Making a DIY home gym
Back in March 2020, we were all so optimistic that we’d be back to normal by Christmas. And yet the days continue to tick on with no end in sight, at least for the next few months. Lockdowns continue, and as you quickly realise that this is going to carry on for longer than you first thought, you start to realise that some changes have to be made to your general everyday life.
I have never really been one for exercise, but Jay has been going to the gym consistently for the last nine years. For him, it’s a stress reliever, a way to clear your mind, a way to meet new people and, basically, an enjoyment. But with gyms regularly opening and closing, and now seemingly shut for the time being, we decided to create a more permanent solution at home. With little to no equipment, we created a DIY home gym in our garage.
How to create your own home gym
Our garage is essentially Jay’s garage – it houses all his tools, power tools, gardening things, painting things, and more. One of the first projects we did when we moved in was have the garage floor resined. This is a super hard, waterproof coating that can be mopped, keeping your garage as dust free and clean as possible.
We also spent some time insulating the roof. You can just see in the above photo if you look in the top right that the garage roof had beams but no ceiling as such. We rewired the garage, adding a lot more double plug sockets, insulation and new down lights. The ceiling was boarded out with plasterboard. We were hoping that this would help to keep the garage a little warmer in winter. But little did we know that insulating it would come in handy for a little gadget we were given.
Heat the home gym
Heat is so important when you’re training. It’s important to warm your body up before doing any kind of exercise to avoid straining muscles or potentially injuring yourself. That’s why working in a freezing cold garage, pulling weights, can’t be all that good for you.
We were very kindly provided with the Devola glass panel heater by AirConCentre.co.uk, and it came at the perfect time.
The heater simply plugs into any socket and begins to heat the space instantly. Its 2kW power allows it to give out plenty of heat noiselessly, and can even be set on a timer or connected to your WiFi, making it a seriously smart heater.
I love the sleek and modern design of the heater, as well as the panel that lights up in the top right that tells you the temperature of the room. The small heater managed to take our garage from a chilly 3 degrees to a relatively mild 10 degrees, a much nicer temperature to work out in.
Gather some equipment
No gym can be complete without some basic equipment. And our equipment is really basic. We don’t have any machinery, just a bench that Jay built himself out of leftover decking boards and some old pillows, and a few weights.
You can go as mad as you want with equipment – treadmills, weight machines, dumb bells, floor mats, etc. You could even hook a road bike up to one of those mechanisms that allows you to cycle without actually moving. Whatever you have, make your home gym work for you. If you like to run, get a treadmill. If you prefer to do yoga or pilates, some mats may be the best thing.
As already mentioned, Jay cleverly made this basic bench out of some old decking and leftover wood from one of our (many) projects. We do like to keep scrap wood as it comes in handy for burning in our fire pit or for little projects like this.
He stapled two old pillows to the top of the bench to add some padding, and then a non-slip mat underneath the bench to prevent it from moving while it’s in use.
Get working
I hope we’ve proved that you don’t need a huge amount of money or equipment to make a very basic home gym. It’s a great temporary fix while the gyms remain shut and I hope it’s inspired you to make your own DIY home gym too.
