{"id":69112,"date":"2017-12-04T21:00:21","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T21:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/\/\/uncategorized\/give-yourself-the-gift-of-a-home-gym"},"modified":"2023-10-24T14:41:01","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T19:41:01","slug":"give-yourself-the-gift-of-a-home-gym","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/give-yourself-the-gift-of-a-home-gym\/","title":{"rendered":"Give Yourself the Gift of a Home Gym"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple of years ago I experienced the thrill of buying my first house. With the prospect of home ownership came the chance to create my very own office and man cave.<\/strong> My wife quickly went to work decorating the house, and the room I had flagged to turn into an office was repurposed as the dogs\u2019 room. Yes, that\u2019s right, a room for my dogs, complete with three dog beds, bowls of food and water, a crate of toys, and pictures of our pups on the wall.<\/p>\n

A couple of years ago I experienced the thrill of buying my first house. With the prospect of home ownership came the chance to create my very own office and man cave.<\/strong> My wife quickly went to work decorating the house, and the room I had flagged to turn into an office was repurposed as the dogs\u2019 room. Yes, that\u2019s right, a room for my dogs, complete with three dog beds, bowls of food and water, a crate of toys, and pictures of our pups on the wall.<\/p>\n

Seeing my vision of home ownership quickly slipping away, I put my foot down on the garage, which was eventually turned into a home gym. By \u201cput my foot down,\u201d I mean that my wife loved the idea of waking up and being able to work out just feet from the bedroom.<\/p>\n

Why You Should Create Your Own Home Gym<\/h2>\n

We both work out in this gym every day.<\/strong> It is an amazing luxury, and not because it\u2019s equipped with any high-end products. In fact, I\u2019m an absolute cheapskate. It\u2019s just so wonderful to have such quick access to exercise. The home gym<\/a> is perfect for busy lifestyles or anyone seeking more free time.<\/p>\n

Think about all the time and energy that goes into getting to the gym<\/a>. You get dressed, drive there, check in, lock your valuables, get settled, make small talk, and then finally get to the exercise. Then you have to drive home and unpack the gym bag. All said, the home gym could take as much as 45 minutes off your total time spent in the process of getting a workout. It drastically lowers the barrier to entry. Even though I could workout at work, I find the home gym is too convenient to pass up.<\/p>\n

Other people will love it, too. If you are the type that likes to entertain or likes community in your exercise, people will love to join you.<\/strong> You\u2019d be amazed how many people hate the feeling of working out in front of a bunch of strangers or waiting for equipment to free up. They certainly aren\u2019t comfortable bear crawling or practicing skills that they might look funny trying. They\u2019ll love that it feels like their own workout space and that they can go inside to get a glass of water.<\/p>\n

The home gym creates flexibility and options in your training. In fact, one holiday weekend when pressed for time and needing to cook, I was able to get an entire workout in between dinner prep. I superset pull ups with prepping the sweet potatoes and getting them in the oven, then front squats with flipping meat on the grill, Turkish get ups<\/a> with salad preparation, and finally kettlebell swings with setting the table.<\/p>\n

It also unlocks a sense of play in exercise, as you can pop in and out as your heart desires. This has been very helpful for learning some bodyweight and gymnastics movements best trained through multiple daily attempts. It yields very nicely to grease-the-groove-style training<\/a>, where you frequently hit high quality reps and stop short of failure. It promotes recovery mobilization on days you are exhausted, and encourages a few swings and pull ups as you walk by after a long day of work. You\u2019ll feel a twinge of guilt if you haven\u2019t paid it a visit, and that\u2019s good pressure.<\/strong> On nice days, it\u2019s very easy to pull equipment like kettlebells and paralletes outside and expand the gym even further.<\/p>\n

What You Need to Get Started<\/h2>\n

The home gym is a daily reminder to get moving, in a world seemingly built to prevent exercise. Your health is your #1 resource. When you don\u2019t take care of your physical body, you can\u2019t be at your intellectual or emotional best. You are a shell of yourself. Unfortunately, we tend to take on the patterns of our environment<\/a>, and respect for health is countercultural. What could be more important than creating an environment that promotes physical activity in your home?<\/p>\n

Ok, you are now sold. It\u2019s time to build that home gym. Now that I\u2019ve got you all excited, I\u2019m going to tell you to slow down. Don\u2019t try to do it overnight.<\/strong> Buying everything new can get expensive. If you are patient, you\u2019ll continue to come across great deals. In my mind, the bare necessities are:<\/p>\n