What you need for your garage gym

This is a quick overview of what you will need for your garage gym. If you want to dig into more detail refer to the related articles section.

Space

The first thing you need for your garage gym is space in the garage itself. Check the surroundings and what you can do to make some space. Ask yourself questions like:

How many cars do I want to park in the garage?
What items can be thrown away?
What items do we want to keep?
Are there any better possibilities to store what is already in the garage?
Where could you put a heater/cooler?
Where will the cars go if they are not parked in the garage anymore?
Which way do the doors and windows open?
Where will we keep our bicycles in the future?

Answering these questions and making a list will help to analyze the space you already have and drive maximum use from it. Rogue Fitness has many clever ideas for storage of gym equipment if you make proper use of them.

Finance

Your garage gym conversion will not come for free. Even the savviest of scavengers will at least fork out 500 for their garage gym conversion. Put aside about 3000 if you want new material delivered to your doorstep. This way you can build a proper gym for strength and cardio. If you want a good treadmill this alone might put you back 1000. Be aware of these things before you get carried away in planning.

Cardio

Far Cardio you have many options to keep yourself fit. Here are some suggestions for you:

Whatever you do to cover your cardio needs, make sure that you get equipment that you will actually use. In my case, I hate running on a treadmill, I rather run outside. Therefore, I won't get one. However, an air bike is great for interval training and love it. This saves me money and space in my home gym. For cardio, if you do not want to break the bank, a jump rope can cover all that you need. Just rope skip for 20 minutes without stopping to move. It is a great, cheap workout.

Strength

For your strength needs, it depends on how far you want to push your one-repetition maximum. If you are not into weightlifting, you can save a lot of money here. I, for one, love moving weights and broke the bank on this item. Some suggestions in this area:

There are more strength related items like safety bars, hip belt squats, pull-up bars and other specific items for strongman training. This core of items will take you far and cover most of your needs. Consult your drawings and notes from the planning phase to make sure that the equipment you are going to buy is going to fit into your garage.

Stretch

Also, have an area where you can stretch or do some yoga and meditation. Some garage gyms I have seen tend to cram as much material into space as possible. You also want to have the freedom to move, warm-up and cool down. Keep an area free of clutter where you can do little sprints, mountain climbers or just your general morning yoga routine.

Summary

This is an overview of the most basic items needed for your ultimate home gym. Spare no expenses and tread yourself, if you make the decision to go for a home gym. Cheap is not always better. When I started to change my mindset to the high quality of things everything else also started to improve.