Click Here for Free Bodybuilding and Fitness Magazine Subscription
7 Tips For Building A Home Gym On A Budget
If you're passionate about fitness, then building a home gym is one of the best things that you can do for yourself and the benefits are endless. Firstly, it'll save you a lot of time.
You can workout as soon as you get home and save the drive time required to travel to and from the gym. Plus, you don't have to wait for equipment or deal with people not picking up after themselves.
But, you want to make sure that you'll enjoy working out from home by building the ultimate home gym. This doesn't have to cost you a pretty penny, so long as you follow these tips on how to setup a home gym on a budget.
1. Figure Out What Your Training Needs Are
This will make it easier to figure out what equipment you need to accomplish your goals. For most people, this will include a squat rack, a barbell, weights and a bench or a pull-up bar attached to the squat rack or on the wall.
If you're starting from scratch, then a pull up bar and a dip bar to do dips and pull-ups is a good start. Alternatively, get wooden rings which can also be used to do dips, muscle-ups, pulls-ups and push-ups as well as a massive amount of gymnastic movements.
But, everyone has different goals. For instance, if you want to lose weight, then some cardio equipment is going to be more effective.
If you don't know what you want, then it's worth starting out with a simple setup that includes a squat rack, bar and plates package, a pull up bar and a bench. This is enough to perform a majority of the workouts required to get strong and fit.
2. Use Online Resources To Buy Used
If you look online, you can get gently used equipment for 40% to 50% off the retail price. That's because people buy gym equipment with all the excitement in the world at the beginning of the year, only to realise later that they don't like it or they just don't have time to use it.
3. Buy Everything At Once
This might sound counterintuitive but keep in mind that this is heavy-duty equipment that costs a bundle to ship. Buying everything at the same time will help you to save on shipping costs.
If your budget doesn't allow you to buy everything at once, you can choose to save up until you are ready, otherwise you could look to borrow money online in order to purchase it now.
4. Keep It Simple
You can build any body part and perform any movement pattern to develop overall physical fitness with a few key pieces of equipment. Don't make the mistake of spending more than you need to or cramping a whole bunch of equipment into a small space when you could use basic equipment that allows you to perform a wide range of movements.
5. Wait For Deals
Black Friday is probably the best time to buy gym equipment. That's because some of the most popular brands only offer deals during this time of the year, and this includes shipping deals. You can even get brand new limited edition equipment for a fraction of the price.
6. Do it Yourself
Not everyone has the tools or inclination to build their own DIY gym equipment. But if you're building a home gym on a budget, then one of the best ways to save money is to make your own equipment.
With the right tools, you can make peg boards, sleds and pull-up bars just from following online video tutorials. If you're inexperienced, be sure to start with equipment that's accessory based and doesn't have a lot of safety issues involved.
7. Don't Be Fancy
Having a home gym eliminates excuses because your gym is right in your property. Your home gym can be in your garage, spare bedroom, basement, home office, back yard, carport or patio. The most important thing is to use what you have to get to where you want.
There's never been a better time than now to build a home gym, since conventional gyms are either closed or just not fun to be in. With these tips, you can build a budget, bare-bones setup with all the basics.