A brief history of my home gym

A brief history of my home gym

In the beginning

It was the closure of my regular gym during the early days of COVID that caused me to consider setting up a gym at home. At this time I was faced with multiple challenges –

• Creating some space in the house for the gym
• At the outset, having little equipment on hand and a limited budget
• An explosion of demand caused by fitness enthusiasts around the world setting up home gyms meant there was little equipment available
• I had no practical knowledge about what to do and no idea which suppliers to use

Undeterred, I started out doing lots of body weight exercises and inventing resistance routines which involved lifting suitcases filled with books.

The process

Keen to build up my home gym, I became adept at scouring the internet (You Tube in particular) for information. Through perseverance and with growing knowledge about the sport in general, I determined a shopping list of what to get, along with sourcing plenty of tips about setting up my facility. As my interests in strength training evolved, so too my knowledge of speciality bars, sandbags and cardio equipment expanded considerably.

Much of my initial equipment was purchased new and it was exciting to see various packages arrive, assemble the contents and put the outcome to good use. Along the way though, I became adept at sourcing, buying, selling and reconditioning second hand equipment to stretch my budget further. In siting my gym in the garage, I also had to find storage solutions, so that I could continue to keep my car under cover. In addition, I had to find solutions for flooring, lighting and ventilation – all issues that I hadn’t otherwise considered at the outset.

The outcome

Having set up my own home gym such that it caters brilliantly to all users, I am happy to be a guide for others to likewise set up such a facility at home.

I still have that shopping list but realistically the gym is all but complete for my needs.
The gym has also become a place for family with my wife, daughter, nephew and father all being regular users of the facility over the past few years.

However, I still take an active interest in equipment, suppliers and trends, all of which will enable me to help others to make astute decisions and save lots of time.

In my spouse’s words

To be honest, fitness programs have never been my thing but I realise how important weight training is for my health. Now being able to do my training at home, I choose the music, there’s no waiting to use the equipment and all my workouts are at times which perfectly suit me. It’s 443 workouts so far and counting!