You see, we’re all for the health-consciousness trend and are ecstatic at the sight of more people working out to lose the love handles, double-checking their dietary requirements, and spreading the love for exercise with friends and family. However, the one thing that’s constantly getting on our nerves is how the same newbies strive to build a home gym in their garage, enjoy it the first couple of weeks, but find out it’s actually missing many critical points of interest.
Of course, taking the initiative to work out and start the home gym project itself gives everyone extra credit, but these very gyms should provide you extra convenience and not make working out feel uncomfortable and clunky. And to address this glaring issue that far too many newbie fitness enthusiasts are struggling with, we’ve decided to create an overview on what’s causing the problem in the first place and just how you can solve them at the snap of your fingers.
What Are Some Of The Most Common Garage Gym Issues?
Truthfully speaking, there are way too many variables at play to pinpoint what’s specifically causing you garage gym issues, and everyone’s approach at building the gym itself is vastly unique and can’t be accounted for on a per-project basis. And so to help create a standard to follow, we’ve identified the three most common culprits, namely, (1) the lack or excess of workout equipment, (2) failure to remodel the space, and (3) not adding any mirrors or good lighting.
- Lack (Or Too Much) Of Important Equipment: Firstly, a garage gym is only as good as the workout equipment it houses, and having too little or too many can both cause unnecessary headaches when you’re just trying to exercise. As per the former, while limiting your choice of workout equipment and being minimalist can help, having too little at your disposal can hamper your workout choices. And for the latter, too much equipment lying around everywhere will leave you with no space to exercise.
- Not Investing Into Renovating The Space: Secondly, focusing too much on the equipment alone is another cardinal sin to building a garage gym because a lot of your time and effort investment should also go to renovating the space. For example, a fresh coat of paint, covering it up with wallboards, and installing epoxy floor coatings are all must-haves in making the garage gym more comfortable. In contrast, not having them will make the space feel dull and demotivating.
- Bad Lighting And Zero Mirrors: Lastly, while it might sound a bit vain to say that you should guarantee good lighting and install full-length mirrors, these simple features are great sources of external motivation. Lighting will help keep things easy to find and prevent you from tripping on any dumbbells, and having full mirrors will help you track your progress more clearly and take photos of your improvements at every stage.
However, Don’t Go Overboard In Covering All The Bases.
Likewise, while we did make mention of all the most common issues found in garage gyms, we also implore you not to go overboard with covering these bases. The last thing you want to do is break the bank just to get a training space, so the principles mentioned below are a good rain check on what you should strive to follow.
- Budget And Plan Beforehand: Proper budgeting and planning are kings at keeping you in check because being careless and happy-go-lucky with your purchases and renovations will put a dent in your savings account. As a good rule of thumb, set aside an amount you’re not too worried about spending and an appropriate amount at getting you the basic weights for compound movements.
- Maximize The Space You Get: While some garages have the luxury of being spacious and still having some leftovers to park your car, not all homes share the same benefits and have to maximize the space they get. So, in order to avoid having no room at all to walk around and provide you with a full range of motion, layout your garage gym idea onto a blueprint first.
- Don’t Forget Ventilation: Last but not least, to ensure that you’re feeling comfortable and not heating up and sweating buckets after the first set of burpees, don’t forget to double-check on installing proper ventilation. Ensure that the HVAC system also covers the garage so that the air feels a lot less heavy and you can workout worry-free.
But Most Important of All, Stay Consistent With Training
Nevertheless, all these fixes will be for naught if you’re unable to stay consistent with your training, so grit your teeth and be honest with yourself at how you’ll be approaching your fitness goals. And once you have those in check, feel free to configure and tailor all the advice mentioned above to suit your workout needs perfectly.
