Easy Garage Conversion for Your Home Gym

October 15, 2007 by Lucy Jones

A home gym can be so convenient, especially if the whole family are involved and you may easily find you get more out of your exercise sessions, when you can do them at home instead of having to drive to the gym. Start your own ‘gym club’ with the whole family participating.

Choosing a space to setup a home gym area is important so, once you’ve chosen the type of fitness equipment for the type of training you plan to do, you’ll need to know the size and weight of the equipment so you’ll be able to plan and design your home gym room according to your needs. Doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but there are considerations you need to take into account.

Depending on the size of the fitness equipment you’re thinking of purchasing, make sure there’s enough room to move around the equipment easily i.e. step on and off - that kind of thing - otherwise you’ll be tripping over it each time you use it and this will become irritating. Calculate a little more room for floor exercises as well.

A room with adequate space is essential. A spare bedroom is ideal, the family den, the basement or garage all of these rooms can be converted nicely into an ideal workout room.

Upstairs spare rooms are fine, but remember the weight of the equipment you’re planning to purchase. Check that the upstairs flooring structure can stand the strain and that the stair-well is big enough to transport the equipment upstairs. Using an upstairs room can also be a little inconvenient regarding noise for those that are downstairs when the home gym is in use.

A family den on the ground floor, cellar or basement area shouldn’t give any problems as far as the weight of the equipment is concerned, but even though you’re probably going to be working up a sweat while working out, you’re going to need to put in a heating appliance or turn on the heating.

The garage is an ideal space to setup home for your fitness equipment and daily workouts. Some garages are long enough to divide the space up into two separate rooms, so in essence you can use it as a normal garage at the front end for the car and divide it with a plaster wall giving you room at the other end to setup your home gym.

It is essential to arrange some kind of garage heater if this area isn’t connected to the main heating system. Obviously during the winter months, the garage area needs to be kept frost free, especially if you’re going to be using it as a your home gym room to keep your equipment dry and free of becoming rusty.

If your garage is big enough to accommodate both car and home gym areas, then you’ll have the best of both worlds if you put in a garage heater as your car during the winter months will be warm and snug for those cold, early morning drives to work.

Converting a space into a home gym doesn’t have to cost a great deal of money - a splash of paint to make the room light, fresh and a place you want to visit often, a possible wall division with a sliding door to save space, some mats for the floor, lighting for those evenings when you want to exercise, a hook to hang up your robe or towel, electricity socket or extension lead, ventilation, fitness equipment and a garage heater.

Garages have a tendency to become cluttered very quickly, with stuff we don’t use that often or things that could be given away, sold or thrown out. If you have lots of bits and pieces in storage in your garage that you can’t do without, consider setting up a mezzanine to store garden furniture and tools. Put up shelves around the walls of the garage, so that you can organize your storage space more effectively, giving you more room for your home gym space at the back of the garage.