You don’t always have endless space for a home gym; sometimes the limitations are as simple as 4 brick walls and a lot of kit. Today, we’re looking at the best ways to design a functional home gym in a small space.
How to save space
How to plan your home gym
Tips and tricks for small spaces
Keeping cool in cramped spaces
Arranging your equipment: What do you have?
The first step to building a functional home gym in a small space is taking into account what you have, what you need, and your space.
The best place to start is making a scale “bird’s eye view” representation of your home gym. While it may sound complicated it’s as simple as taking measurements and plotting it onto a piece of paper.
Then you can cut out smaller-scale models of your main equipment. Check their footprint and use this to reorganize your space. This makes planning your home gym and your specific equipment much easier.
Make sure to measure the footprint of all of your equipment twice, and never forget the height; you need to make sure that equipment in use has enough headroom.
“Think about how you’ll be positioned when using it: a pull-up bar is fine but you need the headspace to use it!”
Space-saving solutions
Space-saving equipment makes any home gym easier to plan – consider using wall-mounted equipment. This can dramatically reduce the amount of floor space taken up by your equipment.
Some great examples include:
Rouge RML-3W Fold Wall Mount Rack
Wall-mounted cable machine
Pull-up bars instead of stands
Collapsible weight benches by Rouge
These save space if you’ve got the walls and the know-how to put them together. They can also be more expensive than free-standing options, but it’s a worthwhile spend if you can afford the extra upfront cost.
You can also get multi-purpose items that offer more space efficiency. Rogue has some excellent examples for this – such as their Monster Squat Rack shelf, which uses the excess space in your squat rack for storage shelves.
Monster Squat Rack Shelf
Alternatively, their 3-tier shelving system uses vertical space more effectively. Keep in mind that going higher may be the solution for gym spaces limited on floor space.
Look for squat racks with weight storage pegs and pull-up bars, for example, to get better use of your home gym. These are clever solutions to create your functional home gym in a small space.
Protecting the floor
Protecting your floors is key because re-laying concrete can be an expensive and timely process. It also makes it harder to lift on an uneven floor, so be sure to set out matting or other floor protection.
Things like rubber puzzle mats are popular – and the thicker the better. These protect your floor and ensure a firm but comfortable surface to lift on.
Make sure your flooring is non-compressible. The last thing you want is to start a heavy deadlift, only to find that you’re wasting all that force simply squishing an EVA foam floor!
Checking wall construction
If you want to save space and use wall-mounted equipment, you need to make sure your walls can bear the load. Make sure you’ve got a good idea of the layout of your pipes and wires in the wall, and a good idea of what the frame can hold, before you start drilling into things.
This is essential in homes with a lot of plasterboard: make sure you get the stud detector out and double-check all layouts.
Strong, interior walls are great for supporting a home gym, but they’re no use if you start damaging your essential utilities.
Ventilation: heating, cooling, and airflow
Climate control for your gym comes down to where you live and how your home is built. You might be fine training in your basement in a mild climate, but that’s completely different from training in the garage in a hot, humid place.
Cooling is simple enough – you can invest in a dedicated air conditioning unit or, more simply, a really big fan.
Heating is more expensive but is easy with a simple space heater. These can cost a fair amount on electricity use, so be willing to just add an extra layer to your training outfit. Make sure you isolate any drafts, making the most of your home climate – consider re-insulating your home gym space.
Ventilation can be difficult if you don’t have windows. You can install an extractor fan or air brick, but these require some technical know-how. Alternatively, try a simple dehumidifier to keep your space cool while you work up a sweat.
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