Health and fitness has become very important in today’s life style. Today we see more people going to gym than ever before, it is happening because of the day by day increase in awareness for health, through the media, social networking and other sources. One perfect example is the website you are on right now which promote health and fitness J
Where the number of people joining the gyms is increasing gradually, the number of people wanting to set up their personal gym at home, has also elevated. There can be any reason to plan a gym at home but the following reasons are often found among people when they talk about their idea of having their own home-gym.
Reasons to Setup a Home Gym
You might also plan a home gym in near future if you are thinking one of the following thoughts:
- Cannot workout in gym when so many people are around so you want to have your own gym.
- It doesn’t seem hygienic in a commercial gym because everybody is sweating and the level of hygiene decreases gradually. When you are using same equipments, benches and dumbbells which someone else had just used with all the sweat on their body, there are chances of getting ill, skin reactions and many other problems. Some people are too sensitive and doesn’t want to get sick.
- You know a lot about workouts and can work-out on your own without trainer thus you think to have your own gym at home.
- It seems inexpensive, setting up own gym, rather than spending money every month/ year on gym membership personal training and other expenses related.
- Want to work-out with family at home in peace, rather than taking family members to gym in unknown strange crowd.
- Privacy reasons and personal security matters may disturb from going to a reputed gym where there are so many people working together, and you might feel much more secure when working alone in your home based gym.
- You have vacant space at home which you want to utilize by opening home gym.
- Gyms are far away from your home and it is time consuming travelling every day, or maybe you do not have enough time to work-out after travelling too long into a gym, so you think having your own gym might reduce the time expenditure and will help in better health comfortably.
- You don’t want to face various restrictions like gym dress, same old music, timing etc, which are very common these days in gyms, you wish to have your own gym and your own set of rules.
It might appear a little “out of track” in first glance that someone is planning his/her own gym but many people prefer this these days. It is a fact that large amount of money is spent on gym membership, personal training and other gym related things. This spent amount can be otherwise utilized to buy own assets and plan a gym easily at home.
Let us understand this with an example where you can see how a gym membership with personal training and other expenses can really cost very high.
Annual membership in a good gym > 25, 000
Annual expense of PT > 10000 X 12 =1, 20, 000/-
You will drive your car or bike to the gym which will cost you some amount, let us assume 50 INR a day.
Monthly it would be 1500 and annually it would be 18, 000 INR
So now you can see
> Annual gym membership > 25, 000
> Annual PT charges > 1, 20, 000
> Annual Travelling expense > 18, 000
> Annual Miscellaneous > 10, 000
—————————————————————————————————-
Total > 1, 70, 000 INR (approx)
This amount may vary according to your current gym, the distance to the gym, personal training charges and many other perspectives, this is just an example to show you how much approximately you spend on gym in an year. The money spent on supplements, gym wear, shoes, and various other things, that your trainer might suggest you to buy, can also be added to calculate and see exactly how much you spend in a year. This amount is good enough to buy necessary gym equipments and use the vacant space at home to start your own personal gym.
Understanding the Requirements of a Home Gym
When you are planning a gym, you have to understand few basics about how you can achieve desired fitness goal. If you want to gain some muscles or you want to lose fat, in both the cases you have to do weight training. You have to train every muscle individually. If you simply buy a treadmill and you keep jogging on it, it will not help you much in achieving your fitness goal.
Remember, you have to train every muscle group with good resistance and resistance can be created in two ways, either with machines or with dumbbells. Machines are very expensive and dumbbells on the other hand are quite easy on the pocket. One can easily perform many different exercises for each body part using dumbbells. So now we know that we got to spend more on dumbbells rather than buying so many machines. However, there is one point where we have to think about machines too. It is, there are some exercises which can only be done using machines and not with dumbbells. So even when we want to save money, we still have to buy few machines or may be one “Multi-station” to meet all the needs.
For the purpose of cardio and warm-up/cool down, we would not recommend treadmill as it might cost you really high. You can simply jog for few minutes’ outdoors and come back home for the workout. If you cannot jog outside then it is better to buy a bicycle. It is cheaper than treadmill and doesn’t cover lot of space in your home. Only one cardio gadget is enough, either cross trainer, treadmill or a cycle as you are suppose to warm-up on it before workout and cool down after workout. Some people prefer floor exercises like jumping jacks, pushups mountain climbing, burpees, etc. to increase the flow of blood into the body parts before beginning their workout. With this option you can save lot of money and space in the home gym, as now you would know how easily warm-up can be done without machines/cardio gadgets or equipments.
So, now we know that we don’t need many cardio gadgets and machines, we can do most exercises on dumbbells and plan a gym easily. As some exercises need machines like lat pull down for back, leg extension for quads (legs), leg curl for Hamstring (legs) and cannot be done using dumbbells, what to do then? Well, there is a solution for this. Rather than buying individual stations for each exercise, you can buy a multi-station. Multi-station is a type of machine in which one can perform many different exercises. Unlike the regular machines that we see in gyms, which are used only for one particular movement, these stations can be used from all four sides and for various exercises. You don’t need plates or weights on them; the weight is inbuilt and can be adjusted by shifting the “pin” between plates.
Let us now think about other things that we may need while making a list for the gym. We need to work on abs also, we need to buy some stuff for aerobic activities also, we need to think about the female members in our family who may also workout in the same gym. Such items are necessary in the gym not only because they are very cheap but they will also help much more in performing different workouts for different people in our family.
Good To Have Home Gym Accesories
Let us now see the major items that we need for our gyms and how they are going to help us:
(Remember these are all optional items, and it depends on how much you want to spend on your home gym)
Rubber Floor mats: When you are working with dumbbells, and you are at your last rep, you might not be able to rearrange the dumbbell on the rack. The dumbbells when fell on ground can damage the floor and this can be prevented by adding rubber mats at that section where you will use dumbbells.
Mirrors: You might have noticed that mirrors in gym are so very important that you cannot perform many exercises until you see yourself in the mirror. One can see the movement and figure out immediately if something is going wrong. Mirrors also help in motivating people while workout. One can see the popping muscles and veins in the mirror to mentally feel the positive happening in the body.
Lights: You need good lights to keep the area bright enough. It is said that bright light in gym keeps the energy level high where as low light or dim light makes you dull.
Air conditioning: If the place can be filled with pure fresh air through windows and fans, then you don’t have to go for an expensive AC system. But if the area around your residence is polluted, then you should install an AC, because while workout you inhale more air and if the air is polluted one can fall sick easily.
Music system: Workout without music is like tea without sugar, it is effective but still not tasty. If you are a gym addict, you will surely feel the urge to hear loud music as it really motivates to perform better in the workout. As per the area of gym, you can plan a music system that is good enough to meet your personal needs.
Air fresheners: To improve the fragrance in the environment, you should add some automatic air fresheners. These automatic air fresheners spray aroma after every few minutes and keep the whole area enthusiastic.
Gym Equipments
(These are actual gym equipment’s you would need for your workout. We will divide this into two sections Aerobics, Weight Loss, Warm up and Other is weight training equipment’s)
Aerobics, Weight Loss, Warm up Equipment’s
Jogger/ treadmill: For Aerobics, a treadmill in your gym will actually make it a real gym. Of course if you are much concerned with budget then you can avoid buying it and start running out doors for warm-up, but if you really want to have every best thing in your gym, then add a tread mill.
Normally gyms have “commercial treadmills” which are strong enough to handle every type of person. They can in fact handle people above 150 kgs and nothing goes wrong with the motor or with the jogger belt. They can be used all day and there will be no over heating or poor efficiency problem with it.
We would recommend a commercial treadmill but if that goes out of your budget, then you can think of semi-commercial treadmill. Treadmills having shock absorbers or treadmills with air bags are getting famous these days. They do not put more pressure on knees and are very safe for long hour cardio.
Cycle: Having 1 or 2 cycles in the gym is a good idea. At least the old members of family can do something in the gym. The muscles involved are different in both the activities, in cycling and in running. It is not important that a person good on treadmill will be equally good on a cycle. May be he cannot spend even 5 minutes on cycle whereas on treadmill his stamina can make him run for 30 minutes or may be more.
Cross Trainer: One of the most popular cardio-gadget “Cross Trainer” is equally good when it comes to developing leg muscles. There is a big variety of cross trainers available on different websites these days.
Yoga mats: Yoga mats are available on different websites from 300 Rs to 3000 Rs. They come in different colors and designs. One can make a selection for yoga mats depending upon the gym budget, the interior type and personal color choices.
Bosu: If you are “Abs freak” you might know how important a Bosu for training the mid section is. It is good for people who are having back problems and still want to train abs, and lower back. One can do many exercises on Bosu, you tube is all filled with examples of many effective exercises using Bosu.
The cost of Bosu would be anywhere between 3000 Rs to 8000 Rs. Below is a good option from amazon.
Medicine Ball: They are innovative design for workout at home. They can help a person develop better balance and stronger body at the same time. Today, almost every gym is indulged in aerobic activities and medicine balls are the most un-ignorable part of it. They come in different sizes and shapes to meet various needs.
Gym Ball: Just like Bosu and Medicine ball “Gym ball” has become an obligation to buy for the gym. It is easily available these days and there are some deals on the purchase of gym balls along with other gym items which makes it even more easy on pocket. It is available below 1000 INR on flip kart along with a hand pump to pump in air to fill the ball.
Resistant Band: Mostly used for physiotherapy, resistance bands are a great way to create resistance in exercises. They can be used in number of ways to create resistance and in creating help in different workouts. They are not only safe but also versatile in nature. They are easy to carry and there are exercises from biceps to abs that can be done using them.
Different brands of Resistance Bands costs different, one can spend from 250 Rs to 780 Rs for each band. It depends upon the user how he takes care of the gadget and uses it, for a longer life of the product.
Ankle weight: Can be used while doing abs and exercises like seated leg extension, standing leg curl for hamstring, and knee raises on bench. As the whole idea behind ankle weight is to create resistance, it generates force and while working against force one can train muscles. They are an important asset while planning a gym. They come in different weights. Starting from .5 kg to 2.5 kg, one can buy them according to personal needs. However one should buy a lighter one in the beginning and later as the strength increases, he can opt the heavier one.
Rubber floor mats/floor guards: It is for sure that you would never want to see the floor breaking because of dumbbells. Nobody would like to witness his home floor breaking, so it is better to take some prevention measures by installing the rubber floor mats.
By the time you reach the last repetition of your set, you might not be able to place the dumbbells on the rack. At this very moment, often dumbbell gets laid on the floor. When this happens again and again the floor gets damage and this would be harsh on your wallet. Rubber floor mats provides cushioning to the floor and prevents the floor damage. There is a huge variety of floor guards/gym floor mats on different websites. But one has to make a selection after looking into personal overall gym budget and space.
Weight Training Equipment’s
Ideal Set of Dumbbells Required
- 2 kg 1 pair
- 3 kg 1 pair
- 5 kg 1 pair
- 7.5 kg 1 pair
- 10 kg 1 pair
- 12.5 kg 1 pair
- 15 kg 1 pair
- 17.5 kg 1 pair
- 20 kg 1 pair
These dumbbells are selected to meet the needs of different people in family for various exercises.
Multi-station: This home gym is innovation in the fitness and one of the finest equipments these days. There are many options available to buy from, below are some of the popular choices :
Bench required: Adjustable bench is required for decline, incline and flat bench exercises. Like for instance, you want to do incline bench dumbbell press or dumbbell fly, you can adjust the same bench and do it. For decline workouts such as decline leg raises, decline sit-ups for abs, or decline bench dumbbell fly or dumbbell press, you can adjust the same bench and save money and space (more benches will cover more space in your home based gym).
Plates and barbell: If one has to do exercises like bench press, shoulder press, squat and bent over barbell rowing, deadlift and so on, he can either do them using dumbbells or they can be done in the traditional way using Barbell with set of plates added to it.
As we always mention, it depends upon the overall budget of the project what has to be added to the gym and what not but still barbell is a most important item that every gym should have. Think of the most important compound movements, bench press, dead-lift and squat. It is like impossible to think about them without barbell and when done with dumbbells they don’t give the same effect on the body.
You need some weight (Plates), given below is a list of weights that you should have along with 1 barbell Olympia size and 1 short barbell for curls and other workouts.
- 5 kg 2 pairs
- 5 kg 2 pairs
- 5 kg 2 pairs
- 10 kg 1 pair
- 15 kg 1 pair
- And if you are strong enough you can add a pair of 20 kg too.
Exercises that can be done using the above mentioned items/gadgets
Let us see for each body part, the exercises and how they can be done
Treadmill/ Bike/ Cross Trainer:
For warm-up you can use any of these to spend some time and speed up the blood flow in the body.
Chest:
You can do flat bench press; incline bench press/ dumbbell press, decline bench press / dumbbell press. You can do dumbbell fly on all the three movements incline, flat and decline. You can also do Peck fly on the multi-station (if it has the option).
Back:
You can do Lat pull down on the multi-station. You can do seated rowing on the multi-station or Bent over Barbell rowing can be done using dumbbells or barbell, pull over with dumbbell can be done, dead-lift can be done, and close grip pulley can also be done.
Shoulder:
Shoulder press can be done using barbell or dumbbells; lateral raises with dumbbells, front raises with dumbbells and bent over lateral raises for rear Delt can also be done with the dumbbells. You can perform shrugs for trapezius using barbell or dumbbells. Lateral raises and rear delt exercises can be done by using resistance band also.
Legs:
If your multi-station allows you to perform leg press, do it there or you can simply perform barbell squat and lunges using dumbbells. You can do leg curl standing using Ankle weights, leg extension can also be done this way. Sumo squat can be done by holding a dumbbell and squatting while legs are away from each other at a shoulder distance.
Biceps:
You can perform Dumbbell curl, barbell curl, incline dumbbell curl, hammer curl, and also concentration curls for your biceps. Biceps can be trained by using resistance band also.
Triceps:
You can do Laying triceps extension, dumbbell extension seated behind head; kick back can be done using 2 dumbbells or a resistance band. You can do bench dips using the bench in flat position. You can do close bench press for triceps just like the way you do bench press, the only difference is the bar should be grabbed with a closer grip.
Abs:
You can do leg raises and crunches on the yoga mat. You can do various exercises for abs on Bosu and gym ball. You can increase the resistance for training abs by using ankle weights, medicine ball and resistance bands. People having trouble with lower back should always train abs on the Bosu.
Lower back:
Hyper extension can be done on Bosu for better squeeze on the lower back. Gym ball can also be used for this function. To create balance in both the left and the right portion of the body, on should do pushups using the inverted Bosu. Shaky-Plank done on Bosu helps in improving core and lower back strength.
Conclusion:
If you are spending more than 1,00,000 INR every year in gym, and have troubles with gym, and want to have your own gym, go for it. It is easy if you make an effort and little survey. You need to figure out how much investment you can make and then the work will start. Buy few things initially and keep adding few every month. Soon you will have your own full-fledged gym with all the beneficial things in it and you can enjoy with your family training and keeping everyone in better shape and you will not have to spend every year on any type of membership or renewal.
Learn more to gain more and enjoy being healthy and fit by having your own gym at home.