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How to Design a Healthy Home Gym?
Have you made the resolutions for a new year to get in shape and lose all the extra pounds you gained while in quarantine?
You are not alone!
Gym memberships have a huge spike in the first two weeks of January every year. However, with the pandemic that is still around, going to the gym or spin classes has not been a comfortable place to go yet. With that, you have only one place to get our exercises: YOUR HOME!
No matter if you have a corner in your bedroom, a flex room with boxes of your last moving, or a garage with items that you haven't used since 2009, you need to put your body in motion.
Well, if we say we can help you design a home gym that not only works but is healthy, will you achieve your fitness goals this year?
Let’s deep dive into this!
The importance of exercise for your health and wellness.
It’s not new that exercising makes us healthy and happy. We could deep dive into the benefits that exercises have to our health; however, we are no experts in this field. You might have heard from your physician that you might need to exercise more to lose some extra pounds or only to keep your body moving. Applying exercise into your lifestyle is a win-win situation. If your goal is to lose some weight, put some muscle on, or only burn the extra calories you gained from the ice cream last night, applying exercise in your routine will make you healthier. Also, it helps boost your serotonin and dopamine, improving your mood and energy levels.
Your workout space needs to fit in with your goals.
Building a home gym can be very tricky. Throwing a yoga mat with dumbbells, bike, treadmill, and a punching bag when you only are used to working out with elastic bands will not only crowd the space designed for it, but you will spend money with equipment that only will get dust. Before you start building your home gym, you need to get serious about your fitness goals, time, space, and financial commitments.
If you do not have any training experience, you should consult your physician and hire a personal trainer. They are professionals who will not only educate you on how to perform safely in your home gym, but they will go above and beyond to make sure you will get in shape in the timeframe that you want to with the right equipment and right diet. That is why when we are designing home gyms for our clients, we always have a trainer consultant to help us and our clients achieve the best results for the space.
Materials that will help you design a healthy home gym
Flooring
Lighting
Furniture
Technology
Wallcoverings
Plants
Flooring: Different exercises and types of equipment requires different types of flooring. For high-impact activities such as HIIT or yoga classes, cork, linoleum, wood laminate, wood-bamboo, and rubber flooring can be kind to your limbs and joints. Also, they are easy to maintain. Make sure to choose the flooring free of toxic chemicals as formaldehyde, PBA, and phthalates.
Some equipment requires hard flooring like concrete or tile. Peloton bikes, treadmills, ellipticals, and stair masters are rigid on the floor. Always make sure of the requirements and floor’s specifications before you install them in your home gym.
Lighting: Recessed or flush lighting for your home gym will be the best. Track lighting is a great option too. Only make sure that you have a great clearance from the ceiling if you are using high equipment as stair masters or ellipticals. Dimmable lighting is an excellent option if you have TVs installed for videos and sessions requiring mid to low lighting. Also, to avoid overheating the home gym, LED lighting is preferable to incandescent.
Furniture: For home gyms, the less furniture, the better. Some equipment requires clearance around them to avoid accidents. However, floating shelves or small cubicles properly installed can offer storage options for towels, yoga mats, free weights, jump ropes, gym gloves, and all small items that will help you perform better. Also, hooks secured to wall studs will bring safety while performing exercises with elastic bands. Small stools or side tables will help hold your cellphones, water bottles, and timer while exercising. When choosing furniture, be conscious of using and reusing the piece if you move or design the room for another purpose later on.
Technology: A home gym without a sound system or a TV is not a gym. The sound system can vary from a great portable speaker to speakers installed on the ceiling or walls. A TV connected to the sound system will bring more dynamic to exercises and better sound quality when watching classes on Youtube or any exercises app. New mirror exercises are in high demand nowadays too. They require less space and come with built-in personal trainers - these might require monthly subscriptions. It could be a high cost, but it helps you get in shape and keeps your body moving.
Wallcoverings: A wall mirror properly installed on a whole wall will help you have more clarity and certainty that you are performing your exercise in a safe and right way. For painting, no or low VOC paint is what you want. For wall colors, reds and oranges are the best for high intense training and bicycle sessions. They will bring energy and power your mood to your home gym. However, if you tend more for yoga classes, pilates, and stretching, blues and greens will be the best. Also, to help with the room’s acoustics, draperies and wall arts can help seal the room better when you are rocking your best gym jams.
Plants: Combining health and nature is a great option to rejuvenate your body. Not only will they help the acoustics in the home gym, but houseplants can also help purify the air in this room. Focusing on low maintenance and plants that survive with indirect sunlight is the key to the best plants for a home gym. The bamboo plant can get 6 to 10 feet tall bring a beautiful aesthetic to space. Also, snake plants, dracaena, aloe vera, and rubber plants will help purify your home gym’s air, requiring minimal space for them. For zero maintenance, a moss wall can be an exciting addition to any home gym.
As Winston Churchill said: “We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us.” A space designed to achieve a specific goal will help you have a better result.
Now what? We challenge you to start looking for a new room in your home to keep your fitness goals checked and use those tips to design a healthy home gym. You will see that your health and wellness will only get better. Keep the “New Year, New YOU” alive!
By the way, did you know that we can help you with the design of your home gym? Yes, it’s true. Go here and schedule your Discovery Call today. We will love to be part of your fitness goals. If you know someone who needs these tips in their lives, please share this blog with them and if you have more suggestions or questions, leave comments below, and we will make sure to answer.
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Stay healthy, wash your hands, wear a mask, and keep your body in movement!
Rome and Daniel Stanley