Help me design a modest home gym

In My Humble Opinion
1

Having moved house recently, I’ve acquired a slightly tumbledown stone built coach house in the garden - probably around 2-300 years old. Luckily, someone has fairly recently installed a new roof and lighting, it’s water tight, so whilst I don’t have the cash right now to fully convert it, I’m planning to turn a section of it into a home gym.

I’ve had a level concrete floor installed that’s c. 4mx3.5m. I’m planning on laying some gym tiles/flooring so very open to suggestions there. I also have a treadmill (inherited from a friend), but otherwise I’d love suggestions for what else I could use.

I’m a 50ish woman in good health, likes yoga, feel I need to install some core exercises into my routines, open to free weights etc. Would likely get a personal trainer to set me some plans. But otherwise, not a clue!

What’s your home set-up like?

2

You can do almost everything with couple of kettlebells, but you definitely want somebody to help make sure you know the right form. They’re very easy to hurt yourself with, especially on the swingier motions.

3

My home gym setup consists of a wall-mounted pullup bar with multiple grip options, some 400kg of weight plates from 0.5kg on up, a long bar with large plates, a half-dozen dumbbell bars of various lengths and diameters, a 32kg kettlebell, pushup handles, gymnastics rings, a set of CoC grippers, a 5ft. length of chain for a weight belt, plus, very importantly, a pair of antique chairs I use to do my weighted dips with. They take up zero room (as weightlifting gear) and are infinitely adjustable as to grip width and angle.

After trying kettlebells & doing tons of bodyweight exercises, I’ve come to the conclusion that free weights with lots of different size plates is the superior way to go. The reason mostly being you can adjust the resistance to exactly your personal level / goal, whatever it is or becomes.

With kettlebells, you only have a small selection of different bell weights, and the bells are expensive and somewhat hard to find outside beginner sets. Also, kettlebells have drastically different grips and gripping to centrally-loaded dumbbells, which may irritate wrists etc. more. They have their fans, for sure.

Bodyweight exercises (outside weighted ones) are even worse, as great as they are compared to sedentarism. Consider that a pushup is really easy for anyone with a bit of fitness, a raised pushup is a little harder, and the bodyweight progression, a handstand pushup, is very hard and targets mostly shoulder muscles unlike the pectoral-heavy pushups it’s supposed to supercede. The progressions are too coarse and non-linear.

That being said, weighted pullups / chinups and weighted dips are a staple of my training. But they can be weighted to a tee.

edit: I have purchased most of my training gear second-hand, paying a fraction of what they would cost new. Weight plates don’t really age, unless left out in the rain, so it’s just as good to use old stuff.

4

It depends what you want.

If you want to strength train, you could do the basics with some weight plates, a basic bar, possibly some short bars for curls or a trap bar for deadlifts, a kettlebell handle that allows you to use the weights as a kettlebell, some large elastic weightlifting bands to mimic cable machines at the gym, and a pull-up bar. Kettlebells are pricey but a handle allowing weights to be used like a kettlebell is cheap.

You could much expand this with a squat rack, a landmine attachment, a few handles to allow rowing and be able to easily grab the cables, gymnastics rings and a flat bench.

If you want aerobic training, add a rowing machine or stationary bicycle. If the roof is high, you could add a climbing rope.

If you are aggressive, you could add boxing training items.

If you are not aggressive, perhaps some yoga or aerobics stuff: a screen to display courses, some elevated steps, inflatable balls, etc.

5

I have this exact home gym. I’ve used it regularly for a few years and recommend it. I also have an assortment of dumbbells. With that setup I can hit every muscle group. I also have a treadmill I bought used for $200 - it’s been a workhorse for the last 5 years.

I have a yoga mat and a yoga DVD.

Unless you’re competing, this is really everthing you need.

6

If you don’t mind spending some bucks, my wife and i have a home gym we actually use regularly. (I’m in there at least 4x per week)
It consists of a Peloton Bike
A Hydrow machine
And a Tonal for weights.

All are excellent products. All require subscriptions.

ETA: I didn’t notice the “modest” modifier in your title. However, any one of these would work in a modest home gym. I use the bike the most. My wife uses the rower most.

7

I have a set of these, which I find really useful. A bit expensive, but much cheaper than buying all the weights separately:

And, one of these, which can adjust totally flat, or even a little declined:

Fitness Gear Utility Bench | Dick’s Sporting Goods (dickssportinggoods.com)

I can get a full upper-body workout with that equipment.

8

Re: kettlebells

You can get adjustable bells (not the ones that are just plates on a stick) that will go from 12kg-32kg in .5kg increments. That’s 40 weights. I also have a smaller bell that goes from 6kg-12kg.

9

Just a brief anecdote that may be useful: about a month ago we had the city deliver a dumpster to our driveway so we could clear out 25 years of accumulated crap from the basement. Some of that crap being a set of weights my stepson bought when he was a young adult. After about the fourth trip lugging a bunch of weghts up the stairs and out to the dumpster, he remarked “Well, I’ve learned my lesson. Never buy something who’s sole purpose is to be heavy!”

My point being, don’t forget to think about the future and what happens if you ever need to move again or get rid of it.

10

My current home set up. I am constrained by a low ceiling basement. I have a very old elliptical and a Concept2 rower for cardio. The Concept2 is great for smaller floor space with a high enough ceiling as it easily lifts up to store vertically. I also just think it is a great piece to work out on. My current space it stays out. A set of dumbbells from 25 to 90 pounds. A 10 pound steel mace for variety in strength training. A balance ball that I use in various ways, including as a make do bench for dumbbell bench presses. A wooden balance disc. Outside a rings set up mostly for dips and pull ups. Otherwise my running shoes and my bike! Higher ceiling or different yard set up and I’d use my speed rope, but currently not. Also with more ceiling height might put in a rack with safeties to do bar work.

Imagining myself as you I’d get the Concept2 rower (nice just to have variety from the treadmill and it takes up little space when not being used if you have the ceiling height), the balance ball and disc, a jump rope (again if ceiling height allows), and a few dumbbells or kettlebells. Then hire the trainer and add based on what you enjoy doing as workouts that the trainer advises for you. I would NOT invest in a big strength machine or rack set up at this point if I was you. If you get to that point with that floor space I’d get a wall mounted rack, and be sure to use the safety bars appropriately.