How to Set Up Your Home Workout Space

Setting up a workout space in your home is a great way to maintain your fitness and wellness goals. Yet, the benefits aren’t limited to physical fitness; physical exercise also helps develop self-control. 

There are several advantages to having a dedicated workout space at home:

• Time-saving (you don’t need to factor in travel time);

• Cost-effective (gym memberships aren’t free);

• Comfort; using your own equipment in the comfort of your home can be very appealing;

• Convenience; you can work out whenever you want, whether at midnight or during peak hours.

Pro Tips for Setting Up a Home Workout Space

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We reached out to Samuel Oseas Escobar, a personal trainer and kinesiologist, for advice on properly setting up a home fitness corner. He’s the founder of Resilience physique and a bodybuilding medalist. Oseas Escobar strongly emphasizes that you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to work out at home. 

Your body is your most important piece of equipment. “Not having the budget for it is just not an excuse,” he said. “There’s a plethora of functional exercises and worthwhile online resources that solely require your body weight.” As long as your body is healthy, you can work out. 

The possibilities for setting up a home gym are endless, so first, establish a budget. 

Budget-friendly home workouts? We got you!

If you’re working with a limited budget but are still looking to buy some type of workout gear, Oseas Escobar suggests a few must-haves for a little over the hundred-dollar threshold.

Surface Area

Once you’ve established your budget, then consider the square footage needed. You’ll need to move comfortably, both lying down and standing up. If need be, move furniture aside to avoid bad falls and injuring yourself. “The area in which we work out has to be functional and can’t limit our movements,” the personal trainer explained. 

Starter Kit

When asking, “Do I need rubber flooring?” Oseas Escobar simply said no. Not if you’re looking just to keep fit. According to him, typical gym rubber flooring ends up being rather expensive. Instead, he suggests buying a yoga mat and/or padded floor mats. 

Free weights

To get into shape, the fitness expert suggested equipping yourself with 5- and 10-pound free weights, which retail for about $1.50 a pound. 

Working with free weights allows you to build muscle easily. It also can be used to correct muscular imbalance because, with the help of a dumbbell, you can strengthen a weaker bicep, for example. Free weights allow you to target a specific muscle or muscle group. 

Resistance exercise bands

Resistance exercise bands are made from robust rubber, giving them a unique sort of resistance. When stretched, your body weight or free weights offer the same type of resistance throughout the movement, whereas exercise bands become increasingly resistant when stretched. 

With exercise bands, you can work out differently. You can work on your lower and upper body. You can also use it solely when warming up or stretching out at the end of your workout session. 

Swiss balls

Swiss balls (exercise balls) allow you to work your stabilizer muscles (abdominal and lumbar). 

Unbeknownst to you, you’re strengthening your deep muscles and those around your spine. By strengthening your abdominal muscles in this way, as well as your deep muscles, you’re improving your athletic performance. The force transfer between different body parts becomes much easier, while the strength built with stabilizer muscles allows you to move more efficiently. 

Swiss balls aren’t too expensive—you can buy one for about $30. If you’ve been diagnosed with a musculoskeletal injury, stabilization exercises (dead bug or wall squats) will help with muscle strengthening and rehabilitation. 

Vibe 

The environment in which we exercise can also influence our motivation and determination. So why not get all the necessary elements to create the ideal workout space?

Think about setting up your workout corner in a bright and luminous area. Ideally, your body can absorb a little vitamin D while exercising in a room with windows.

You can also add a big mirror. It has a dual function: it’ll make the room look bigger and ensure that you maintain the proper posture, which is the goal. For example, exercising with free weights requires the proper technique and posture to prevent injuries. By looking at yourself in the mirror, you’ll have greater self-awareness and are more likely to correct your movements and posture. 

Moreover, seeing your body in motion and your muscles contracting during physical activity helps with personal motivation!

Consider leaving a window open, even during winter, to ensure the space is properly aired. You can also improve air quality by adding a few plants. The most sought-after plants for air purifying purposes are peace lilies, common ivy, spider plants, devil’s ivy, and snake plants, just to name a few. 

If you’re not a fan of using headphones while working out, get yourself a little Bluetooth speaker to still listen to upbeat music. 

What if money is no object?

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As mentioned earlier, there are endless ways to set up a home fitness corner. But, just like we did with a more limited budget, you still have to establish some budgetary constraints. 

This time around, let’s say you have a budget of around $10,000 to set up and furnish your home gym. What should you be considering for a home workout space? Once again, Samuel Oseas Escobar came to the rescue and answered our questions. 

Cardio

When thinking about getting into shape, he mentioned how important it is to consider one’s cardiovascular health. Starting out your exercise routine with 10 to 20 minutes of cardiovascular exercise is a great way to jumpstart your workout. 

You don’t need to spend an hour working out intensely using the equipment below. Not only can simply doing a few minutes before and after your workout often suffice, but you can also—and it might be even preferable—turn to low-intensity exercises on a treadmill or stationary bike and maintain the physical effort over a longer period of time. 

Treadmill (must-have)

The cost of a treadmill varies, but the expert we consulted highly recommends investing around $1,500 for a machine. Check out the Horizon 7.0 treadmill on The Fitness Factory website. 

The model is foldable with incline settings. 

Rowing machine 

The advantage of a rowing machine is that it allows you to warm up and/or do a full-body workout. This piece of equipment works out the bottom half of the body just as much as the upper half, as well as the midsection. Therefore, it’s a great way to start your workout. 

There are numerous different rowing machine models, like a waterrower. The latter simulates real-life water resistance. 

Squat rack

A squat rack is another piece of equipment to consider if your budget allows it. This device has the added bonus of being extremely versatile. Squat racks are used to perform several different exercises paired with a straightforward weightlifting apparatus and bench. Think of squats, lunges, and bench presses. Using this equipment, you can work out all muscle groups. 

45-pound Olympic bar

An Olympic bar is indispensable to a squat rack. Those who are further along in their fitness journey, and are a little more experienced, can use this piece of equipment for muscular hypertrophy, stamina, and strength exercises.

Bench 

A bench that can be fully inclined or declined during various routine workouts means you can slightly change the exercise and progress along your journey.

Deadlift platform

A deadlift platform is a piece of equipment that can very much turn people off exercise altogether, and it’s understandable. It’s very demanding, muscle-wise. Why put yourself through that? Because weightlifting is one of the very rare exercises that allows you to gain muscle strength efficiently and swiftly. 

Unlike many exercises that don’t necessarily target specific muscular zones, the benefit of adding deadlifts to your workout routine means training different muscular zones simultaneously. This creates tension from your quads to your forearms. 

Such a difficult motion puts significant stress on the body, which, in turn, must quickly adapt to this new physical strain. Few exercises yield quick progress in terms of strength and muscle mass.

Flooring

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Having shock absorption flooring will make your workout sessions much more pleasant. Carefully consider the type of flooring or mats you’d like installed to protect your current flooring, body, and equipment adequately.  

The kinesiologist and trainer we consulted recommended rubber horse stall mats. According to him, they’re quite affordable and the best type of flooring available for home gyms. There’s also another range of foam floor mats that are budget-friendly too. 

Elliptical machine

Not unlike a rowing machine, the elliptical allows for a full-body workout. It helps burn calories by exercising both the upper and lower parts of the body.

Free weights and kettlebell set

As for these, Oseas Escobar suggested getting 5-, 10-, 15-, 20-pound, up to 50-pound free weights. Kettlebell exercises are more intensive and dynamic. Such workouts can allow you to develop both your muscles and good cardiovascular health. 

Mats

Even if you cover your workout space in a specific gym-appropriate flooring, you’ll still need to use floor mats during floor exercises. Opt for a quality yoga mat or a thick foam floor mat. 

Functional trainer (pulley system)

This weightlifting apparatus is great because its resistance can be adjusted accordingly. It also allows you to work different muscle groups, like triceps, pectoral muscles, dorsal muscles, etc. It opens the door to countless possibilities. 

Sauna

Is it a luxury or not? If you think you can afford it, why not go for it? Different indoor saunas retail for anywhere between $2,000 and $3,000 and can be plugged into a 120-220-V outlet. Time spent in a sauna post-workout helps blood flow. Doing so helps heal damaged muscles from your body's physical strain while exercising. A faster recovery period means you can resume your workout routine as you normally would. 

Muscle roller

Speaking of recovery, the primary use of a muscle roller is to relax muscles. The foam roller decontracts muscles to reduce muscle tension or stress. This relaxing sensation is perfect for post-workout recovery. It can also be used before a workout, given that the roller stimulates blood flow, which prepares the muscles for physical strain.

At-Home Workout Routine with a Personal Trainer and/or Kinesiologist

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A non-negotiable advantage of working in a gym is that you’re surrounded by health-conscious enthusiasts, people who are both motivated and determined. And there’s nothing more contagious than another person’s motivation! 

For at-home workouts, you have to be disciplined. It’s not always easy to get through it alone. That’s why a lot of personal trainers like Samuel Oseas Escobar offer personalized training programs tailored to your physical condition, your experience level, and your equipment.

Therefore, a personalized training program and a remote follow-up can benefit you. It’s pretty straightforward: Being accountable to someone else equals more motivation. Depending on the number of follow-ups you have scheduled with a professional trainer, it can cost between $200 to $300 to get a custom workout routine tailored to your goals. Also, having a routine allows you to focus during your workouts, whether at the gym or home. It can also boost confidence, building your self-esteem, not only muscle tone.