Is a Home Gym Right For You?
Last updated on April 5th, 2024 at 10:08 am
If you read my last post about the cost of owning a home gym, you know that the break-even point and total investment is actually MUCH more reasonable for a garage gym than you probably initially thought. But here is the kicker, garage gyms aren’t for everyone. Ever wonder why so much equipment ends up on Craigslist? Tons of high end products end up in the discard pile of your local flea market because someone made a poor decision based on their personal needs, desires, and behavioral attributes. Let’s dig into that concept, matching a garage gym with you and determine – Is a Home Gym Right For You?
Lifting Style
First, I want to knock out this key piece of decision making. You need to figure out what kind of lifter you are and what goals you are trying to achieve in the gym. This is one of the biggest reasons I actually highly recommend MOST people start in a commercial setting. Think of it as a low cost lease process. You get to test out the various equipment, bars, dumbbells, benches, machines, cardio equipment, and more. There is no investment and no sunk cost. You can figure out if you even enjoy lifting, if you need more machines, you name it.
From there, figure out what kind of lifter you are (assuming you are, in fact, a lifter).
An Olympic Lifter, a Crossfitter, a BodyBuilder, and a Powerlifter walk into a bar…
The needs of an Olympic lifter are going to vary from the needs of a bodybuilder, a crossfitter, and a powerlifter. So figure out what it is you do, what you are trying to accomplish, so we can determine your needs. Is a Home Gym Right For You? might be easily solved by this very first question.
Most bodybuilders want to use a plethora of machines. No issues there, but it certainly makes a typical garage gym mostly pointless. Unless you have a VERY expansive garage or shed, or run a slightly more streamlined approach to bodybuilding, a home gym is just never going to meet the needs of the highly competitive bodybuilder.
I love me some Prime Fitness, but even one of their machines would take up almost the entirety of my free space. Whenever I see people using Arsenal Hack Squats, The Gluteator, or any other awesome machines, I get a little itch. Some powerlifters need that environment full of certified equipment, a spotter or three, and somebody to help them get their squat suit on. Well then the garage gym might not be the right setting.
Simple Is Better
If your workouts predominantly revolve around a bar, some plates, a rack, and either a platform or a bench (depending on the day), we are in business. We can certainly augment and add to our Garage Gym Basics to meet the needs of even the most machine savvy bodybuilder, it’s just going to require a ton of real estate and investment.
Moral of the story, figure out first and foremost, what kind of lifting you plan to do, and make sure that fits with a garage gym. Ok, now that we have the basic fit in place, let’s look at some other behavioral concepts for matching yourself to the right lifting environment.
Distractions
One of the most important concepts to determining is a home gym right for you is the ability to focus and isolate yourself in the environment you are in. Let’s look at two examples. You get off of work and it’s time for the gym:
Commercial Gym
You grab your gym bag that you packed the night before, and drive towards the gym. You get there, change clothes, start your warm-up, and start your routine. While there are plenty of distractions, you’ve already drove all the way to the gym and changed clothes. To give up at this point would be crazy.
Garage Gym
You drive home. You get distracted by your significant other and kids, the dog, and the unmowed lawn in your backyard. The kitchen floor is dirty and you haven’t planned for dinner. You say, “Just one quick chore, then I’ll lift”. That chore turns into three, then dinner, then its TV time, and then bed. What happened to Squat day?
Common Issue
The above is a VERY common realization for a lot of people. They think, my garage gym will be RIGHT there, ready and waiting for me at any time. That any time scenario turns into, “I’ll just do it later, its not going anywhere”. Which turns into “I can’t remember the last time I used this stuff”. Think really hard about what kind of person you are, and the environment you’ll be in. Do you need an hour or two carved out in a low distraction environment to get the job done? Do you need to physically GO somewhere to make it happen? Will you be pulled in the thousand different directions that are prevalent in a home environment?
Is a Home Gym Right For You? You may need to put it in a detached garage or shed. Just enough separation that you aren’t “home”. If your family is the kind to always be in your business at all times, this might be another piece to the puzzle. Think about this one hard, because this could easily be a make or break behavioral aspect for the success of your garage gym.
Motivation
Motivation might be one of the biggest killers for a lot of garage gym athletes. Going to a commercial gym means you at the very least have the front desk clerk who knows your name and expects your presence. You might have friends, or at least some acquaintances you’ve met that you kindly chat with, exchange a spot here and there, and talk about that new protein shake you are trying.
Or, you might have a dedicated group of lifters you lift with. Or a super engaging and competitive group environment that drives hard work and passion. Guess what? You aren’t finding any of that in the garage. Unless you are able to bring some friends along with you, you are probably a one-man-wolf-pack from here on out. That can be really difficult for a lot of people.
Walking in and trying to find the right motivation, the right kick-in-the-ass to jump start your training. Heck, at least at the commercial gym you probably have some nice eye candy to fool yourself into thinking you need to perform at your best for. Trust me, your dog doesn’t care how much you squat.
Side Note – This is one of the key reasons I created the Garage Gym Competition. Check it out!
The NEED
In the same fashion of motivation, is the NEED for a garage gym. In the first 3 years I owned my garage gym, I worked full time in a corporate environment, completed my master’s degree, broke my ankle, was on crutches for 4 months, had a seizure and lost my license for 6 months, and welcomed my first daughter to the world. None of this is bragging, it’s demonstrating that without a garage gym I would have NEVER maintained my lifting schedule.
I was able to move my lifting from 6 pm, to 6 am, and back. Lift on crutches, lift without going anywhere, and take care of my daughter and help around the house, all while maintaining my multiple day a week programming and missing very few workouts that weren’t scheduled breaks. This NEED for a garage gym was part of my motivation. Knowing that I can complete my obligations to my work and family and still get the job done in the gym is huge for me.
So.. Is a Home Gym Right For You?
In general, your common garage gym athlete revolves their training around a barbell, plates, rack, and a bench or platform (depending on the day). They are self-motivated and probably intrinsically motivated. They can focus in their environment, have a supportive family, and probably has something driving the need for a garage gym. If these characteristics fit your build, you are probably ready to join the master race of Garage Gym athletes! If not, no judgement here. Pretty much every elite powerlifter, bodybuilder, and Olympic athlete lifts in a commercial gym. So that’s another piece to consider.
If you are taking the plunge into owning a garage gym, make sure to purchase the right equipment. You can find all of my recommendations in my Garage Gym Basics series.
I dig into racks, benches, bars, and plates. Cover cable machines, cable attachments, accessories, and much more. I’ve been lifting at home since 2013, so you can skip a lot of the searching, researching, and digging I have done, and jump straight into lifting and making progress.
Joe Gray
My name is Joe Gray - aka Gray Matter Lifting - and I've been lifting at home since 2013. In that time I've built a badass gym, deadlifted over 600lbs, helped grow r/Homegym to over 1 Million subscribers, created the Garage Gym Competition and written a ton of posts here on this site. I love the Garage Gym Community... If you do too, I hope you stick around.
One Comment
Garage Gym Life
Great points Joe. Shameless plug, the community aspect of training is why we focus so much on our social media communities at Garage Gym Life. I remember well how much it SUCKED to go from training in the gym where I worked to doing a dumbbell only routine (and only two dumbbells at that) at the foot of my bed seventeen years ago.
That being said, while it takes a certain mindset change to train successfully for high level competition at home it can be done. (IPF champions, Layne Norton, Kimberly Walford, Dennis Cornelius, Erik Røen and Andres Gomez, USAW competitor Kristin Olsen, former World Highland Games Champions Matt Vincent and Daniel McKim, International All Around Weightlifting Champion James Fuller and strongman competitor Clint Darden are a few modern names who manage it. A little further back in Iron Game history the legendary Paul Anderson, John Grimek and Bob Peoples also got it done. And don’t forget Bruce Lee who lifted and trained martial arts at his home in California. Those are just the names I’m aware of who are “high profile”. I think the important thing is if you decide to do it, you have to create some behavioral changes to make at home training work for you.
Finally, I think that even if you can train successfully at home, you need to periodically leave your cave to get feedback on your technique and rub shoulders with others. The easiest way is to compete in your chosen sport but you could very easily just take a couple of seminars a year. It’s what I recommend as a way to expand your toolbox and get help cleaning up your technique. Besides, while out there, you’ll probably see some new toys that you can add to your garage gym toolbox.