How To Build a Budget Home Gym

How to Build a Budget - Friendly Home Gym in Your Garage

A home gym is the best way to avoid gym membership fees, set rules that work for you, set your pace and save on money and time. Building a budget home gym in your garage also helps keep you from crowds, which is recommended due to recent events.

So, which fitness equipment should you get for your home gym? Deciding on what to get can be hard. But, using these three measures, you can narrow down your list to two or three equipment.

Available workout space:

Have an unfinished basement or an unused garage? You can bring any abandoned space to life by setting up a gym in that space. How much workout space do you need? This depends on the type of equipment you need. If you go for the all-in-one home gym, you’ll need about 200 square feet, an elliptical bike machine needs about 10 square feet while a rower needs 20 square feet.

Our recommendation is, if you have plenty of space, garage or a room; choose an all-in-one cardio machine. If you live in an apartment and your workout space is small, go for compact equipment that you can store in a corner or tuck under your bed; compact treadmills, under desk stationary bikes, rowers, dumbbells, and resistance bands.

Exercise goals:

Another thing to consider when choosing your exercising gear is type of workouts you plan to do. There are three types of workouts you can do at home.

1. Endurance or aerobic training

Endurance training helps develop stamina and improve on lungs and heart function. For your aerobic training at home we recommend you go for a treadmill, exercise bike, stepper, or rowing machine. With this type of training, your body continues to burn calories long after your workout session.

1. Strength training  

Resistance training or aerobic training helps build muscle mass. For strength training you’ll need a dip station, squat rack, adjustable dumbbells and resistance bands.

1. Stretching

As you age, your muscles become inflexible. Stretching your muscles helps with balance, strengthens joints and improves posture and speed. Types of stretching exercises include static stretching, dynamic stretching, ballistic stretching and active stretching.

Extras

How many people have you seen turn their workout bench into a cloth hanger or table? We’ve seen plenty. If you do not want to make a living selling used equipment on eBay, you need to turn your home gym into a real gym. You need accessories.

Accessories such as music players reduce boredom. According to research, music enhances physical performance. You also want to get towels that are soft and absorbent, mats to offer cushioning, water bottle to keep hydrated, hand grip strengtheners to strengthen your grip and wrists and foam rollers for post workout recovery.

Best machines for budget home gym

Exercising at home can be boring especially if you own one piece of exercise equipment. Now, the best way to beat this is by equipping your gym. Here are a few budget-friendly equipment you should consider purchasing.

Treadmill:

If you have enough space, go for a Bowflex treadmill that is iFit compatible. This will give you access to coaches, a workout library, and customized routes via Google Maps. For compact spaces, you can opt for smaller treadmills with Bluetooth connectivity so you can pair with your phone for music and workout apps.

Stationary bike:

On average, a gym membership costs about $60 a month or $700 - $750 a year. A good indoor exercise bike costs as low as $250 and a bike with heart rate monitoring costs around $550. Cycling helps in weight loss and improves cardio vascular fitness.

Squat rack

For strength training, a squat rack will come in handy. With a good squat rack you can dead lift, do hanging crunches and shoulder shrugs, standing bicep curls, squats and more.

Resistance bands

Stretchy bands or resistance bands can be used for stretching the body and strength training using your body weight. Resistance bands costs as low as $10 and you can check a few YouTube videos on how to use the bands.

Dumbbells

No home gym is complete without a set of dumbbells. When purchasing your workout gear, go for adjustable dumbbells. This set allows you to adjust the weight according to your level of fitness.

Fit journal

Lastly, you need to hold yourself accountable. A fit log enables you to track your workout routine, what you are eating and how often. Most journals allow you to track your progress for up to 12 weeks.