If you’re thinking you’d like a home gym, one that goes beyond the exercise bike you use as a clothes hanger, all it takes is a little imagination and some money. A home gym doesn’t have to be expensive — although it can be if you want to turn a corner of your home into something that is the envy of fitness enthusiasts across the nation.
Here are some tips on how to design a better home gym.
— Start small.
— Don’t be trendy.
— Remember the weights.
— Think big (maybe).
— Carefully consider your gym’s location.
— Get outside.
Start Small
Many experts recommend this, and common sense is probably also pointing you in that direction. It’s one thing if you’re an exercise guru and know you’ll use any home gym you design, but if you’ve found exercise religion in the last few weeks, don’t spend thousands of dollars on a fancy home gym that may not be a long-term investment.
“Start small with what you’ve got,” says Tami Smith, a certified personal trainer in St. Augustine, Florida. She’s also the founder of FitHealthyMacros.com, a website that specializes in workouts and macronutrient-friendly recipes.
Smith suggests starting with the type of equipment you need to do the workouts you enjoy the most. If you enjoy your little home gym, you can always add to it and make it bigger and more elaborate.
You don’t need a whole room for your workout area, but it should be dedicated space where, ideally, you can leave the equipment out. Easy access will mean you’re more likely to use it.
The basement is a popular spot to set up home gym equipment, but if you don’t want to spend 45 minutes below ground every day, pick a spot you like more. Temporarily convert a guest bedroom, commandeer a corner of the living room or park one of the cars in the driveway to transform part of your garage into a gym.
At least one window and a good deal of natural light can help motivate you to exercise. Ventilation is also key to making your home gym setup a success — you don’t want to be in a room that’s too hot or cold, and you certainly don’t want it to smell like sweat after a few workouts. If you’re in a space with windows or a door that goes outside, open them to let in some fresh air.
Make sure you have a strong Wi-Fi signal if you plan to rely on video workouts on YouTube, Facebook or Instagram and interactive exercise apps. A smartphone, tablet or smart TV may be key components of your home workout, and you don’t want to waste time on service interruptions. If the service is spotty in your gym location, consider a Wi-Fi range extender. Range extenders simply plug into an outlet and help boost the Wi-Fi signal in a specific area and can be ordered online from stores like Best Buy or Amazon for $20 to $200.
Don’t Be Trendy
If you love a particular fitness trend, go ahead and follow it. Otherwise, make room for the activities you enjoy, even if it is the most basic setup.
“What’s most effective doesn’t matter; what you’ll actually use matters,” says Tim Steward, a Round Lake, Illinois-based certified physical trainer and the founder of GymCrafter.com, a website that helps people build home gyms. “I see people all the time who buy things that are supposed to burn the most calories or build the most muscle, but they are things people don’t enjoy using.”
He points to one well-known brand beloved by many, but perhaps not everyone.
“Lots of people buy spin bikes like Peloton but don’t actually enjoy using an exercise bike,” Steward says. “Those same people may love to walk, for example, so for them, a treadmill is a much better choice.”
Otherwise, you risk building a home gym that may have no members.
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Remember the Weights
Steward recommends thinking about strength training and not just cardiovascular exercise.
“Strength training should be the heart of every home gym,” he says. “While cardio is great for your heart, and you should do it regularly, strength training has been shown to have an exponentially higher number of positive effects. Some benefits include blood sugar and insulin control, hormonal support, improved sleep, reduced stress and anti-aging.”
He points out that this becomes even more important the older you get.
“As people age, the stronger they are, the more resilient they are in all situations. Whether it’s recovering from an injury, illness or surgery or just dealing with stressful situations in life, strength training makes all of it easier,” Steward says.
You may want to consider these equipment choices:
— Cardio equipment. This is usually the biggest investment, ranging from several hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars to sticker shock level. This may be a treadmill, an exercise bike, elliptical or rowing machine, all popular items found in a typical gym that you can buy for your home as well.
— Dumbbells or kettlebells. If you’re primarily interested in toning and strength building, dumbbells or free weights are probably the best choice. If you want to lift heavy weights, you may want a barbell, individual weights and a bench. That gets pricey, however, and you may want to start off with a more modest set-up, at least at first. Dumbbells can be used to make a cardio workout more difficult or to simply do a few bicep curls. You can find them in a variety of styles and weights that will best suit you. For example, Dick’s Sporting Goods’ highest-rated dumbbells, the ETHOS Hex Rubber Dumbbell, are available for contactless, curbside pickup and vary in price from $12.99 for a single 5-pound weight to $64.99 for a 40-pound weight. The top-selling adjustable BowFlex dumbbells run $399 a pair and is equivalent to 15 sets of weights.
— Exercise mats. A treadmill mat will keep heavy equipment from damaging your floors, and a standard exercise mat will provide cushion for active workouts and floor exercises. A yoga mat is helpful for yoga, Pilates and stretching. You can find one for $14 at Target or more than $100 for a premium name-brand mat.
— A punching bag. Doesn’t every gym need one of these? If you have other family members using your gym, this could be a big hit.
— A TV. The fancy gyms have them. Maybe you’ll wear earbuds and listen to music, podcasts or watch a TV show during your cardio workout. It’s also nice to stream fitness videos on a larger screen.
— Use what you have. Many people work out at home using canned goods as hand weights, filling up backpacks with bottles of water and running the stairs in their apartment building to achieve a gym-level workout.
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Think Big (Maybe)
Start small, out of financial necessity. You don’t want to build an elaborate home gym only to realize that, whoops, you’re not really into it. But it’s OK to daydream about your ultimate home gym.
“I’ve seen people spend $20,000 and more on their home gym setup,” Smith says. “From the flooring to the equipment, it’s easy to invest a lot in your home gym if it’s an important space for you.”
She adds that many pieces of fitness equipment are connected or smart, “meaning they are interactive, connected to Wi-Fi, and come complete with screens. These pieces of fitness equipment can easily cost you $2,000 or more each.”
If the price tag has you thinking that being a couch potato isn’t so bad, Steward says a homeowner can establish a basic home gym setup for $750 to $1,500. But don’t neglect the outdoors. Walking or running around your neighborhood or a community park is free. You’ll get a dose of vitamin D and a serotonin boost by using nature as your gym.
You might also consider occasionally taking your yoga mat into your backyard or onto your apartment balcony for a guided yoga, Pilates or tai chi class. You can also do workouts with crunches, squats or pushups easily in a small space outside, or if you have more room you can do lunges over the length of your driveway or backyard.
A home gym doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive, Steward says, “but I recommend people go to well-established home gym companies rather than just the cheapest thing they can find on Amazon.”
If you do eventually go big and want a $20,000-plus home gym, that could improve the resale value of your home.
A home gym in the luxury real estate market has become “an expected feature,” says Cindy Raney, founder of Cindy Raney & Team in Westport, Connecticut. And it probably wouldn’t hurt any house or condo to have a home gym. “Homebuyers increasingly prioritize wellness-focused spaces, and a designated home gym is a strong selling point,” Raney says.
She recommends including photos of your home gym in a listing and emphasizing its versatility, such as suggesting it could be a yoga studio for the right homeowner. That type of marketing can help attract more buyers to look at your home.
“Even when a truly dedicated gym space isn’t available, we often stage areas with yoga mats, free weights or a Peloton to highlight the potential for fitness use,” Raney says.
If you have a luxurious home gym and list your home for sale, Raney says items affixed to the walls, such as mirrors or racks, typically stay with the home, while standalone equipment like treadmills or bikes is usually taken by the seller. “That said, anything can be negotiable during the sale,” she says.
Carefully Consider Your Home Gym’s Location
If you put the home gym in your basement, but you hate your basement, will you even go down there? If you put the home gym in your garage or living room, will family members be angry, and where will you park your car? On a practical level, maybe there’s no room for the kind of home gym you want. There is a reason people become members of fitness centers, after all.
Still, if you’re going to do this, Smith recommends that you do what you can to make your home gym a space that is “safe, comfortable and a place that sparks joy and excitement for you. Maybe you paint the walls your favorite color or add posters with motivational sayings to keep you feeling energized and focused,” she says.
Remember that just as it isn’t realistic to drop 50 pounds overnight or gain 10% of muscle mass in a week, a home gym isn’t quite like a kitchen remodel. You can spend thousands of dollars and hire a contractor to give you a home gym within a week, like you probably would for a kitchen or bathroom, but there’s no pressing need to.
“More often than not, home gyms are built over time and as budget allows, which is great because your home gym can grow right alongside you on your fitness journey,” Smith says.
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How to Set Up a Home Gym originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 02/26/25: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
