Creating My Dream Home Gym
During COVID I was going a little stir crazy. Gyms were closed but I was still running my online coaching business. I was live-streaming at least 7 classes a week, a pivot that kept my business afloat at a time of dizzying growth for all things fitness-related. I was using my dad’s singular 1960’s barbell, makeshift dumbbells and homemade KB’s made of cement. Sales of fitness gear had skyrocketed during the first lockdown as everyone scrambled to build home gyms. Round 2 of strict shutdown (maybe 3? I can’t remember) got the best of me and I decided to bite the bullet and build my own. I figured what’s the worst that could happen? If I decide I don’t want the equipment anymore - I sell it! Maybe even make some money, lol - win win!
I thought I would share with you some information on where I got everything and give you all the details of the Sweat with Sarah Home Gym 🙂
I wanted to buy the highest quality products possible and wanted them to last. If having a home gym is one of your dreams, I would recommend figuring out exactly what it is you want in your gym, and then deciding whether to buy new or used.
Now let’s get into it! NOTHING in this gym was gifted to me, sponsored, or anything, I paid for it fully. A majority of the equipment is from Fitness Depot (a local store in Dartmouth, NS) which in my opinion carries the highest quality products for a decent price. I reached out to the owner there and told him what I was thinking of getting. He prepared a quote for me and we tweaked things from there.
There were some things that I took out or added just based on cost. For example, I had dumbbells going up to 100 pounds, but after seeing how much they were, I decided to go up to just 60 pounds. Maybe someday I will get the rest of them, but for now this is good enough for me!
Here is a list of everything I ordered from Fitness Depot. If you were to go ahead and purchase equipment, I would recommend reaching out to them since they’re the experts!
Olympic Lifting Bars (1 Women’s 35 lb bar, 1 Men’s 45 lb bar)
Bumper Plates - 10 lb x 4, 25 lb x4, 45 lb x4
Latex Strength Bands (varying resistances - Red, Yellow, Purple, Green)
Tyre Tread Slam Ball - 10 lb, 15 lb, 20 lb, 25 lb)
Competition Steel Kettlebells - a set of each; 8kg, 10kg, 12kg, 16kg, 20kg, 24kg
Wooden Rings x2
Covered Battle Rope - 50 ft
Wall Balls - 8 lb, 12 lb, 14 lb, 20 lb
Rubber Hex Dumbbells 3 lb, 5 lb, 7.5 lb, 10 lb x2, 12.5 lb, 15 lb x2, 17.5 lb, 20 lb, 22.5 lb, 25 lb, 30 lb, 35 lb, 40 lb, 45 lb, 50 lb, 55 lb, 60 lb
Northern Lights Iron Factory Power Rack x1
Foam Plyo Box Jump x1
Stealth Super Bench - Black Frame x1
That sums up everything I got from Fitness Depot! After I was happy with the quote from them, I placed the order and went to pick up (with a truck - key component here) on May 18th!
As far as setting everything up, it went rather smoothly but I had LOTS of help!
Then as far as other pieces go in my gym…
For the flooring, I got horse stall mats from Wallace and McNutt’s. I measured out the space, tore up my existing carpet and figured out how many mats I needed.
I love the quality of the mats, but I would have to say my flooring is my one regret! They are definitely cheaper than your typical gym flooring, but when we went to pick them up.. they were smelly, dirty and EXTREMELY HEAVY. They’re also super hard to get and stay clean (i’ve tried every product on the market) which has bugged me since they were installed.
Some other outsourced equipment includes:
TV - Best Buy
Landmine wooden box - homemade 😉
Foam rollers, Sandbag, Bosu ball - Amazon
Speed jump ropes & Barbell clamps- Decathalon
Fan - Home Depot
Assault bikes - 2 I bought used, 1 bought new from The Treadmill Factory
Mirrors: I had wanted to put mirrors on my walls to make it feel like a real gym. I contacted a local glass company (B&D), but because of the lockdown that was in place, they weren’t able to come INTO the home to install. I had everything measured out and was planning on getting four 4’x6′ mirrors… but I think it was a blessing in disguise that they couldn’t come right away. I started working out in my gym (without the mirrors) and realized that I didn’t need them to have a good workout. If anything, they were allowing me have extremely effective sessions and letting me push my body to it’s potential. I already pick myself apart enough in my bathroom mirror… why add a floor to ceiling one in my basement?
While mirrors can be extremely beneficial for clients and cueing (one thing I miss), you can still do this with video feedback. When I used to train clients in a gym setting with large mirrors, I would watch and see how their moods would drastically shift (sometimes for the better, sometimes the worse) when looking in that mirror. Of course there are benefits: focusing on form and position, but the mirror can quickly become an accomplice in critiquing more than your technique: it can often taunt you by telling you you’re not pretty or thin enough. Mirrors can also interfere with developing proprioception which is the ability to sense relative positions of body parts without looking or thinking about them. Proprioception is about having an internal focus on how your body senses as it's moving rather than how it looks. So moral of the story: I didn’t end up getting the mirrors. I’ve been focusing on how my body feels in each movement and using video feedback to correct bad form. Maybe I will get some down the line and If you want to add mirrors to your gym, just contact a glass company near you, as most will be happy to do this. But for now: mirrorless it is.
And last but not least, LED lights are a must to brighten everything up. LED lights really do brighten up a gym area!
That’s all for my home gym! I didn’t bother with dumbbell racks because I quite honestly don’t like the look of them, however might purchase some in the future and maybe someday get a cable tower. Now I know I will get questions on pricing, so I want to put it out there. Taking into consideration tax (and potentially shipping if you don’t order local).. a good budget would be somewhere between $4,000-$10,000, depending on what you get.
I hope this helps to answer any questions about creating my home gym and maybe will inspire you all to create yours too! 🙂 My email is always open or drop a comment below if you have any questions!
Sarah