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What are the Best Tips for Home Gym Design?
Good quality exercise equipment is important in home gym design, but this should not be one's only consideration. The best home gym design tips are to make the gym as spacious, well-lit, and inspiring a place to be as possible. Without these elements, even the most expensive and well-equipped home gyms frequently go unused, amounting to no more than awkward closet space.
Posters of fitness superstars using every product imaginable lure some people into a very cluttered home gym design. For example, there is no need for seven different ab-workout devices; investing in multi-functional equipment can be a great space-saver and still provide everything necessary for a good workout. As a general rule, any equipment, no matter how specialized, is not worth having if there is no space for it. Another good way to avoid oppressive clutter in home gym design is to make sure bulkier machines are kept close to the walls so the center of the room is kept open.
Natural light is good for one's health and also contributes to a sense of open space. Banishing a home gym to a dark, damp basement corner suggests a lowly place on its user's list of priorities. If a T.V.-couch combo is hoarding prime real estate, it might be better suited to that dark cinema-like space than the gym — good home gym design requires a room with a view. Having an openable window at hand can also help maintain the fresh air supply needed during strenuous physical activity.
A strategic placement of mirrors also can help increase the feeling of space and light in a home gym design. Mirrors can make a room feel twice as large and get light to shine from all sides. Watching one's progress in a reflection can also be motivating and help in maintaining correct form during exercises.
With regard to inspiration, a gym set-up for personal use should be personal. Bright colors are good for keeping most spirits high, but the particular color chosen for the walls should depend on the individual. Likewise, a stereo to play music is a great addition to a home gym, but the music played should inspire the user — not everyone is Rocky, so Eye of the Tiger is not the only option. Depending on the user's personality, an ideal motivational poster might be of a little kitten clinging to a clothes line with a caption that reads "hang in there," a heavy metal band, or those aforementioned fitness stars. The best home gyms are uniquely inviting to the user and make the user feel inspired to workout.
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![Home gyms might be design around the specific kinds of exercises a person plans to undertake.]()
By: Minerva StudioHome gyms might be design around the specific kinds of exercises a person plans to undertake.
Discussion Comments
@Fa5t3r - The radio tends to be enough for me, but I don't think there's anything wrong with having a television. If I could afford it I'd get one of those futuristic running or cycling tracks where a landscape is projected ahead of you and it looks like you're running outside.
As it is, my gym isn't really a separate room so much as an area of the living room that houses a yoga mat and an elliptical machine, but that's better than nothing, and honestly, I don't really think I need much more. I don't think there are all that many machines that are worth the money when you can go to the gym and have your pick of all the latest equipment.
@pastanaga - I also like having a television in my home gym, which I know isn't recommended by everyone, but it's the way I bribe myself to go in there. I always thought if I actually got around to setting up a good space for exercise in my home that I would use it all the time, but I don't tend to do that unless I've got a goal or another reason. I don't let myself sit and watch TV passively anymore. I've got to be doing some kind of cardiovascular exercise.
Mirrors are very important in my mind. It's not only that you need them to correct your stance and your form, although that's a very important use for them. If you are doing the exercises wrong in your own house no one is going to correct you and you could do yourself serious harm (or simply waste a lot of time).
But a home gym should be a place where you learn to feel good about yourself, and honestly, being exposed to your own image is useful for that.
I think people who aren't used to what they look like raise their own expectations of themselves unrealistically high and then get disappointed when they look in the mirror. Looking into one more often can help you do realize that you're human and you should be proud of yourself, even if you aren't perfect.
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