Are you tired of battling traffic, crowded gym spaces, and expensive membership fees? Look no further! In this blog post, we will be exploring the top 15 reasons why you need a home gym. With the help of Beachside Interiors Design & Remodeling, your dream of having a personal workout space will become a reality.
I’m going to do that thing everyone hates in blogs. I’ll tell you the 15 reasons why you need your own home gym, but I’m going to make you read a bunch of stuff first before scrolling forever to find the content you actually want. Ha! In my defense, I actually outline a couple of important things first. But either way, feel free to scroll down to see what I consider to be, (based on my 20 years of experience in the fitness industry), as the top 15 benefits of a home gym.
Pre-pandemic, I don’t think that many people had home gyms. There’s always exceptions to the rule, of course. So I think the only people who had gyms in their own homes pre-pandemic were the uber motivated, the fitness junkies, and the wealthy folks. Often times, it was a modest set up in a dusty, crusty, and crowded garage. But the game changed 3 years ago when we physically couldn’t step foot into a commercial gym space. We got used to working out in solitude, in convenience. So much so, that the thought of going to a big box gym now gives some of us anxiety. The wasted time, the overcrowded gyms, ugh!
Fast forward to post-pandemic. The funny thing is many people actually ended up preferring those stay-at-home workouts. Turns out, it boiled down to 3 key components that made the home gym option very attractive.
1. Intentional spaces
2. Ease of access
3. Long term health and happiness
Intentional Spaces
Turns out, staying at home all the time made us rethink our live/work/home spaces. We carved out spaces for home offices and multiuse spaces. It set the precedence that having a dedicated space in your home to partake in fitness activities actually increases the likelihood that you will engage in it. The keyword in that previous statement is ‘dedicated space’, in other words, an intentional space (no, that Peloton spin bike you use to dry your delicate laundry right now is not intentional).
When a space lacks intentionality, it’s easy to get distracted and lose focus by things that seem more appealing (because who doesn’t procrastinate when they have to do hard things), and exercise is pretty dang hard if you ask me. It was a strange time the past few years and many of us had to redefine what our home life was like. It turns out if you have a well organized home space, being “stuck” at home actually isn’t so bad after all. And now that many of us actually enjoy staying home, dare I say prefer it, why not include a fitness space while you’re at it?
Ease of access
This one is a two-for…meaning BOTH ease of access to buying fitness equipment, AND ease of physically accessing a workout space. I worked in a university recreation center for 17 years. We had equipment vendor reps for every brand of weight equipment imaginable, so I could technically get anything I wanted. But where would a normal consumer go to buy equipment? Up until recently, home gyms were reserved for the uber wealthy, or the fitness fanatics I mentioned previously. But now, anyone with an internet connection and a credit card can get a perfect home gym set up delivered by next week. What a time to be alive! Ease of access to a gym facility couldn’t be any more of a no-brainer ESPECIALLY for busy professionals, parents, and well, really anyone who just wants to cut out the middle man (i.e. the corporate box gym membership) when it comes to staying fit.
Long Term Health & Happiness
Let’s talk long-term health and happiness. While there are a ton of variables that play into our overall state of being, there are 3 foundational needs we all must meet: sound diet/hydration, quality sleep, and ample movement. It’s a constant balancing act week in, week out, but generally speaking, when these basic needs are met, we can perform optimally. We can do our best work and have mental clarity, we can either beat stress, or be more prepared to harness it’s power, and we can balance our hormones, emotions, and body composition. If movement is so powerful, it’s no wonder it makes sense to have an intentional space that is convenient for you to use!
When it comes to happiness, just like physical health, there are so many variables that contribute to it. Insert cheesy quote here about happiness being a journey instead of a destination. But still, you can absolutely maximize your moments of happiness and joy by taking advantage of ALL of the positive benefits of being health conscious and fit. The laundry list includes endorphins during and post exercise, better self esteem and self confidence, better mental focus, better sleep, better relationships, better sex…whewwwwww, you get the idea. Having your own home gym makes a statement that happiness and health is unequivocally a part of your life.
But wait, there’s more!
Designing your space is really fun. Don’t want to take my word for it? It’s like being a kid again and being able to create your ideal playground. I mean that’s what gyms are afterall- playgrounds for adults! When you’re in the driver seat about having your own space designed, you get to set your own rules. You get to decide what motivates you and what doesn’t. I don’t think I need to tell you how good it feels to have complete freedom and control.
And here you finally have it, 15 reasons you NEED your own home gym (and that you shouldn’t hesitate to call us for a design consult!!)
1. PRIVATE – No more wierdos ogling you, or unknowingly being in the background of someone’s Instagram story.
2. TIME SAVER - Take back the time you spend driving to the local gym, and money spent on gas too! This one is huge if you have little ones, which leads me to number 3.
3. FAMILY FIRST – No more needing a nanny, babysitter, or daycare to get your workout in. Better yet, start them young by including them and you’ll be surprised how much it affects your children in positive ways to see you modeling healthy behaviors.
4. CONVENIENCE – You’re less likely to skip workouts if it’s convenient. When it comes to long term health and fitness, consistency trumps every other controllable variable, (like effort).
5. CLEANLINESS/ORGANIZATION – You have the ability to control that the weights are reracked in the correct spot. Enough said. This is closely related to number 6.
6. SANITARY – No sweaty, stinky high school boys (unless you have one in your house), and you have control over the amount of germs you come into contact with, or don’t come in contact with.
7. ACCESSORIES – Sometimes you just can’t find that triceps pulldown rope because someone didn’t put it back. Or, the gym you belong to doesn’t have a bar pad for hip thrusters. Now, if you want something specific, you just buy it to keep forever. Also, no one will steal it or misplace it- yay!
8. FUNCTION – You get to choose how the space is functional for you, and only you. You don’t have to consider anyone else’s needs.
9. EQUIPMENT – You get to choose the pieces that you like best for your aesthetic, budget, and space. This is also closely linked to number 10.
10. NO WAITING – Hate the guy that takes all the dumbbells from 25-35 lbs and hoards them for the entire HOUR? Or the girl that takes up an entire mat space for stretching so she can do her social media booty exercises? Not on your watch!
11. DISTRACTIONS – I can’t say ZERO distractions, but fewer than the gym I can assure you that.
12. ENTERTAINMENT – Well, this one could be a downside to the whole equation, depending on how you look at it, because you won’t be entertained anymore by all the weird $#!% people do at the gym. But you WILL be able to control the music, TV show, or podcast blasting through your speakers.
13. 24/7/365 – What’s that? It’s a gym that is ACTUALLY 24 hours? And 365 days a year? That’s right? This joint never closes. You might start seeing neighbors on major holidays…just sayin.
14. GET WEIRD – Dance in between sets. Sing during reps. You do you, and that’s a beautiful thing.
15. SAVE MONEY – Okay, okay, this one can be a toss up as well since you’ll be spending some serious cash to get your perfect set up. But it’s worth it, trust me. If you’re anything like my friend Monica who has two gym memberships, a jui jitsu membership, and a cycle studio membership, you just MIGHT actually save a ton of money every year. Even more money saved if you’re paying for you, your spouse, and your kids too. That can add up quick to $1500+ per year that you never get back. And let’s not forget that you put up with crappy conditions (i.e. broken equipment, unsanitary), to use that commercial space. And maybe you have to go at times that aren’t all that convenient for you either. Womp, womp.
Why not pay a little up front to have your dream space AND have it pay dividends for your future health? Also, if you were paying attention and read the entire blog, there were actually 18 reasons in this article. It’s like forgetting how many reps you did, and then realizing that you did extra! Winning!
Have I convinced you yet to call us for a design consult? Investing in a home gym has numerous benefits. Not only does it offer convenience, privacy, and flexibility, but it also saves time and money. Furthermore, it adds value to your property and supports a healthy lifestyle for you and your family. So why wait? Contact Beachside Interiors Design & Remodeling today and start designing your perfect home gym.