Towards the end of last year, I realized that I had stopped going to the gym and that I was essentially wasting money every month. I “donated” over $600 to our local YMCA. But I still have fitness goals that I want to attain so I talked to my husband about creating a minimalist home gym. He was all for it so I went ahead and got it together! So now I’m going to share how I did it.
How To Create A Minimalist Home Gym
Find the space
Depending upon what your home set up is like, you may or may not have a room, garage or space to dedicate for a lot of equipment. We have 3 kids so space is not something we have a ton of. We have a front room which is their playroom (that isn’t used as much as we thought it would be) so it was perfect.
Decide on the equipment
Both strength training and cardio are super important in working out. I researched for MONTHS for cardio equipment. While I would have loved being able to justify buying a Peloton (which I love), I just couldn’t. I STUDIED–yes, in all caps–all of the Proform pieces of equipment. I decided on the ProForm Cardio HIIT Elliptical Trainer. This trainer works both your upper and lower body and while it’s called an elliptical, it feels more like a no-impact stair climber. In addition to Proform HIIT Trainer, I also have weighted jump ropes that I can use outside. I love the weighted jump ropes–they’re small and super effective.
For the strength training portion of my workouts, I started out by using bands, sliders and the bands with handles but I found that I needed more. So I got the BodyBoss 2.0. This is SUPER compact and really functional. You can bench press, squat with a bar, do chest flys and more. Here’s a video of a quick 10 min workout that I did using it:
Budget for it
Or don’t–depending on your financial situation. We spent close to $1100 for all of our pieces. I waited until the Black Friday sale to get the Proform HIIT Elliptical and got a great deal on it–Amazon even put it together for me for free! I bought that first. Then after I used it consistently, I invested in the BodyBoss 2.0. I still have my other pieces too for variety but I’ve found that these give me what I need.
Make it happen
The only way that the gym will work is if you do. Set up a schedule, make sure that the space is already clear of potential obstacles and get it in.
You don’t need a whole lot of space or expensive equipment to have a home gym and I hope this helps you create a gym in the space you have to help you achieve your goals!
