’s other people’s filth, driving to and from.....
I train with my wife so we motivate each other and that won’t change at home. We cycle too but not to the gym, if we did we would likely walk home via the police station to report the theft of our bikes.
The home gym will be at the end of my garden and overlooking country side views, I will have folding doors on that side to try to make cardio more interesting. We have a 20x40 garage but it has 3 cars, 3 motorbikes, 5 push bikes and a sit on mower in there, not to mention work bench and tool chests. No room for a gym. And I love parking the car in the garage it’s fantastic. No frost, no snow, no one can touch or mess, the garage is on house alarm, I can get to the car without going outside if it’s raining and the electric doors mean I don’t need to get out of the car. So it won’t be turned in to a gym lol.
Forums are a great way to learn and get ideas for these things tho, we rarely learn from other people mistakes or success in life but I genuinely feel forums help in this respect.
I turned a space i had into a small home gym. It is 15' by 15' so smaller than what you are looking at but fits my power rack, rower and my wifes pushbike on a static trainer. It works well for me and still has space for using the floor in front of the rack. I use it every other day and having it at home saves so much time.
Space wise it is actually fine, i find i do not run out of space. Bigger would be better as then i would not have to hang the punch bag each time i use it but realistically that takes seconds.
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Last edited by Carl.1; 13th January 2019 at 12:40.
Agreed pictures of spaces can be tricky without fancy lenses. I only have a phone no actual camera.
I thought not having people around would be an issue with having a gym at home. However it’s not been a big issue. The BIG benefit is in saving time with having a young family. It save a lot of time going to and from the gym, getting changed etc.
Cost wise has not been that bad. Would have been a lot cheaper if we had been in the uk as there is a fair amount of equipment you can pick up at very good price if you are patient and wait for sale, ebay etc
It is stunning how much is available on the second hand market here in the UK. I spend a lot of time in France and they do not have the whole buy and sell thing that you get in the UK. The UK really is a nation of shopkeepers.
I prefer the home gym and find i can concentrate a lot easier on what works for me and it is a lot better for consistency in both training and attendance!
I think a home gym is a great thing to have (I have two!) No-one can tell you whether you'll use it enough to be of value or not - only time will tell. As others have said, there are pros and cons to both home gyms and commercial gyms. In my experience, paying a lot of money to be a member of a gym is no guarantee that you'll do any exercise - this is the basis upon which most gyms manage to function I guess, having a lot of paying members who never turn up!
Here are some of my random thoughts re gyms/training:
I wasn't keen to get a power rack, but my son persuaded me, and now I wouldn't be without one - use it several times a week.
I've never bothered with a treadmill, because it's so easy to go out for a run.
You don't need to heat an outdoor room/shed. The only difference I notice is that when cold the hydraulic fluid in the Versaclimber is more viscous and my climbing rate goes down!
A cheap s/h magnetic turbo-trainer and an old road bike can be a fantastic way to improve your aerobic fitness, and you won't get knocked off your bike.
Despite having loads of 'kit' (concept, turbo, versa climber, rack, rings, rope etc) many of the most effective things I do have no need of the kit - burpees, push-ups, pull-ups etc.
Variety will help to keep you interested and reduce the risk of injury etc - circuits, aerobic, strength, gymnastics, etc, etc. Some of the Crossfit ethos makes a lot of sense to me.
If you can find a hill, then try a few hill sprints, but build up the speed/cadence over a few intervals to reduce the risk of pulling something. They are an extraordinary exercise.
Best wishes,
Martyn.
In all my years of working out at gyms I can honestly say I've yet to wait for any machine,If someone is on a machine I ask how many sets they have to do and either do another set on the machine I'm on,if they've just started I alter the use of machines I use for that body part.
No waiting doing that.I think generally people looking to workout at home don't really "workout" hard core anyway,by that I mean see any if at all change in body shape tbh,rather like the people you see in the gym doing stuff that is really going to do absolutely nothing.......and just after Christmas and leading upto their annual summer hols you certainly see those people joining gyms only to cancel not long after.
Because its not as easy as sitting at home eating doughnuts using the tv remote!.
That’s generalising tho. I know a couple of guys who work out at home with discipline and success. Body shape depends on your goals too. I’m 43 I’m sure not looking to pile on mass, I have always excersized to stay healthy and keep the belly down, mainly cardio. The last few years I have also included weights to keep my strength up as I age. I never aimed to build mass but have added inches to chest and biceps all the same. My cycling has always been my main form of training and I cycle alone, works for me, so a home gym should be the same.
Training with my wife will focus is both too, and we train with a couple of friends a few times a month who live close, they like the idea of a decent home gym we can use together.
As for never waiting for machines. Try pure gym in Wolverhampton, it’s jam packed all year around, January to March it’s impossible to even get a bench! There can be 3 people waiting for a bench. And don’t get me started on cables. All of the local gyms are as bad.
Training intensity isn’t about being in a gym it’s about being focused. I see some right clowns in gyms, you don’t see dedicated training in home gyms because you can’t see behind closed doors. If I don’t stick to training at home it’s no loss anyway, weights sell quickly online and the shed would always be good as a summer house. Always a silver lining 😂
As a side note, a couple of times a week I cycle to work and back 20 miles each way. The best thing about that is it’s not just grinding around the lanes for the hell of it, it’s a function of commuting. Takes me just under a hour each way and it’s a 50 minute drive so it’s a great use of time, 1 hours training and only uses 10 extra minutes from my day. I hope to save time by having a home gym as well, it’s a good half hour drive there and back. The down side is I like to shower at the gym, saves my having to clean the shower after I’ve used it like I do at home lol.
I don’t have an indoor home gym. I do have a patio, TRX suspension straps, two kettle bells, a bar bell and weights.
Works for me.
Planning to add a pull up bar and dips thingy soon.
Last edited by Essexman; 13th January 2019 at 14:30.
home vs gym basically just depends on the character of the person doing it and the commitment they have , some ppl cant even train at the gym on their own and just mess about without someone to push them -these types need either a training partner or trainer to make them do anything, a home gym will quickly become a clothes horse for them.
over the years ive done both as i have no problem pushing myself and now use the local leisure centre to do an all body routine with weights 3 times per week which takes about an hr each time - in/out done .
I have a half rack (squat rack?), bench, and Olympic bar in the corner of the garage, height prevented a full cage which would have been the first choice.
Christmas I have had a break but getting back into it, Am glad I'm not in the local gym. last year it was rammed with people hogging the benches and using the squat rack for bench presses, and January was the worst.
ah yes we have the usual 'new years resolution ' people in my local gym, they usually last until the first months membership runs out and are gone first week of feb :)
Don't knock them - the ones who get sucked into a 12 month membership and never come help to keep my membership down.
Have a look at the TeamRichey Youtube channel. Hes built a really well equipped gym in his Garage. Im not sure I could use it to do all my workouts in but 2/3rds would be great
No one over there ‘work in’ in gyms? Just curious.
100% this.
Why do you need a running machine a cross trainer and a rower? Cardio is cardio, pick 1 and fill the rest of the space with a power rack that will give far more versatility to your workouts.
The cardio machines came as a package and for next to nothing. Cost new was 20 times what I got them for. Couldn’t say no. Not saying I’ll keep or use them all but diversity is always nice if an option.
Because doing cardio work on any machine is mind-numbingly boring, the only way to break the boredom is to change machine!
Very occasionally I force myself to do 40 minutes on a cross trainer and I hate it, if my ankle problems were resolved I`d happily go running for 40 minutes no matter how hard it was, but I struggle with these machines. I`d rather go for a strenuous walk up and down some steep hills, or even swimming, but trudging away on rowers or cross trainers isn`t for me thesedays. I can manage 10 minutes then I`m done.
If you're able to run I`d recommend it as an alternative to any cardio machine.........unless the weather's awful.
I like running on a machine but agree it’s a bore. I like the fact it’s safe from the roads, weather is out side, I can decide where the hills are... I prefer cross trainer my self but it’s personal. Both are ‘nice’ if not essential. I don’t need two Rolex watches but I have two.
I cycle on the roads and love that, I do have a turbo trainer but WOW that’s boring. Never use it. I do want to try parabolic rollers, mostly because I never have. I’m told they are only 90% as boring as a turbo.
Everyone's different. I workout at home in my simple little garage gym. I've joined gyms but always find folk get in the way of my routine.
I like to follow defined sets and reps programmes rather than just using what's available. My workouts are generally structured to start with complex multi joint/muscle groups progressing towards isolation, so again, mixing up the order by frying my triceps before hitting bench press doesn't work as you're only as strong as the weakest link.
Last edited by mowflow; 16th January 2019 at 00:35.
Staying in Leeds tonight and bagged a 3 day free pass to PureGym.
It’s a good setup, they have a lot of good equipment but I much prefer working out at home.
We have a cross trainer , spin bike and a concept2 rower (best purchase ever!!). Along with workout mat and selection of kettlebells.
I can go in there whenever i like and the cost of the kit has repaid itself ages ago.
My daughter also uses for workouts and my wife does yoga from the TV in there so very well used.
I often work from home and start the morning off with a session , relaxed shower and breakfast and still ready for work at 9am.
Followed by multiple hours staring out the window, dicking about and reading watch forums!
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