Exercising at home is so much easier if you have a designated workout space. And I speak from some serious experience. For the past year, I had an extra person living in my house. Having even just one extra person significantly cut down on space to exercise at home. All of a sudden, the only space I had was in a small, cramped corner of my living room. It made doing my workouts at home much harder (and getting the motivation to work out is hard enough!). The house was so cramped at times that I bought a gym membership to do my home workouts in the conditioning room. Now, I’ll be honest and admit that I ended up loving doing home workouts at my gym but that’s beside the point.
When my houseguest moved out, all of a sudden I had so much more space to exercise at home. And while I had learned to enjoy the gym atmosphere, I was so happy to have more workout flexibility. Plus, I now was able to create a workout space for myself that truly worked for me.
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Why Having Your Own Workout Space Is Important
Believe it or not, having your own defined space to exercise can play a big role in motivation. If you have a place for exercising, you’re more likely to work out than if you’re always trying to squeeze yourself into any available space. Exercising can feel like a chore. And “not having space” to workout is an easy and convenient excuse to skip a workout. Having an area where you know you have the space, tools, and comfort to workout can add to your overall fitness motivation. Plus, having an exercise area is a physical reminder of your health and fitness goals.
What You Don’t Need
First, let’s start with what you don’t need for a home workout space. Many people think that to get fit at home you need a lot of space. Or that you need a lot of big, fancy gym equipment. Neither of those things are true! A person definitely needs some space, however, not a lot of space is needed. Basically, my rule of thumb is that you need to be able to move a couple of feet in all directions. And have room to jump, and lift your arms above your head. Don’t get me wrong, you can build a fancy home gym if you choose but it is certainly not needed for weight loss.
You also don’t need to have a room exclusively dedicated to fitness. A dedicated room is nice to have but it’s not a necessity. The key is to have space to exercise. Therefore, you don’t need to have an entire room.
Ways To Define Your Workout Space
- Choose a room that will either be a permanent or non-permanent workout area. You can have a room entirely dedicated to fitness or you can choose to workout in a shared area of your home, such as the bedroom or living room. If possible, try to choose a low-traffic area of your house.
- Create a motivating atmosphere to inspire your workouts. If you have a dedicated workout room you can choose a color palette and accents, like inspiring wall art, to get you through the tough workouts.
- Create an equipment area. If you have a small space you may need to get creative. I like ideas like this floor mirror and pegboard combo. You can also have a cute storage basket for your exercise mat, resistance bands, loops, and other small workout equipment.
- Remove clutter. This is especially important if you are exercising in a shared space. Clutter is really distracting and will take focus away from your workout. And you don’t want your workout gear to be all over the place either. Clutter can also be a hazard while working out, so removing it will prevent tripping and stumbling.
Fitness Equipment You Need
Just like you don’t need a lot of space to work out at home, you don’t really need a lot of equipment either. There are, however, a few home workout essentials that everyone should have. Here are some of my must-haves:
- Exercise or Yoga mat. This is to help protect your feet, knees, and wrists while exercising at home. Even if you have carpet, I recommend still putting down a yoga mat for the non-slip grip.
- Good pair of training shoes. I see so many people on Instagram doing high-intensity home workouts in their bare feet and I just cringe. Exercising in bare feet is hard on your joints, plus it makes you more prone to injury, such as a rolled ankle.
- Some weights or resistance bands. You don’t need a lot of weight or even heavy weights but some weights or resistance bands are needed for a proper workout routine. Building muscle is so important!
- Streaming device. Having a tv or computer (or even a phone!) in your workout space will give you more workout options. Being able to stream workouts (I use Beachbody On Demand) at home completely changed the way I workout and approach home fitness.
This is a list of “nice-to-haves”:
- Floor-length mirror.
- Activity tracker.
- Foam roller.
- Exercise ball
- Adjustable Dumbbells
Fitness Equipment You Don’t Need To Get Fit
- Large weight machines
- Full set of weights
- Workout bench
- Treadmill
- Stationary bike
All those things can still be helpful of course but you can still lose weight and get in great shape without them.
Looking for some home gym inspiration? Check out this Pinterest board.
Have fun creating your own home workout space! Remember that the idea is to have a space that encourages you to exercise and stick to your goals. Got a home gym DIY? Share your link in the comments.
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