Having next to very little space in your home should never deter you from your workouts. Not being able to fit bulky equipment into your space is fine and totally normal for many. You may have to get a bit creative at times, but lets take a look at how to create a great gym in a small amount of space.
With limited space for a home gym, look for equipment that can support multiple exercises that will fit a wider range of your fitness needs. Alternatively, collapsible and fold away gear are also viable choices when creating a home gym in a small space.
Having little room to work with can actually be seen as a blessing. With limited options, focussing on what is important would help narrow down what you want to focus on. Taking away all the fluff would make the decision making process much easier.
In this article, we will focus on home gym equipment that:
- Does not take up a lot of space
- Can provide multi use exercises
- Can easily be put together and torn down for easy storage
Taking the least amount of room here is the key, and when it can be put away easily when not being used, even better. We should note that the options mentioned would likely be best for those looking to have general fitness. If your workout requires specific hardware, for example, you are into weight lifting and bulking up, in order to meet those needs you will have to have the right workout stations for that. Squat racks, bench press exercises, requires certain equipment and they are typically bulkier.
What Is The Minimum Size For A Home Gym
Although you do not require an abundant amount of space for a home gym. Having enough where you can comfortable place all you’re equipment and complete your exercises from start to finish is typically what you would want.
If you are looking to carve out a space in your home and will like it to be as complete as possible. Ideally you would want a minimum of 100 square feet. This kind of space should allow you to fit specific gym equipment and provide enough workout space so you wouldn’t be bumping into things in the process.
For those who might be a bit more flexible in space, the people over at www.powerliftingtechnique.com break down the possibilities you can have with 100-500 square feet. They also put together a chart listing out the more common home gym equipment and how much space they would require.
Like we mentioned earlier in the article, if you don’t have any room to spare, don’t let that deter you. This is where you can get creative or research workouts that you can simply do in the space you have.
Bodyweight or calisthenic exercises are perfect for these situations. Utilizing your own bodyweight for strength, cardio, flexibility and much more, are perfect for those who need to use their space sparingly.
To learn more about calisthenics you can check out our library of articles, starting with these:
With many calisthenic type exercises, often times you will only need a yoga mat, or flooring you are comfortable working out on.
Gym Equipment That Are Perfect For Small Spaces
Finding the right space for your home gym could go a long way. Being a place in your home that you are always happy to go to just makes the experience that much better. A space that you can make your own and is out of the way from the distractions of your home would be ideal. But if you are finding that it makes more sense to multi-task, and be able to get in a variation of a workout while doing other daily tasks. Then considering a workout station in your living room or home office could be the solution for you.
The “right spot” for a home gym would differ for everyones personal situation. And a large part of the solution is finding the right equipment. For those that have limited space to work with, we found some items that would fit our criteria listed above.
Strength Building and Cardio Equipment For Small Spaces
With the variety of weight options out there, you most likely gravitate towards dumb bells and other common products available. They are still great options to consider when creating your space. However, researching the equipment available that better suit your needs can go a long way and building a more complete home fitness centre.
- Bowflex offers a set of adjustable dumbbells that are essentially 15 different sets all-in-one. With the adjustable dials on each end of the handles. You are about to select exactly the weight you want for your workout and the handles will lock in the amount of weight as per your specifications. 15 different sets that take as much room as 1 set. Thats amazing.
- Fit! has a home gym that is based off of calisthenic exercises. A station that can support pull ups, dips, push ups, and much more. Learning different types of exercises you can do with just your own bodyweight would probably allow you to get hundreds of different workouts from this home gym. It also can be put together easily and taken apart to be stored away. Perfect option for those that are in need of collapsible equipment.
Getting a good sweat going may seem impossible within tight spaces. Going for a run is always a good option for cardio. But what about the days where the weather is not cooperative, or you just rather not leave your home? Well, here are some alternatives for getting a cardio exercise in your home, especially when dealing with limited space.
- Treadmills and ellipticals are typically very bulky and not a great option if you’re living in a apartment or renting a basement. The answer, Walkingpad has redesigned the treadmill experience and has a fantastic line up of space saving equipment. Their treadmills are in a slim design and can fold away to be stored under a couch, bed or be put to the side against a wall or in a closet. If you’re looking for a slim tread mill that could be used while working on a standing desk, be sure to check them out.
- Keeping things simple is also an option when looking at little to no space. Many times all you really need is a good yoga mat with resistance bands and an arsenal of exercises to do. Recreation sweat has you covered.
Conclusion
Having a home gym is available to anybody. It doesn’t matter how big or how small the space is. With technology and innovation in the home gym equipment space, a little digging online can help a great deal. Defining your goals and finding the right equipment to match will help you along your journey. It may even take you on a course to find better ways to exercise that are better suited for your lifestyle.
More of our articles on home gyms:
- Where is the best place to set up a home gym?: https://thebasementwarrior.com/where-is-the-best-place-for-a-home-gym/
- Build a simple calisthenic home gym: https://thebasementwarrior.com/simple-home-gym/
