Yes I am fortunate to have a room set up as a gym. It’s not as hard as you think. Here we’ll go over just how little it takes to set up a simple home gym.
My room is our den. I suppose you could also call it the theater since it has a screen and speakers. It has a sectional couch around the perimeter, and space the middle. The floor is hard, so I have to have yoga mats. In fact, the space you need to work out is that which will hold two regular yoga mats placed like the letter “T” not overlapping . Even the cardio routines use this small a space. Most people’s living room would fit this criteria. Most people's living room also has some way to play video content, and this is how you will view your workouts.
How do you chose your workouts ? The first order of business is that they be safe and evidence based. This generally follows from the credentials of the trainers and their accountability of the business producing the videos. I have identified a set of content which you may use in your home gym. Of course if you have memorized a good routine from a class, and have a source of music, that is great. Otherwise it is nice to just put your mind into idle and follow the trainers instructions on the screen.
I have the Apple TV set top box. It works like a smartphone in that it has an APP store. You chose your app which may or may not have in app purchases. The Apple TV is a gold mine of high quality workout collections. My favorites are:
Beach Body on Demand ( BBOD)
GAIA yoga
FIT FUSION with Jillian Michaels and others.
The Beach Body routines are included with the Apple TV, which, is an incredible bargain. These particular workouts are very expensive when purchased as DVDs, i.e. $50 plus for a set of three, but the app has many trainers with dozens of workouts, essentially the entire content of Beach Body. They are there for the cost of the Apple TV box, which is under $200. The GAIA app is there for free as well, as are many others. FIT FUSION for example, costs money, but provides a phenomenal set of workouts, and when purchased in a year plan, it $3.75 per month, the cost of a latte.
Many of these apps are on other platforms. Many of these same apps also work on your tablet, so you can truly be portable. On occasion, it has been me, my iPad, and my yoga mat, outside, and working out. Most of the time it is me, in my house, at some odd hour, squeezing my workout in. And squeeze you can, since with this many choices at your fingertips you can pick worthwhile workouts of any length to fit your little slot.
Oftentimes you need more than your 2 yoga mats since the workouts require some equipment. But it is not much. To be deluxe, you need some weights. I need a pair of 3#, 5# and 8# weights. I have resistance bands, and I have a small and a large exercise ball. I also have some strap on ankle and hand weights. That’s about it !
One last thing: I have a routine, also known as a habit loop. Once I start into it, it is hard to deviate from it since I have done it so many times before. When I get home from work, I change into workout clothes. I head down to the the theater and turn the system on. While it is booting, I get a glass of ice water to have handy. When I get back, I lace up my workout shoes and chose a workout. Then it is as good as done.
Assuming you have some space, a screen, and a set top box, and depending on how many workout options you want, you can probably get a basic home gym set up for $200 or less including mats, weights, and some DVDs or memberships.
Health clubs and gym are much more expensive and don’t always fit my schedule or desire to leave home. Having a workout option that is home based and weather independent is critical to the consistency of anyone’s fitness routine.