Anyone have an 2nd floor / outside home gym w/ barbells?

TheStephil

I'd love to get my own home gym with a power cage, bench and Olympic barbell/plates. My boyfriend and I just signed a year lease at a townhome in California and my options on gym location are limited. I only have two options; outside or upstairs in our spare bedroom.

1. Outside - Sacramento, California. Winters are bearable and we don't experience many days under 32 degrees. Summers have a lot of dry days in the 100s. Backyard is all cement and big enough for all of the equipment I want and we can purchase a canopy to help with the sun/rain. I'd also cover the equipment in tarps when not in use. My concern here is mainly comfort and hassle. It would be a pain to deal with the tarps every work and to work my workout schedule around the hotter/colder times of day. I think I'd workout in the rain as long as I'd be under a canopy but I may change my tune once it's a reality.

2. Upstairs. We have a two story small town home with a kitchen and living room down stairs and two bedrooms upstairs. The house was built in the 1970s. Ideally, it would be more comfortable to workout in the house in the spare bedroom. However, I have some concerns about the safety of this. I'm estimating a rack, bench, weight set, bar, etc. can get up to 1000lbs. Yes, you can have 5 guys all weighing 200lbs stand in my upstairs room and jump around without any damage but that's a short time weight load. What about that same 1000lbs sitting there for a year? two? Moving the stuff upstairs would be a pain and moving in a year or two would also be pain but it would be more comfort and ease on a daily level.

My gym options aren't good in my area. The only decently priced gym I found was Fitness 19 and I can't afford (nor willing) to pay the fees of 24 Hour of California Family Fitness. My Fitness 19 has the necessary equipment to get the job done but there is only 1 squat rack (and its not ideal) and two bench presses. It is pretty crowded and there is always one or two people hoovering near the squat rack waiting for a turn. There are only enough bars for the equipment so it's hard to get a bar for deadlifts, presses and rows because they are being used by people squatting and benching. It gets the job done but I think it would a better investment to buy used equipment off Craigslist that I can use for the long term and eventually resell if I ever want to upgrade.

Basically looking for some opinions, experiences, pros/cons to either type of gym set up, etc.

TL:DR: Want a home gym but can only have upstairs or outside. Opinion?

mjudd1990

Any planet fitness gyms around? They don't have a good rap but it's only $10/month. I know there are several other gyms with dues $40 or less a month. If you're set on doing the home gym and want to do it upstairs you may want to have a contractor or building inspector take a look because most residential buildings, especially onces that are 40+ years old, weren't designed to have large amount of weights potentially dropping on upstairs floors.

steve_mfp

I'd go with outside personally.

Carport or canopy kits come with walls/screens. Makes a semi-permanent structure.

DopeItUp

I'd go with outside personally.

Carport or canopy kits come with walls/screens. Makes a semi-permanent structure.

Yeap. Assuming you can handle the weather it's what I'd do. No way I'd set up a gym on a second story.

TheStephil

No PFs close by and personally I disagree with a lot of their policies. I was a member for awhile and it was a great starting point for my cardio days but I wouldn't go back to their gym under any circumstance. Fitness 19 is only a few bucks a month but there is just not enough equipment for the amount of people that are in the free weights area.

Steve: I will look into the walls/screens. I didn't even think of that as an option. Thank you

xsmilexforxmex

I'd be like you and too nervous about having a gym on a 2nd story... I'm willing to bet you can find a canopy with walls though or set up a large shed with 2 doors... might be a little pricier but worth the investment and in the summer heat can be opened up with a fan for air circulation

TheStephil

Shed is another good idea but I may have to check with the HOA. This place is horribly picky when it comes to the outside space. If outside doesn't work I may have to just deal with the crowded gyms for another year or two until we can afford our own place with a garage or 1st floor spare space.

Mr_Starr

Does any of Sacramento's city pools or recreation centers have weights?

I am in a different state, but our city has a pretty good pool and a passable rec center. I would think that Sacramento would also have ( I have always enjoyed my trips to Sacramento).

mjudd1990

No PFs close by and personally I disagree with a lot of their policies. I was a member for awhile and it was a great starting point for my cardio days but I wouldn't go back to their gym under any circumstance. Fitness 19 is only a few bucks a month but there is just not enough equipment for the amount of people that are in the free weights area.

Steve: I will look into the walls/screens. I didn't even think of that as an option. Thank you

Haha good, I hate planet fitness anyways. Just thought I'd throw the suggestion out there in case though

Chris_Pierce

I grew up in Modesto. I kept my gym outside. It's not a problem. Just try and keep out of the sun and drink plenty of water

TheStephil

Does any of Sacramento's city pools or recreation centers have weights?

I am in a different state, but our city has a pretty good pool and a passable rec center. I would think that Sacramento would also have ( I have always enjoyed my trips to Sacramento).

I have no clue but I'll do some research and find out. It can't hurt. I would assume the CA state capital would have some good public services set up.