DIY Home Gym

Maybe you’re self-conscious about the faces you make while you’re lifting weights.

Or maybe you’re tired of feeling one-upped by the person on the treadmill next to you, or you just hate driving back and forth to the gym.

Whatever your reason for wanting a home gym, you’re not alone. Many residents of Kenner are turning to home gyms to save time, enhance privacy, and combine workouts with family time.

To help you get started, we’ve listed five great features to incorporate into your DIY gym.

Here are our favorite ideas, tweaked for your home:

1. Foldaway and “put-away” fitness equipment

This type of equipment is ideal if your home gym space is limited. Foldable exercise equipment is meant to be “tucked away” when not in use, helping you achieve maximum efficiency of a small space.

Flexibility

Whether you have a large space or a small room, foldaway and put-away exercise equipment will give you the most bang for your buck space-wise. You can open it up to tone and bulk your muscles, then close it up and work on cardio. You can take your weights and mats down for arms day, then put them away for a quick calisthenics session.

Make room for Friends

If you enjoy working out with friends, you could even fold up your machines for a group cardio quick-burn workout before the football game. Even if your group is interested in high range-of-motion workouts, you’ll be able to get a good sweat with the space afforded by using foldaway machines.

A favorite foldaway machine of ours is the Torque 9 Foldaway Strength Trainer.

If you’re looking for Kenner workout equipment for your DIY home gym that will store easily, talk with one of our Fitness Expo Stores consultants today about the selections available that fit your workout needs.

If you’re using put-away fitness equipment, you’ll need a great organization storage system. Which leads to our next tip…

2. Attractive & Efficient Organization is Key

When you work out at home, you’re responsible for keeping your space clean and clutter-free. We believe the “four B’s” are the key to keeping an organized gym: baskets, bar carts, buckets, and bookshelves.

Each of these can hold weights, mats, water, towels, exercise bands, and other essentials that could be left lying around your room otherwise.

• Bar carts tend to be best for organizing light items, including water and towels.
• Buckets are sturdier, for holding smaller dumbbells and medicine balls.
• Taller baskets are great places to store exercise mats; smaller baskets can hold exercise bands.
• Bookshelves can store various equipment types, in addition to gym shoes, workout DVDs, and strap-on weights. If your bookshelf looks cluttered, just store your equipment in canvas boxes on the shelves instead of storing it loosely.

Larger dumbbells can be especially difficult to organize, due to their weight and awkward shape. For dumbbells, we recommend purchasing a professional dumbbell organizer, like the Life Fitness Hammer Strength Single Tier Dumbbell Rack. Otherwise, your weights have the potential to damage other equipment (or fall from a shelf and damage your flooring).

3. Progress chart and motivational quotes

Where would we be without inspirational quotes and progress charts? Motivation is the fuel that takes a workout from “good” to “great.”

There are various ways to track your progress visually in a home gym including:

Chalkboard Wall

Paint one wall with chalkboard paint, then record your progress, goals, and favorite quotes on it.

Whiteboard wall Calendar

Hang a whiteboard calendar, and use colored markers to track your workouts and weight. Alternatively, you could write inspirational quotes at the beginning of each week, or draw stars or check marks to record the days you remembered to work out.

Gallery Frames

You can purchase inexpensive frames from the dollar store, then print off your favorite motivational quotes and hang them gallery-style along one wall. If you’d like a visual representation of your progress, print off one quote every time you lose 5 pounds, or every time your body fat decreases by 0.5%.

4. Mirrors

Mirrors are a critical part of any gym: they’ll help you check your form, and they’ll allow you to watch your progress.

If you’ve purchased some Fitness Expo Kenner exercise equipment for abs, for example, you’ll watch your six-pack emerge over a series of several weeks. If you’re lifting free weights, you’ll see your biceps flex and ensure your form is correct.

Mirrors don’t have to be fancy; even a few home mirrors from your favorite decor store can enhance your space.

5. A TV or Sound System

A great workout puts you through a decent amount of pain. To persevere through the pain, studies show that music or distractions (including TV) can help you push through those last few minutes on the elliptical.

If you have a favorite YouTube personal trainer or workout DVD, being able to watch them from your workout room is important.

Some people make a rule for themselves that they can only watch their favorite TV shows if they are on the treadmill while they watch – this can be a great reminder to get in the gym even on busy days.

Because of this, your Kenner fitness equipment isn’t complete without a few Bluetooth speakers, a TV, or a combination of the two to keep you motivated. This equipment doesn’t need to be top-of-the-line or expensive – it just needs to work well for your space.

Your Personal DIY Home Gym

Ultimately, your gym needs to work well for you. You have the opportunity to personalize your fitness equipment, workout routine, and DIY gym decor to your style – so enjoy it! Create a space that makes you feel strong, or use natural light and bright colors to incorporate cheerful elements into your workout area.

No matter what decor you decide to incorporate into your DIY home gym, if you’re looking for high-performance Kenner workout equipment for home, come out to see our experts at Fitness Expo Stores. We’ll recommend the most efficient and effective machines to get you toned, fit, and ready to take on the world.