Personal Home Gyms: 5 Critical Traits of the Ideal Personal Home Gym System
Having a home gym does not guarantee results. There are hundreds of thousands of out of shape folks with expensive home-gym set-ups. Most of the time – a personal home gym is not the “ideal home gym” for the person or family who purchased it.
Here is what to consider in your home gym search so you can avoid the disheartening scenario mentioned above:
1 – It must be well suited to users goals, both short term and long term.
The ideal personal home gym is put together not only for this month’s workouts – but also for workouts that you and your family will be doing 10, 20, even 30 years from now. It is able to give you what you need to reach your current short term goals. It should also be sturdy, versatile and adjustable in order to provide you with endless workout options and variations for years to come.
With this in mind – some extra thought has to go into your selection process because most impulsive home gym purchases result from emotional buying triggers focused on short-term ‘hot buttons’.
And you know where that leaves you…. With a big, expensive contraption that you want to get rid of in 7 months. Not a good thing!
2 – Emphasizes use of bodyweight instead of old-fashioned cables, bulky benches, pulleys and weight plates.
Home gyms which mimic health club equipment are based on ‘old-school’ industry norms. The health club industry needs old fashioned equipment (isolation machines, cables, weight stacks, endless weight plates, bars, etc…) to attract lots of members. People want to see ‘lots of stuff’ when they pay for a membership. Most are led to believe it’s “all this big equipment” that gets them into shape…
But, that’s not the case. See, there’s been a recent, “underground” movement toward bodyweight workouts for fitness. Many cutting edge trainers and fitness professionals have started to base the core of their teachings and training methods on bodyweight fitness principles and programs.
The great thing is that this mode of fitness conditioning isn’t just for advanced fitness people (think military, mixed martial art fighters, high level athletes, etc..) It’s also open to pure beginners, thanks to new innovations in equipment to help people follow well-rounded, bio-mechanically correct bodyweight exercise routines for various fitness goals.
3 – Can be used by all members of family.
The average family has a mom and dad and at least one kid. The ideal personal home gym should serve everyone – not just ‘big daddy’. One of the biggest challenges in this area is safety. The more complex a home gym is – the less safe it is for the kids.
Pulleys, cables and weight stacks have been known to hurt a few tough guys here and there – so it should be of no surprise that some of the ladies and kids can be quite vulnerable on one of these typical set-ups. Your ideal home gym unit is one with minimal moving parts.
4 – Is adjustable for various fitness levels.
Beginners through advanced users should be able to workout on the same home gym. Because of this – it needs to be adjustable to suit each specific type of user.
For example, most beginners can’t do a full-body chin-up, or a full-body push-up. So, in order for the beginner to work the same muscle groups and stimulate physical change – he would need the unit to adjust in a way that allows him to do similar exercises while only moving a portion of his bodyweight.
As he makes progress and gets into better shape – he can gradually adjust the machine so he is using more of his bodyweight to perform various exercises.
5 – Is quick to assemble and simple to maintain.
Nothing is more brutal than spending 5 or 6 hours putting together a home gym. But that’s a reality you must deal with if you choose an elaborate model.
Once you get those big boxes home, and opened up – you realize how many little pieces and parts there are that you didn’t see on the display model or the infomercial. You then look at all the instructions and you realize this is going to take some serious time and focus.
Your ideal home gym shouldn’t take more than 25-30 minutes to assemble. And it should take even less time to take apart. Not many people think about that second part – But it is a true blessing when moving to a new house.
If your search for a personal home gym is based on the 5 traits listed above – then you are setting yourself up for success from the beginning. A little more time spent now – will pay off for years and years to come in the way of optimal fitness for you and those closest to you.
If you found this post helpful PLEASE give a quick click on the ‘Like’ button just below here – to the left. And if you’re interested in learning more about the Home Gym System I created for me, my clients and other home fitness enthusiasts around the world – just click to the home page, here =>> Home Gym by Atlas