A home gym can be a great convenience year-round; especially during this time of the pandemic when public gyms have been closed for months. If you’re someone who regularly hits the gym, why not use that spare room or unfinished basement space to create the ultimate home gym?
What to Consider for Basement Home Gym Design
Creating the ultimate basement home gym increases your likelihood of maximizing your workouts. But it can be frustrating deciding the best gym setup from the thousands of home gym designs available. Remodeling your basement to include a home gym is a great solution to creating a fitness space while maintaining the aesthetic of the rest of your home.
Here are some questions you should ask yourself before you make any commitments:
- Is the space large enough to create a well-functioning gym space?
- How much equipment can I fit without overcrowding?
- Is there enough natural light in the space, or how can I bring in more lighting?
- Does my space meet the electrical requirements to support the gym equipment I’ll want?
- Will this space be easy to maintain?
- Will I be able to meet health and safety standards in this space?
- Do I have a reasonable budget for this project?
Location
If you’ve ever worked out in an overcrowded gym, you know that its unpleasant. This includes being overcrowded by too much equipment being crammed in not enough space. Ideally, your workout area should be as spacious as possible to allow for all types of floor exercise and accommodate training equipment and storage. In the perfect scenario, your home gym should allow plenty of natural light and ventilation. Creating a good environment for yourself not only affects your energy levels but can impact focus during your workout as well.
Flooring
When choosing your gym flooring, its important to select a material that is both sturdy and safe. Your flooring should be strong enough to sustain heavy weights dropping and bulky equipment pieces, while simultaneously being non-slip for your safety. Often this looks like a cement floor or quality hardwood with rubber matting over the top in the primary workout areas and under equipment.
Equipment
Since this will be your personal workout area, the equipment you select should be tailored to your personal training goals. Once you’ve determined the equipment that will support your goals, you need to triple check that you have the space for it all. The size of your equipment will be a major factor in how you design the space.
Health, Hygiene and Safety
One main reason why a home gym is better than a local public gym is that you have complete control over the cleanliness. When designing your space, make sure you think about everything from ease of sanitization to air filtration systems and ventilation.
Health and safety are also critical considerations in designing a home gym. Injuries and accidents aren’t uncommon, and in a poorly designed and maintained space, they risk becoming fatal. Often it comes down to faulty equipment, but the overall design of your space can create hazards as well. Make sure you plan to have ample storage to put away equipment to avoid tripping over stray items on the floor. Try to avoid external distractions during your workout and remember to regularly check equipment for faulty parts.
Accessories
What boosts your motivation during an intense workout? This question should point you in the direction of the right accessories to consider for your space. One of the most common accessories is a large mirror. Other popular accessories include televisions and sound systems. Choose accessories that have functional purposes but also make your workout sessions more fun!
Budget
It goes without saying that a home gym is a luxury for most people. However, with local gyms being closed during the pandemic, if you have fitness goals in mind the home gym may be the best route for you. Whether out of luxury or necessity, its important to design a space that enables your goals but doesn’t break your budget. You can always create your space over time and look for secondhand equipment, just be sure to avoid faulty pieces.
