Help me plan my home gym

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GettingThere62
GettingThere62 Posts: 83 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Building new home. Gym room approx 13 feet by 11 feet. TV centered on 11 ft wall.
What would you put in there?
Cardio and strength training.
Definitely want a stationary bike.
Thanks!

Replies

  • curlsintherack
    curlsintherack Posts: 465 Member
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    strength training power rack, flat bench, and a 300lb olympic weight set. I would add a set of adjustable dumbbells and a good quality stationary bike. I would floor the room in stall mats from tractor supply or rolled rubber flooring from a gym supply company. I would not use the puzzle mat pieces available at most stores as they are more of a hastle to stick back down than they are worth. beyond that I would add a lat/low row machine that loaded from the same plates as the power rack.
  • VioletRojo
    VioletRojo Posts: 596 Member
    edited August 2017
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    What I have in my home gym:
    power rack w/pulley system
    weight bench
    olympic bar
    weights
    weight rack
    swiss ball
    adjustable dumbbells
    yoga mats
    foam rollers
    exercise steps
    bike trainer
    treadmill
    TV
    iPod w/speaker hookup
    fan for circulating air
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    What are your goals, likes/dislikes, and budget?
  • GettingThere62
    GettingThere62 Posts: 83 Member
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    Thanks for replies so far!
    Budget is flexible - but let's say 10k for arguments sake. There is always a lot of 2nd hand gear available so I assume I won't pay full price for most things.

    I like to exercise outdoors as much as possible, but want to be able to work out in bad weather too. Currently have stationery bike and elliptical. I am thinking of replacing elliptical with treadmill and rowing machine for a bit more variety.

    Currently not doing any strength training (yes, I know...) but want to improve that situation.

    Female, 55yo, 35lbs down and 25 to go.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    Still not clear of your goals, but for general fitness, i'd start with:

    - olympic weight set
    - pair of adjustable dumbbells
    - cable machine for horizontal movements
    - kettlebells
    - some boxes & steps

    If you haven't used a rowing machine before, try one out for a week at a local gym, to see if you actually enjoy it. It often ends up as a clothes rack in homes.

    A good strength program for your age group is New Rules of Lifting for Life. :+1:
  • trochanter
    trochanter Posts: 76 Member
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    I recently purchased an Inspire FT2 functional trainer (£3500, 36 months interest free instead of gym membership). Fantastic bit of kit with a small foot print. Well worth a look.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wieyfOeJYuM
  • CipherZero
    CipherZero Posts: 1,418 Member
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    Things to go cheap on: Plates, flooring, storage of equipment. Horse stall mats are inexpensive and nearly indestructible.
    Things that work decently mid-grade: Dumbbell (handles or sets of fixed weight), microplates, straps, chin up / pull up bars, bands.
    Things to never ever go cheap on: Bars, power cages. Bent bars suck, and a power cage is safety equipment that will save your life when you bench press.
  • BulletProofSkim
    BulletProofSkim Posts: 83 Member
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    Good advice above. Buy whatever you need that suits the workouts that you like to do. As for the bike, get a really good quality one. I have a commercial spin bike and it's fabulous.
  • naculp
    naculp Posts: 225 Member
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    sgt1372 wrote: »
    How much $ do you want to spend?

    This is what my garage gym (10x20) looked like when I started about 5 years ago:

    pyhin0n3q0vy.jpg

    Has all the basic gear that you need. Bought everything use off of Craiglist and spent about $2k; $1k of that was for the LeMond spin bike.

    And this is what it looks like now:

    fb324nxpbyte.jpg

    I've got just about every piece of lifting equipment that you could fit in the space, including a rack, GHD, dip station, sissy squat and DL station, 7 different bars plus a pair of Farmer's Walk handles and a T-bar holder, a couple of plyo boxes, a pair of Gold adjustable dumbells (50# each), 2 plate racks and about 1k# in bumper and metal plates (including factionals). Plus lots of extra accessories. Still bought almost everything used off of Craiglist.

    The spin bike is now in the house w/my Concept 2 rower. Cost of everything now is closer to $5k.




    This is so gorgeous.
  • xvolution
    xvolution Posts: 721 Member
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    I've recently started a cardiac rehab program, and if you want to have equipment that's also used in those programs, incorporate a treadmill/hand bike/stationary bike/dumbbell rack. Those should cover any cardio aspects you're looking for in a gym.
  • trochanter
    trochanter Posts: 76 Member
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    Cutaway_Collar wrote: »
    That looks like a waste of money and unnecessary hit on your credit report.

    You could have bought a cheap barbell, dumbbell assembly and do various exercises which actually produce results.

    Did you actually watch the video or do any other reviews of this functional trainer? All depends upon what your requirements are. I am getting good results from it and we use it as a family so the built in smith machine makes it nice and safe. The ease of weight change also makes it good. Replaces just about every weight machine that you will find in your gym in a small footprint.

    Yes, maybe not as good as free weights but wouldn't call it a waste of money.

    Plus don't have a pop at a credit report on line. I take it that you have credit in your like!! Well good on you.
  • giantrobot_powerlifting
    giantrobot_powerlifting Posts: 2,598 Member
    edited September 2017
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    I'm just here to show off my gym which between building some of the components (platforms, chalk bowl, blocks, sand bags) I spent around $1,000 between Craigslist and getting stuff for free -- like all but two of the horse stall mats. (I helped a box move -- they gave me the surplus they were going to throw away.)

    anirhrhpk3vi.jpg
    mamti6fzhb0d.jpg

    I spent most of it on the Rogue Ohio Bar, the Rogue flat bench, and Rogue Monster Lite Squat Stand. As a powerlifter, this configuration gets the job done.

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