As home gyms gain popularity, we’ve passed along some timely advice for those thinking about their own private and convenient workout space. In addition, we’ve introduced you to some of the experts behind that advice – along with stories of their own home gym experiences.

We’d like to recommend a few more home gym expertise sources who could help clarify your decision-making process and fire up some extra inspiration. Whether you’re looking to start small, are building up around existing equipment, or have a sound plan for a bigger home gym project, these sites, pages and YouTube Channels are worth a visit.

Want to Know More About Our Experts and Others Like Them?

Check out the Top 10 Home Gym Review Websites for 2021, hosted by U.S. equipment distributor Freedom Fitness. The company offers home gym planning to its customers, so its interviews on the subject are always on-point. Many offer companion video tours of home gyms built up over years by people who really know how to put them together.

Shed Gyms, You Say?

Even if you’ve heard of home gyms, basement gyms, garage gyms, and corner-of-the-room gyms shed gyms might still be a new one for you. If you’re one of over 2 million followers of Matt Does Fitness, you may have caught his four-part series on building a shed gym.

(WARNING: You may hear the occasional spicy lyrics in the high-energy background music of certain building montages. If that sort of thing bothers you, you might want to turn down the sound or hum really loudly because you won't want to miss seeing how this project comes together.

Would you like a shed gym but prefer to spend less time and money than Matt did? Garage Gym Reviews host Coop (profiled here) and Shred Shed offer some great tips for building and equipping your backyard gym on a budget.

You can even create a shed-like atmosphere in your garage. Gluck’s Gym emanates from a garage-turned-wooden fitness palace, which may spark your exercise cave-building fire. Before you get started, check Gluck’s excellent tips on construction and equipment.

Want a Gym that Motivates You to Work Out?

Good Housekeeping offers a stimulating collection of garage, basement or bedroom gym decorating ideas. In addition, HGTV has 30 excellent tips on making any space the place to get fit. Other great inspiration sources include Shape and Blender Bottle. Finally, of course, you can’t go wrong with design advice from the American Council on Exercise.

Looking for Your Ideal Cardio Machine?

Catch detailed reviews on the Treadmill Review Guru and Learn with Travis channels.

Get More Great Home Gym Advice and Ideas at Flaman Fitness.

Looking to buy a single bar? Complementing equipment you own? Equipping your well-planned exercise circuit? The Experts at Flaman Fitness can show you the equipment and accessory options that match your budget, available space and fitness goals.

Drop by your nearest Flaman Fitness location and discuss building the home gym you can’t wait to work out in.

“I’m not a gym rat, fitness addict, or CrossFit junky. I’m just a 50-year-old guy who doesn’t want to get old. Well, at the very least, I don’t want to feel like I’m getting old.” – Tim Steward, Gym Crafter

It might be over-the-top to call Tim a home gym evangelist, but there are definitely parallels. He is getting the good word out because fitness did save him – a couple of times.

The Early Years: Tim Dabbles in Strength Training

Tim's exercise journey started when his parents bought him some department store weights. (You know, the kind with concrete-encased in plastic.) As Tim stood over six feet tall, bullies rarely bothered him. Not driven by a need to get “jacked,” he soon developed an off-again/on-again workout schedule.

That lasted into his adulthood when all exercise came to a screeching (with chronic pain) halt.

Pain War 1: The Back

Bulged discs in his spine made it difficult to get up, let alone exercise. His suddenly sedentary lifestyle lead to weight gain, which put even more strain on his back. Physical therapy provided some help but Tim knew he had to start moving. After trifling with some fitness fads, he found two real-deal experts – Jay Ferrugia and Dr. John Rusin.

Saved by Strength Training

The latter lived in Madison, Wisconsin, not far from Tim’s home in Chicago. Tim was able to meet with Rusin, who showed him pain-free lifting methods that would help him get back to strength training. When Rusin began offering one-on-one FHT (functional hypertrophy training) sessions, Tim signed up immediately, deeming it “worth every penny.” He’s still following the program, but there was another medical obstacle to hurdle.

Pain War 2: The Head

Constant, unyielding headache pain knocked Tim back onto the couch - out of action, and gaining weight again. A series of arduous medical tests rendered two conclusions:

1) He had a condition called new daily persistent headache.

2) He’d have to learn to live with it. Tim decided not to take it literally lying down.

Reasoning that he could do something about his back if his head was going to hurt anyway, he went to a gym and tried some bench presses. It was a humbling public demonstration of how weak he’d become, but to Tim’s surprise, the physical activity provided a full hour of headache relief.

Saved by Strength Training - Again

He did more resistance training, which didn’t completely alleviate his headaches, but it made the day more pleasant. When he told his acute pain specialist, the doctor nodded and said yes, there was plenty of research indicating resistance training relieves headaches. Why hadn’t he told Tim this before all those excruciating treatments?

It was information Tim definitely could have used sooner, but he didn't let it faze him. He went straight back to training.

Pain War 3: The Battle of the Budget

Tim resolved to commit to fitness full-on – and to filling his two-car garage with all the equipment he thought would help. That’s where he ran into another kind of pain – overspending on equipment he wasn’t excited about using. He limited his focus to the resistance training that had pulled him through before. Suddenly, working out became much more enjoyable and productive (not to mention less expensive).

Following the Dr. Rusin program, he was able to lose weight and could effectively manage his pain. Naturally, he was thrilled with the change exercise had made in his life, But he worried about the scores of people destined to make the same mistakes he had. He wanted to steer them clear of the disillusionment that could make them abandon their goals.

Spreading the Word

That was the inspiration for Gym Crafter, Tim’s home gym website and YouTube channel.

He knew every visitor and viewer would be different. So would everyone's budget and available space, but anything would be a start. Tim’s home gym building experience started with less than $100 spent on a single kettlebell. He found the space to use it by moving a coffee table.

Setting His Own Information Standard

He hopes to encourage his audience to discover what works best for them before they sink a fortune into it. So Tim won’t indulge in the flashy “10 best” lists that too often prompt responsible home gym planners to act like little kids at Christmastime. Nor will he venture opinions on products tested for short periods. He reviews only the equipment he owns and has used for months on a daily basis.

Not Your Usual Home Gym Website

For the time being, Tim will stick with his two platforms (although he’s had some strong Instagram ideas). He recognizes the value of fitness goals, but he deems developing your technique more important. It’s part of discovering what works for you so you’ll keep going. That’s how you form a clear-minded vision of what you want to spend your money on.

Nothing is a 90-Day fix. Fitness is a lifetime commitment, and you need to want to show up for it every day. That’s the gospel Tim preaches today.

“Hopefully I can do a little bit of good in the world by helping one person alleviate their back pain or just work out more because they have a gym that they love,” Tim says. “To me, that's mission accomplished.”

Discover Some Local Home Gym Expertise at Flaman Fitness.

If you’d like to get some dependable gym planning advice a little closer to home, visit your nearest Flaman Fitness location. Our expert sales staff are steeped in successful training methods and know every machine and accessory inside and out. Just talk to them about your available space, budget and goals. They can show you – and let you try – some options that could change the rest of your life for the better.

Meet more leading online home gym experts here - or discover other great sources of home gym advice.

Want to learn more? Check out our profiles of three top home gym experts and discover more sources of inspiration for your personal workout area.

They’re down-to-earth, personable, and anything-but-boastful exercise enthusiasts who look at fitness the same way a lot of you do. They all came to fitness for their own reasons and in their own ways. Sometimes they disagree with each other. But they’re all on the same page when it comes to helping you make the best home gym decisions.

Their expertise comes from considerable experience – years of trying aerobic and strength-training equipment and methods, making mistakes, overcoming obstacles and developing a strong impulse to share what they’ve learned.

1. Cooper Mitchell (AKA "Coop")

Garage Gym Reviews

Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - Twitter

Background: Powerlifting/Strength Training

Self-deprecating self-assessment: “My wife says I like to hear myself talk, as I've been rambling on here for five minutes.”

Coop had been surrounded by fitness culture all his life.

His father was a national-level powerlifter who weighed 220 and could squat 750 lbs. Elite status for 220 lb. lifters is 580. Some with that fitness pedigree might tend to lord it over workout newbies, but not Coop.

His fondest memories are of his father’s garage gym (now commemorated by a “Doug’s Gym” sign in Coop’s own garage). The powerlifting magazines and Louis Simmons VHS tapes Coop’s father kept were chock-full of deadlift secrets and other tips to help athletes realize their full potential. While his father’s workout area inspired him to embrace cross-training, those pre-internet info sources inspired him to share what he’d learned in the digital media era.

A gregarious self-described “gear head,” Coop harnessed his love for home gyms, his experience building them, and his natural talkativeness. Through multiple blogs and videos, he reviews products and advises consumers on purchases and errors to avoid. When his fun-loving, stream-of-consciousness video patter runs headlong into a tongue trip, Coop leaves it in. His quick, entertaining recoveries reinforce his philosophical approach to handling mistakes – and his sincere desire to help others avoid them.

2. Brandon Campbell Diamond (AKA "Brandon Campbell")

Basement Brandon

Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - Twitter

Background: Powerlifting/Strength Training

Self-deprecating self-assessment: “I’m stronger, balder, wiser – but I’m going off on a little bit of a tangent.”

For a popular fitness presence, Brandon Campbell Diamond took a while to warm to the limelight. But he set self-consciousness aside for a good cause.

He started his fitness video career as a means to help pay for his training as a powerlifter through sponsorships. Diamond dropped his last name and published his work under the name Brandon Campbell. This new persona was reinforced by the creation of his company Campbell Fitness.

He hoped to avoid confusion with another online video host but mostly didn’t want people who knew him to know what he was doing. He’s still a little sheepish about the quality of his early videos, so much so that many aren’t available online anymore.

However he started, his content quickly won him thousands of followers. He shared the progress and occasional foibles of both his training and building his gym. He kept them coming by providing multiple windows on home gym training – including gym equipment reviews, tips on powerlifting, training and lifestyle, and plenty of experience-based health and nutrition advice – including grocery shopping.

All the while, his confidence and the quality of videos improved. In 2018, he retired the Campbell Fitness brand and promised to make even better videos. He remains a top fitness draw on his Youtube channel Basement Brandon.

1. Adam Hensley (AKA "Adam")

Garage Gym Lab

Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - Twitter

Background: Powerlifting/Strength Training

Self-deprecating self-assessment: "‘Who's this tiny guy telling me what I should buy when it comes to gym equipment?’”

Changing circumstances? Changing Needs? Adam’s been there, documented that.

It started in 2016 when the then real estate finance professional moved with his wife to a new home. Not impressed with the nearby gym offerings, he drove 45 minutes to an uptown gym and bought a second membership just to shower. With a son on the way, he opted to keep his exercise close to home. His garage gym started with a single squat rack, a bench, bar, and weight plates.

His experience balancing exercise, work and a growing family compelled him to share what he learned with others making similar decisions. He’d toyed with blogging before, writing several articles on Microsoft Excel, which he never published. However, his new idea took shape quickly.

He started out reviewing equipment. Home Gym manufacturers were surprisingly supportive – and willing to take their lumps on occasion. COVID brought more change – bad and good. While it threw a wrench into real estate values, it prompted commercial gym-only suppliers to tap the home gym boom, expanding Adam’s review prospects.

Today, Adam’s dedicated full-time to the thousands who follow his thorough and dependable equipment reviews, informational articles, interviews, and profiles of other successful home gym setups. He gives full credit to his wife, who supported his potentially risky venture with only a reminder that he’d have to park on the street.

Further Home Gym Reading

Meet an expert who used exercise to triumph over debilitating pain. Learn how he’s using his experience to help others make informed home gym choices.

PLUS more great sources of inspiration for your perfect home gym.

Find More Home Gym Expertise at Flaman Fitness.

Our sales staff have years of experience helping customers build home gyms that keep them motivated and on track to reach their goals. Whether you’re looking at a single item or a combo, a basic setup or a full-blown garage gym, our experts can guide you to equipment options that will serve your budget, space and objectives.

Drop by your nearest Flaman Fitness location and discover what’s possible

Pondering what to spend on your home gym can be daunting. You don’t want to over-extend yourself. But, on the other hand, you don’t want to cheap out and wind up with a room full of unusable junk, either. Too often, the complicated art of budgeting your home gym becomes a reason not to have one.

Fortunately, some home gym experts have been through all that. They’ve made mistakes, filed them under “experience,” then made that experience available to the rest of us. As a result, their advice can help you “flip the script” on your home gym budget anxieties – so you can be optimistic about what’s doable.

1. Don't Go on a Buying Spree.

Most fitness experts agree that rushing out and buying everything at once is a huge mistake. You’ll likely blow your whole fitness budget buying a few top-of-the-line, brand-name items then scrimp on others. The mismatch won’t work, and you’ll pay to replace the items that don’t fit. Of course, you might be able to re-sell those items but expect to take a loss.2. Get it one piece at a time.

2. Get It One Piece at a Time.

Some of the best home gyms started with a single piece of equipment. That could be a barbell, a pull-up bar, a jump rope, a yoga mat or even your own body weight. The point is figuring out what kind of exercise works for you and makes you want to come back for more. Once you do, you can find equipment that expands and/or enhances that good feeling. Furthermore, your spending decisions won’t feel so imposing and mysterious.

However, there is ONE exception to this rule. If you’re completely confident in what you want and can afford, buying multiple items can pay off in shipping costs saved.

3. Distill the Value of Your Exercise.

How many times have you said, “I’d pay a million dollars for a product that could …?” Exaggerations aside, we all develop an instinct for what certain benefits are worth. Some calculations are easy, like the money you save driving straight home. Some, like the time you save, require a little more thought.

What do you spend to make up the time you could have spent with your family? What’s the value of setting a good fitness example for your kids? How does having more time impact your work and home chore performance? Sure, it might seem unsentimental to reduce the quality and length of your life to a dollar figure. However, the costs of doing without them can be calculated.

4. Consider Setting a Monthly Budget.

Explore the option of making payments vs. buying something outright. Most fitness retailers can arrange financing more expensive equipment on a monthly schedule. You can also make payments on a credit card purchase or a personal loan.

Just be sure you don’t get in over your head spending money you don’t have and aren’t likely to get. Buying too much on credit can damage your credit score – especially if your income source runs dry. Instead, find out what your options would be in that case and stay within a set budget.

5. Pick Your One Central Product.

If you want to splurge on one piece of equipment, make it the one that you’ll build your workout routine around. It could be a treadmill or a rack. If you’re going to use it a lot, don’t scrimp on quality.

6. Think Ahead.

A half rack may be more affordable, but will you still use it after moving up to a full rack? You can check online reviews for resale values, but it may prove more economical to go big in the first place. If a full rack isn't affordable, consider add-on options to convert certain half racks into full racks.

7. Be Careful If You Buy Used.

There’s an upside and a downside to buying used. You’ll save money, but you’re taking a chance on how damaged or worn out a piece of equipment might be. And you won’t have a warranty, so it’s buyer beware. However, there are a few precautions you can take:

1) Check if the seller has an online rating.

2) Try before you buy.

2) Bring a fitness-savvy friend along if you can.

8. Don't Forget Those Non-Equipment Expenses.

Every size of home gym requires some prep work. For example, a small corner workout area might require a quick cleaning and possibly a little redecorating. Bigger projects might involve anything from a flooring, wiring, or ventilation job to a full remodel. You can get a wider scope of different home gym projects here.

Find More Expert Budget Advice at Flaman Fitness.

If you know your goals, your available space, how you’d like to work out, and what you can spend, our experts can help you put the rest together. They’ll show you the equipment choices that fit into your budget – and let you try before you buy. They’ll also outline financing options that can help you get started on your fitness journey.

Call or visit your nearest Flaman Fitness Location and find out what your budget can do for you!

Space might be the final frontier to Star Trek fans, but it’s often the first thing you want to consider when you’re planning a home gym. Failing to gauge the dimensions of your workout area properly can result in cramped workout conditions, putting your noggin through your ceiling tiles or having to disassemble and return the equipment you just bought and assembled.

Properly measured, planned and equipped, any size of workout space – from the corner of a room to an entire garage – can make your exercise time comfortable, productive, and rewarding.

Measure and Envision

Measuring is not simple math. There’s more to it than just determining the cubic feet of an area then subtracting the total height, width, and length of the equipment you want to put in it.

If you’re looking for more specific guidelines on what fits into what, the American Council on Exercise has more detailed guidelines on how much extra space specific equipment will require. For instance, you’ll need 20 to 50 square feet to use free weights properly. Treadmills require about 30 square feet, and a multi-gym will need anywhere between 50 and 200 square feet. But, of course, that’s before your height measurements.

Here's Where It Gets Complicated.

You want to make sure you have room to walk around your equipment. You’ll also want adequate space above your equipment for exercises like pull-ups and chin-ups. If you’re setting up in a sloped-ceiling area like an attic, your rack is definitely going to be in the middle of the room.

Attachments and adjustments can change the basic dimensions of a fitness product. For example, the specifications for some racks might provide a footprint based on the area of its uprights alone - leaving out the extra space taken up by weight plate storage pegs or equipment features that swing out or up. Machines also often require additional space for safe operation. For instance, treadmills come with specific instructions on how far they need to be stationed from walls behind, in front, or to either side.

How Do You Want to Exercise?

It’s also likely that you’ll want to arrange your equipment so it's convenient to the flow of your workout routine – especially if you’re into circuit training or cross circuit training. You’ll want wide, unobstructed pathways from one piece of equipment to another.

Arraying your equipment in order of usage might mean you can’t just slot everything in like you’re playing Tetris. This might seem like a minor issue for those of us who can wheel the treadmill to a different spot when we change our minds. However, some hardcore home gym owners take it so seriously that they’ll hire professional home gym floor plan designers to ensure an optimum flow between cardio exercise and strength training exercises.

Resources for Home Gym Planning

If you have your eye on a particular piece of equipment, it’s always wise to seek the user manual online. Manuals usually provide a complete view of the product with accurate dimensions and guidelines for leaving space around them. This info could help you head off an unpleasant surprise during assembly or use.

Storage

Not all equipment permanently resides where you use it. Smaller items like resistance bands, dumbbells and kettlebells need to be shelved out of the way to prevent damage, tripping hazards and general clutter.

Storage solutions need to satisfy two criteria: They need to be compact, and they need to be handy. Racks are available for your free weights, and there are some ingenious solutions for other small exercise equipment – even in limited spaces.

Little Space? No Big Problem.

Are you living in a one-bedroom apartment? Is your house is already almost full? Do you frequently travel from hotel room to hotel room? Your workout area doesn’t have to sprawl very far to accomplish workout goals like fat burning, greater endurance, improved functionality, and more muscle strength. You need only the corner of a room for body-weight exercises or on-the-spot cardio.

Consider compact exercise equipment like jump ropes, suspension trainers, resistance bands, or an adjustable dumbbell. In addition, a yoga mat establishes a comfortable base for your pre-workout stretch, workout, and post-workout recovery. More great news – recovery tools like foam rollers and percussive massage guns are also relatively compact.

Storage is a cinch – a closet, shelving unit or hidden spot along the wall will do. Some equipment will even fit in a dresser drawer. If you’re a do-it-yourself type, you can build a very handy door-mounted storage pegboard.

Flaman Fitness Expertise Helps You Make the Most of Your Space.

Whether your home gym plans involve a small corner, extra room, attic, basement, or garage, you want to make the most of your available space. Our fitness pros are experts in matching customers with the right equipment. They’ve helped many home gym enthusiasts create their ideal workout experience. So bring in your dimensions, fitness goals, and budget. You’ll be amazed what they can set up for you – including fitness package deals for a great start to a healthy new life.

We are delighted to launch this product at a time when it can be of most help to consumers who are continuing to adjust to their new normal in fitness routines and developing new at-home workout habits.

– Jim Barr, CEO, Nautilus Inc. (parent company of Bowflex), June 2020

Timing is essential, even when the fitness innovation you’re launching can prove its worth anytime.

Destined for Home Exercise Success?

Launched in mid-2020, the Bowflex 2080 Barbell with Curl Bar System certainly benefitted from trends prompted by the Covid pandemic. An April 2020 survey for U.S firm Statista showed 21% of respondents hesitated to go back to their gyms within the next six months. About twice as many couldn’t say when they’d feel safe doing so.

Furthermore, many of them would miss training with free weights, which had debuted at No. 4 on the American College of Sports Medicine’s Top 10 Fitness Trends for 2020. That left the door open for a good home weight-training system to win admirers – especially one that was compact, affordable, and offered Bowflex’s ingeniously simple SelectTech® system for near-instant weight adjustments.

Built for Long-Term Service

Opportune as it seemed, the timing was entirely coincidental. The 2080 took a long time to develop, even if it had previous SelectTech successes to emulate. There wouldn’t have been time to foresee, let alone exploit, a pandemic’s impact on the fitness club industry. The 2080 had been designed to succeed before gym closures were an issue, and it remains popular as gyms open up again.

We continue our steadfast mission to bring high-quality, affordable new fitness options to help our customers achieve success at home. Our new barbell and curl bar system takes a popular and effective strength training product and makes it even better with adjustable weight settings and an innovative, compact and beautiful design.

– Nautilus CEO Jim Barr

Bowflex’s commitment to making the home user “stronger every day” requires a unique vision for every new exercise equipment innovation. The 2080 was initially designed to compliment users’ health club strength training. No one could predict then that gym shutdowns and home lockdowns would make exercising in apartments, spare rooms, and garages the only option. Happily, the 2080 system offered the exact qualities many housebound consumers required.

Adjustability

This ultimate strength solution’s seven incremental weights mean users of any fitness level can quickly access the right weight for a personal full-body workout. A rotating dial allows single or multiple users to select a 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, or 80-pound lift, gradually increasing strength at their own pace. Like all SelectTech weights, the 2080 employs a locking tray system, so your weight plates stay neat and organized. An optional weight upgrade can give you four more levels, taking you up to 120 pounds.

Compact Design

A space-efficient design makes the 2080 ideal for smaller workout areas. Those slim, contained plates make for a manageable footprint. Either bar fully loaded boasts the modest dimensions of 59.3” long x 11.7” wide x 12.7” high. You can put both on the optional Bowflex SelectTech 2080 Barbell Stand, which measures 59.3” x 23.8” and stands 32.1” tall.

Full-Body Exercise

The 2080 is engineered for quick, dynamic movements. These help you develop those fast-twitch muscles that give you strength and agility for sports or just your daily functionality.

And the developments benefit more than your arms and upper body. The wide variety of strength exercises you can perform target your lower body as well. These include curls, triceps extensions, deadlifts, clean and press, glute bridges, and squats lunges.

Trainer-led Videos

What’s better than a wide variety of full-body exercises? Having the variety PLUS expert coaching to help you perfect your form. You can access a library of 14 trainer-led videos on the Bowflex YouTube channel. Encouraging, easy-to-follow instruction guides both advanced and entry-level users through techniques and workouts – bringing you closer to your goals.

The 2080 barbell stand features a built-in media rack, allowing you to keep your training and your instruction conveniently close together.

Get to Know the 2080 at Flaman Fitness.

Any time may be a great time to use the Bowflex SelectTech 2080 Barbell with Curl Bar, but the best time is now. The sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll see those full-body results. There’s no better place to see and try this amazing system than your nearest Flaman Fitness location.

As the home of Canada’s largest Bowflex showroom, Flaman prides itself on its team of Bowflex experts. They're ready with answers to your questions, feature details, and timely tips to get you started on your home fitness adventure.

In the wake of the covid pandemic, the popularity of home gyms has skyrocketed. As gyms closed, their dedicated members took their fitness routines home. So did scores of training novices - motivated by a desire to fight the boredom and potential weight gain of self-isolation. For too many, that inspiration ended with lapsed workout regimes and expensive equipment gathering dust.

Here are a few tips from home gym experts for creating a home gym based on your fitness goals and exercise preferences. Many come as the result of their own errors. Hopefully, sharing them with you will bring you closer to a workout area you’ll look forward to using.

Identify Your Goals

Many experts point to hasty equipment purchases made before consumers asked two vital questions:

1) What am I trying to achieve?

2) What do I enjoy doing?

Are you trying to build muscle, burn fat, increase your endurance, or improve your sports performance? Looking to rehabilitate after an injury or improve the quality and length of your life? Pursuing a mixture of these goals? There are specialized and multi-purpose exercise machines designed to help you succeed.

A Good Mix of Cardio and Strength Training is a Must.

It’s recommended that you do about 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity each week. Two or three strength-training sessions are essential

We know that cardio burns fat, lowers your blood pressure, increases your endurance, and lessens your chances of heart attack, stroke, and diabetes. Research shows it can also slow down the aging of certain cells, enhance your concentration, mood, sleep, and – ooh la la – sex life. but it can’t do everything alone. Even the vaunted high-intensity interval training (HIIT) needs some muscle to back it up.

Strength training can involve free weights, cable machines, resistance bands, your own bodyweight, or anything that resists the flexing of your muscles. As those muscles grow, they devour fats. They also give you the strength, flexibility and agility to do better at everything from daily tasks to sports performance. Strength training also lessens joint pain and the risk of bone damage.

Filter Your Options

Of course, you’ll want to measure your area and set a budget to find out what fits in each. Those subjects have so many aspects, that we’ve addressed them in two separate blogs. For now let’s talk about matching your goals with the equipment that can help you attain them.

Talk with your doctor about your health needs and limitations. Get a handle on how you can start and how you can sensibly progress, following a pragmatic timeline for your goals.

Do your research. Search online for equipment that can produce the results you seek and fits into your footprint and budget. Independent reviews of fitness equipment are invaluable – especially if the reviewers have tested it themselves. Besides comfort, quality and efficiency, you’re also looking for portability, ease-of-assembly and longevity. Last but certainly not least, check the warranty.

How accurately/easily can you gauge your performance? While some cardio machines offer apps that can fully track your workout progress and show you a movie to boot, they might not fit in your budget. If you understand cardio and fat-burning heart rate zones, a heart rate monitor can keep you within them. Most machines supply one – and can also guide you through a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout.

Be honest about what you can handle. A lot of top exercise machines are praised for the multiple benefits they deliver. Although some machines can cater to any level of athlete, others are exclusively for advanced users. Trying to do too much too early can overexert your body, undermine your ego, and dampen your enthusiasm.

There’s a way you can do much or all of this at the same time.

Try Before You Buy.

Does a friend own a machine you’d like to try? Can you get a day pass or guest pass to a gym? Trying equipment gives you firsthand knowledge of its comfort and efficiency. You can feel how it works on the areas you want to target and sense if you'll want to use it long-term.

Many stores will also let you sample a variety of machines from different manufacturers. Even better, informed, experienced sales staff can fill in important details and answer all your questions.

Try AFTER You Buy.

Seeing how well a piece of showroom equipment works is one thing. Seeing how well your machine works is another. Whether you assemble the equipment yourself or the store sends a technician, you’ll want to inspect and try the equipment afterward. Look for the following:

Scratches, cracks and dings: Some things look small but can eventually cause big dangerous problems

Wear problems: Try it quickly and look for wear issues (cables rubbing where they shouldn’t, etc.)

Functional problems: Is something interfering with your full range of motion?

Buying Used?

Of course, used equipment is cheaper, but you’ll have to give it good once-over, as it probably won’t have a warranty. If you search online, you should also check to see if the seller has been rated. You might happen on a barely-used find, as some sellers have made the same buying mistakes we’ve warned you about.

Bring Your Workout Room Planning Questions to Flaman Fitness.

Have a whole garage for your home gym or just the corner of a room? Our experts can help you fill it with fitness potential. Just drop by or call your nearest Flaman Fitness location and tell them about your fitness requirements, floor space, and budget. They can offer amazing solutions whether you’re building up around existing equipment or starting from zero.

Flaman Fitness is an excellent place to “try before you buy” – with a huge selection of top-brand machines, including Canada’s largest Bowflex showroom.

Will the space you’ve dedicated to your home workouts keep you dedicated to exercising? How your home gym feels, looks and sounds can make the difference between positive, inspired, and easy physical activity and endless drudgery. Dark, damp and cramped might lend some Rocky-Balboa romance to your exercise, but you’ll be less likely to go the distance.

Here are some emotional considerations that can help you find and perfect your optimum exercise atmosphere.

Conflicted Feelings

Some like the idea of a treadmill or exercise bike in the corner of their bedroom. These are usually your jump-out-of-bed-and-get-going (or get it over with) types. However, if you’re married, you might find you and your spouse have different opinions on early-morning bursts of energy – especially when equipment starts working.

If you’re the one who hates waking up, a physical obligation might be the last thing you want to see. Furthermore, decorators will tell you bedrooms and exercise rooms have opposite purposes and therefore opposite vibes. That disharmony can sour some people on the idea of exercising altogether.

Your Space Should Be Spacious

Not everyone has a spare room, but if you do, consider putting your home gym there. A door can give you privacy, but you don’t want to feel bottled up. So the emptier your space, the better. Extensive shelving can encroach and make you feel claustrophobic.

A mirror can expand that spaciousness while helping you monitor your form and progress. Just hang it straight, because an angled mirror can present a distorted view of yourself.

Sound Decision Making

Music has the power to energize you, lend a rhythm to the pace you’re setting and distract you from your labours. As huge stereo systems have shrunk down to cellphone size, so have speakers. Now something weighing under two pounds and as small as a beer bottle can provide clear, vibrant audio for all your tunes, streaming video and interactive training apps.

Keep It Light and Bright.

If there’s one paint colour to get excited about, it’s white – especially if you want to enlarge the space around you. Orange is also believed to create energy, but other warm hues generally relax you. White also eliminates that dingy feeling – especially if you choose a paint mix that’s not too glossy and is easy to clean.

Lighting is important, too. You’ll need bright artificial lighting, but nothing too harsh. A lighting expert can help you find easily adjustable light fixtures to create that perfect glow. Perhaps the best light is natural light from large windows. It can stimulate several positive changes in your brain, which create more energy. That’s not all windows can do.

Keep Inspiration in View.

Add some drive to your decorating. Put your old high-school/college jersey, track-and-field ribbons or rec sports medals or trophies where you can see them. They might just revive some long-lost youthful energy.

Don’t have a glorious sporting past but admire those who do? A framed autographed poster or other memorabilia can make you feel closer to being in your heroes' league.

If you have an inspiring view out your window, it can create the sensation you’re already outside. And you can further evoke that refreshing outdoor feeling.

Air Quality

You can open those windows or a side door to create cross-ventilation, weather permitting. On less pleasant days, you can still keep the fresh air flowing with ventilation ducts, air conditioning or an air filter.

Being air quality-aware will keep you healthy, energized and comfortable. Those three factors can get your home gym off to a good start before you make your first equipment purchases. Speaking of …

Ready to Put Your Workout Room to Work? Visit Flaman Fitness.

Once you’ve created a motivating exercise space, our experts can help you find home gym equipment to match. Flaman Fitness has searched the world for strength and cardio equipment that will make every workout productive, safe and pleasurable.

Are muscle aches after your workouts dampening your exercise enthusiasm? Keep two things in mind. First, that pain is part of muscle growth, and there is an impressive remedy – percussive massage.

No Pain, No Gain

Pain can occur when you’re new to exercise or if you’ve added reps, weight or other resistance to build strength. It can also happen during high-intensity workouts building your explosive power. That’s because muscle tissue is built up by creating tiny tears in your muscle fibres, known as microtrauma. Your natural defences swoop in on the injured spot to build it up stronger than before.

Learn morehere. If you want more muscle, you do the same thing again, causing the same tiny injuries and the same overcompensating repair.

Fascia Facts

More than muscle gets hurt in this process. A white, gloopy soft tissue called fascia holds all of our muscles and internal organs in place. It’s also full of sensitive nerve endings that keep us aware of where our extremities are within the space around us.

Fascia does this vital job thanks to its astounding ability to change from a liquid to a solid whenever necessary. However, its viscosity breaks down when it's injured, causing it to crinkle up in big knots and jolting your nervous system.

Pain, Pain, Go Away

Those sensitive nerves send out a pain signal. Our bodies respond by creating inflammation, which flushes pathogens away from the injured area - creating its own discomfort. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) usually kicks in six to 24 hours after your workout and can last up to 48 hours afterward, with symptoms like muscle pain and a reduced range of motion.

Ice baths and stretching bring very little sore muscle relief. Anti-inflammatories can create the illusion of feeling better while interfering with actual healing. Compression garments help if they're not too loose or too tight. Foam rolling can also bring relief for the same reason compression works.

Pressure

Pushing down on the injured fascia can work out the knots and restore that magical viscosity. The amount of pressure needed varies according to the size of the knots. It can hurt temporarily, but it promotes lasting relief.

The “liberation” of blocked fascia tissue, called myofascial release, supports your body’s natural healing processes. It’s part of an ancient healing rite that still relieves patients today.

Massage

Massage began as a sacred healing system in post-3000 B.C. India. Egyptians later explored the benefits of applying pressure (now called reflexology). By the 1800s, the “Swedish movement cure” began evolving into modern Swedish massage. That art now uses three types of pressure to work out knots – rubbing hands over the body in circular strokes, kneading the tissue, and percussive strikes on the body.

Of course, these strikes are just heavy enough to break up blockages. The practitioner may “pat” with flat palms, “thump” with the fists, “peck” with the fingertips, or “hack” with the edge of the hand. Practitioners discovered that when they held their fingers loosely apart during hacking, they could produce a second blockage-busting benefit.

Vibration

"'The International Electric Hand Vibrator'" by Ephemeral Scraps is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Like pressure, vibration has treated pain for ages. Ancient Greeks used it on their armies, and in the 1800s, Swedish doctor Jonas Gustav Zander used it to help patients gain muscle and lose weight. Recent research shows localized or full-body vibration yields increased blood flow, muscle strength, power development, kinesthetic awareness, and range of motion – while decreasing muscle soreness.

As vibration therapy and pressure therapy progressed through several advancements, the sum benefits of massage were officially recognized. Massage Therapists had their own association. Yet, pressure and massage would not do beautiful work together until 2007.

Relief at Last

That year, Chiropractor Dr. Jason Werslund finally found a way to relieve pain caused by a motorcycle accident years earlier. He attached blunt ends to reciprocating tools and hit his sore points with pressure and vibration simultaneously. He was also able to go deeper, reaching tissue other massage devices missed.

At first, Dr. Werslund never thought of marketing his invention. But when he saw how his percussive massage device helped his patients, he changed his mind. Soon other massage and physical therapy practitioners would follow his lead.

BENEFITS OF PERCUSSION MASSAGE

Efficiency

Athletes like percussive massage guns for their amplitude – the distance and direction the massage head travels during each percussion. These guns can reach through dense muscle mass to work on inflamed connective tissue. Apply a massage gun during post-workout recovery and you may prevent DOMS or at least diminish it.

For instance, the Flow Pro Plus Massage Gun plunges over half an inch into your aching deep tissue when held perpendicular to your body. It can do so 3200 times a second (frequency). Throw in a motor with high torque (the amount of force behind each revolution), and you have a lot of pressure and vibration coming down on your pain.

Versatility

If you want a softer touch, you can adjust the amplitude and frequency or simply tilt the gun. Guns like the Flow Pro also offer a variety of interchangeable heads for covering expanded areas, going easy on tender or bony areas, assisting lymphatic drainage, straddling your spine, hitting your trigger points (inflamed areas), and percussing your larger muscle groups.

Some physiotherapists recommend locating your trigger point then backing off to loosen the muscles supporting it, so it won’t put up as much of a fight when you move in to pound it into submission. When you consider your comfort and fitness goals, it’s a fight worth winning.

Want to Pummel Your Pain? Beat a Path to Flaman Fitness!

Our trained sales team is well-versed in percussive therapy benefits and the massage guns that can deliver it. We have a selection of top-quality guns and the advice to help you use them to your optimum benefit. Just call or visit your nearest Flaman Fitness location and find out how you can give that throbbing the thumping it deserves.