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While building a home gym is an incredibly effective way to stay consistent with your workouts, the cost of doing so can sometimes make the process difficult.
There’s no denying that home gyms allow you to work out as and when you want from the comfort of your own home, but how much is it going to cost?
Well today we’re going to be taking a look at 5 ways you can build a cheap home gym, providing you with some actionable tips to get your gym set up in a budget friendly manner.
There’s a few solid reasons as to why you should build a home gym. For example, if you’ve got a busy schedule it can sometimes be difficult to make it down to your local gym. By having one at home, you eliminate the time it takes to travel to and from the gym and can squeeze in a work out when ever your schedule is free.
In the long term, creating your own home gym can even save you money. After a year or so of not paying a gym membership, the amount you would have spent could well equal the amount you spend on a home gym.
What’s more, you allow yourself to be more focused when working out, as you won’t have to wait for any machines, nor will you have to tolerate the annoying grunts others tend to make during their work out.
All of these benefits allow you to maintain consistency with your work outs, which is key to sustaining and improving your level of fitness.
When looking for equipment to populate your home gym, it can pay to think outside of the box. More traditional equipment can sometimes be expensive, and if you’re working on a tight budget may not be the best option.
A prime example of this could be finding an item such as a free standing heavy bag. These tend to be fairly cheap, yet allow you to work on a number of different fitness elements in one exercise.
This will be a common theme throughout our article, as finding a well rounded piece of equipment that works multiple muscle groups will be the key to creating a budget friendly home gym.
A punching bag for example can help cardiovascular endurance, as well as develop the muscular endurance of your core, arms and shoulders all from one work out exercise. While a punching bag may not be for everyone, it’s important to remember to explore all avenues of equipment before making the plunge.
When creating your home gym, don’t forget about the simple stuff like body weight exercises. It can be incredibly easy to get caught up in buying the right weights, power racks, treadmill etc. When something as simple as an exercise mat will allow you to comfortably perform an enormous amount of different bodyweight exercises, whilst keeping your costs low.
As I previously mentioned, finding diverse equipment should always be at the forefront of your mind throughout this process.
Finding items that can be used for different exercises or that target multiple muscle groups will allow you to effectively work out at home, without spending a fortune on different equipment.
Don’t forget you can always continue to add to your home gym over time, so something like an exercise mat will allow you to start using your home gym as you continue to save for your next piece of equipment.
This is kind of an obvious one, but it’s so important that it has to be mentioned. Spend hours browsing through forums, watching You Tube videos and reading reviews before you commit to your equipment.
You essentially need to become a self made expert on the subject as this will provide you with the best chance of creating a home gym on a budget.
By knowing the ins and outs of different equipment and brands, you’ll be able to weigh up the pros and cons and make the most informed decision possible.
I personally feel that forums are the best place to do this, as everyone is sharing from their own honest experience. You Tube videos for example may have been paid to endorse a certain product, therefore may not be the most reliable source of information.
One more thing, keep a notebook or word document where you can take note of everything you learn, remember certain items and keep track of your process. All of this may seem a bit over kill, but it will help in creating the best home gym for the best possible price.
Second hand fitness equipment can be some of the highest quality second hand items around. This is because a lot of people tend to buy expensive equipment with a dream of getting in shape, however rarely ever use it.
These people are more than happy to sell their stuff for a fair price tag, instead of having the equipment sitting at home and wasting their money.
While you may have to sift through some lower quality items, there’s some absolute gems waiting to be discovered. Sites such as eBay are a good place to start as you can ‘watch’ the item, see how much it’s going for and make a big at the last second.
When using this approach, make sure you take a look at the sellers’ profile and see if they’ve got good feedback from previous sales. Second hand equipment is great, as long as you don’ get ripped off.
When constructing your home gym, I recommend finding one core piece of equipment that can act as the center of your gym. This could be a multi-gym, power rack or something similar.
The idea is to one have station where a number of different exercises can be performed. For example, a multi-gym may have a bench, a lat pulldown bar, chest press and a pull up bar built into one.
This will save you a ton of money, rather than buying each piece of equipment separately. When deciding on what multi-gym or power rack to buy, think about the type of exercises you are wanting to perform and what you want to get out of them.
What your goals are and how you plan on achieving them will heavily determine which piece of equipment you should buy.
The ability to work out from the comfort of your own home is a dream for many. Use due diligence, plenty of research and hunt for some incredible deals and you’ll have your own gym up and running without breaking the bank.
Hopefully you’ve got a better idea on how to approach making your very own gym on a budget, but if you’ve got any questions at all, feel free to ask them below.
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