How to Prepare a Garage Gym
It’s never been more true that it’s important to stay healthy. With pressure to work from home and stay inside, it can be hard to get to the gym. That’s to say nothing of the fees associated with a gym membership, the crowds… So how are you supposed to work out? Transforming your garage into a home gym is a great solution and one that can pump up the whole family! With convenient home access and heavy equipment stored out of the way, it handles all your needs. There are an almost endless amount of ways to pull this off, so here’s a basic primer to get you started!
1) Take Inventory
How much space do you have in your garage? How much space are you willing to make and then use for your garage gym? Do you prefer to park in the driveway or the garage? If you park cars outside, you can open up a lot of floor space, after all. If you use your garage for storage, see how much space you can create by organizing or relocating items. Storage hooks and shelves pull things off the floor and help open up your garage. Once you know how much space you’ll be working with, you can start planning your equipment loadout.
2) Plan Your Workouts
What do you like to do with your body? Is there an area you need to work on more? If you’re looking for cardio, you might only need an exercise bike or treadmill. Otherwise, if you can get your cardio out jogging, do you need a weight rack? Are you looking for serious core training? You’ll need a lateral pulldown machine or bench press. A dumbbell set, bench, kettlebells, and resistance bands are a good place to start. Once you know what you need, you can plan your layout.
3) Advanced Equipment
If you’re a more accomplished weightlifter, you can look into building your own squat rack. Steel ties, wood beams, and wood screws make the process easy if you’re good at DIY projects. If not, these are good pieces of equipment to buy and use.
4) Prep Your Garage Gym Space
Once you have your equipment, you’ll want to protect the floor and maybe the walls. Floor mats reduce stress and prevent chipping of your garage floor. They also absorb some of the noise of weights dropping to the floor. Without floor mats, repeated shock to your joints can cause injuries down the line.
5) One Last Detail
After pulling in your equipment and setting up your perfect home gym, there’s one thing to do… You have to make sure you can work out for extended periods. A small water cooler can go a long way, as can a wall-mounted fan or portable AC. Keeping hydrated and cool is crucial to getting through to the end of a hard set.
With a home gym like this, you’ll want to keep it safe and secure. At Straight Up Garage Doors, we’re experts of all things entry and exit into your garage. Whether installing a new garage door opening system or securing an existing one, we can help. And, if you happen to drop a weight that dents your garage door, don’t worry! We do repairs, too.
