It feels like, over time, it has become easier and easier to take up a home-based fitness routine. You could just slip on a Fitbit or Apple Watch or get onto a Peloton exercise bike and start moving. However, can your home really rival the local gym as a compelling workout environment?
Basically, yes, it can – but the success of your home workouts would depend on various factors, including the equipment you have at your disposal.
Why would you want to forgo the usual gym anyway?
Of course, when lockdowns were first imposed in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, visiting a traditional gym – at least in person – wasn’t an option for many of us. However, even now that you can actually take up this option, some risks – albeit not always virus-related – remain.
If you are relatively unfit, you could easily feel self-conscious as you turn up at the gym and see people with bodybuilder-like physiques. Besides, unless there’s a free trial you can utilize, you would have to pay a monthly fee to make use of the gym’s (admittedly likely very good) facilities.
As realbuzz.com implies, you could find yourself often having to wait to use a particular piece of gym gear anyway – and, naturally, visiting a home gym wouldn’t incur travelling costs.
The case for building yourself a home gym
There are certainly common drawbacks to exercising at home. For example, you could find that your home has relatively little fitness equipment compared to your local gym – and, without a personal trainer right by your side, you could too easily mess up certain moves and so risk injury.
However, many disadvantages of home-based workouts can be at least mitigated when you are careful with how you fit out your fitness space. The Spruce shows various examples of how you could create a home gym space.
These ideas include removing stored items from an attic before repurposing it as a home gym. You might not even need to remove the stored items if you opt for something like the award-winning loft boarding service from Instaloft, where you can increase your home’s floor space by up to 50%.
How should you equip your home gym?
Of course, your budget for this gym could end up doing much of the decision-making for you. If your finances are rather tight, you should prioritize investing in certain items, like an exercise mat, stability ball and dumbbells. Also, buy a heart rate monitor if your budget would stretch to this.
A high-end home gym could come with dedicated weights machines, such as a chest press machine, and cardiovascular equipment along the lines of rowers, treadmills and cross-trainers.
It’s perfectly possible to receive fitness training remotely; perhaps your local gym runs virtual classes, or you could subscribe to a service like Apple Fitness+. This way, you can ensure that, even while exercising in your home, you can continue to receive expert guidance on how to get your form right and consequently reduce the injury risk.
Thanks to instaloft.co.uk for consulting on this post.
