With a growing trend for health and wellbeing, fitness is becoming part of a regular routine for many. However, sometimes after a hectic day at work and putting up with heavy traffic on the way home, finding that extra motivation to get up and hit the fitness centre can be very challenging

But what’s more de-motivating, is when you dragged yourself to the gym, you have to deal with hustle and bustle and the wait to use the equipment you need. Sometimes you just want some privacy and convenience during your workout.

If you find yourself in the position where visiting the gym is a challenge, it is time to consider creating your very own personal gym in the comfort of your own home.

An ideal home gym comprises much more than just a bench press, a leg curl and a couple of dumbbells. To get the ideal workout you will need a fully-functional gym area with appropriate equipment to achieve your ultimate fitness goals.

Here are some points to consider.

Space

You will need to have sufficient space in order to allow flexibility and functionality for your workout. An unused room or a garage could work perfect, however you have to be vary of the surroundings. Working out can be a loud process with heavy weights dropping and loud music, and you need to make sure that the walls are made to absorb sound, so you are not causing any nuisance for others. But the reality is, you don’t necessarily require bags of space to create the ideal gym. With the functional training areas growing in popularity, you can have a complex workout area without the need of space hungry equipment, like bench press or leg press.

Atmosphere

Have a think about what motivates you. A good sound system and a flat screen are just a start to creating the perfect working out atmosphere. Mirrors are a good example as some find the motivation from seeing their results in a mirror, but they are also a necessity. If you are working out alone, you will need to use the mirrors to make sure your technique is correct to avoid risk of injury.

Flooring

Usually, the flooring is the last thing which is considered when developing your home gym, however, it is one of the key components. When you are performing dead lifts or similar exercises with heavy weights, you will need appropriate flooring, which can absorb the impact, and reduce the sound levels when dropping weights. Clearly the last thing you want is to ruin your flooring by dropping heavy dumbbell on it. Thick rubber interlocking squares which you see in the gyms are a good cost-effective solution. Another thing to consider with flooring is the foundation. If it is ground floor, it is likely to have strong foundation which will be able to resist the heavy weights. If you are planning on having a gym on a first floor or above, you will need to consider how supportive the beams are.

Equipment

Equipment is the next big investment to consider. The layout and the gym equipment are developed around your requirements, personal fitness goals and also the space you have available. If you have the space, you can capitalise on that by making it a multi-functional area, with a dedicated area to cardiovascular training as well as a strength and conditioning zone. If the space is restricted, you may consider having the functional training area, which offers a huge variety of exercises without taking up a large amount of space or costly equipment.

If you are considering having a home gym, call our award winning team at ARC Design Services on 0161 9284433 for a consultation on how we can help you develop the ideal workout area at the comfort of your own home.