Having a home gym is a great – and convenient – way to stay in shape. Not only do you avoid having to take a trip to the nearby gym every time you want to exercise, but you also skip the monthly payments that add up year after year. You’ll spend some money initially to build out your gym, but it’s all savings from there as you get a ton of use out of the space with no monthly dues.
If you are thinking about building a custom garage to establish a great home gym, this article is here to help. The first step in that project is the garage itself, and for that, there is no better partner than American Carports, Inc. We have all of the customization options you need to create the ideal space, and our prices are extremely competitive. Contact us today or use our Build & Price tool to start designing a garage you’ll love.
#1 – Don’t Pack the Space
It’s going to be tempting once you have space available for a home gym in a custom garage to pack that space with as much equipment as possible. Don’t go overboard, however, as you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of room in the home gym for moving around freely, doing bodyweight exercises, stretching, and more. If you know that you will want to have a bunch of large pieces of equipment available in your gym, keep that in mind during the design phase of the garage itself. By upping the size of your garage, you’ll be able to put plenty of gear around the edges of the space while still working out freely in the middle. Building a custom garage space to do so is the best way forward.
#2 – Consider the Need for Power
If you are going to have pieces of equipment in your gym – like a treadmill – that require an available power source, you’ll want to consider that reality right from the start of this project. As you work on your custom garage, involve an electrical contractor in the job to make sure the right wiring is run safely to the building and outlets are placed properly around the space. Not only will wiring your garage allow you to plug in exercise equipment, but it will also make it possible to add many more conveniences and comforts, such as lighting, fans for ventilation, and more.
#3 – Think About Flooring Solutions
You want the floor of your garage home gym to be as comfortable for exercise purposes as possible. While a bare concrete floor – the foundation of the garage – could be used, that wouldn’t necessarily be comfortable, and it might lead to injury concerns. Take some time to research rubber flooring options that are designed specifically for gym spaces as a way to make the area more comfortable and to help you stay healthy. As a nice side effect, this type of flooring will provide some insulative properties, preventing the cold from coming up through the ground and into your garage.
#4 – Will You Use the Whole Space?
It might be possible to create a useful home gym in your custom garage without actually occupying the entire space. For example, if you have a two-car size garage available to use, you might decide to use one-half of the garage for your gym while reserving the other half of the space for things like parking a vehicle, storage, etc.
If this is your plan, think carefully about the layout of the space so that the two purposes of the garage can co-exist successfully and comfortably. It’s not necessary to build a physical wall to divide the two halves, but you could think about drawing a line on the floor or creating some other sort of informal barrier to keep things and make sure the uses for the garage don’t start running into one another.
#5 – Consider Your Ventilation Needs
As you start to get into more and more vigorous workouts inside your custom garage, you will notice that the heat your body creates can quickly warm up the space to an uncomfortable degree. During the planning process, keep ventilation in mind to successfully keep the air as fresh as possible. This could mean adding a couple of windows to the layout for a cross-breeze or adding fans that will put the air out of the big roll-up door at the front.
Build Your Custom Garage and Home Gym Today
One of the best things about building a home gym is how you can tailor it precisely for the kinds of workouts that you want to do. Whatever it is that you do to stay in shape, make sure your new custom garage will accommodate those activities perfectly. Reach out to American Carports, Inc. today to learn more about what we have to offer. We are excited to get started!
