In just a few short days (assuming you’re reading this during the prime New Year’s resolution-making period!) the calendar will flip to January. It’s cold outside and the days are short, but this wintry season also represents an ideal opportunity to incorporate some lifestyle changes into your routine.
For many people, good intentions won’t materialize into much progress. A big reason for this is a general lack of direction, simply resolving to “get fit” or ‘eat better” during the new year. However, a more firmly defined resolution is much more likely to help you reach your specific and tangible fitness goals.
Our suggestion? Make your resolutions fool-proof…like setting up a home gym for your training in the new year. Why fight crowds, traffic, and cold weather when you can successfully meet your New Year’s resolutions from the comfort of your own home?
Garage or Basement Home Gym Setup Tips
We’re going to assume that you already have an area in mind, whether it is your garage, basement, or some other empty and decently large space, for your home training area. When you’re first getting started, almost any space will do and there are countless examples online of people who have transformed even 100-square feet rooms into effective workout spaces.
If these people can make it work in extremely close quarters, anyone can!
That’s not to say that you don’t have to be efficient with your gear selection, especially if you’re not quite sure what your exact training focus is going to be. Something like an elliptical machine is nice to jump on and use for a cardio-focused training session, but it has a large footprint and provides little strength and muscle-building utility.
So, let’s make a slight adjustment to that resolution: commit to an efficiently planned home gym area.
A major component to achieving an efficient garage or basement home gym setup is proper planning. Be sure to take careful measurements of your proposed training area to ensure that you will have adequate space to accommodate the highest-priority items. Beautiful new training equipment isn’t quite as pretty if you don’t have room to use it!
Arguably the most “efficient” piece of equipment you can get your hands on is a Smith Machine/power rack combination machine. This item allows you to perform all of the pivotal compound movements (those involving multiple muscles at one time) as both free weight and “Smith” variations. Having both options allows for serious strength work as well as for rehabilitation or even hypertrophy-style workouts.
A Smith Machine/power rack combination like the Buffalo is exponentially more efficient than other options as it also possesses a dual-pulley system, low lat pull, landmine, and even vertical leg pressing capabilities. All of these elements combine to create a truly comprehensive training experience, ensuring that every muscle group can be hit in multiple ways.
If you happen to be one of our “100-square-foot lifters” friends mentioned earlier, something like the Buffalo could be especially appealing given it’s shorter-than-average height (only 81 inches tall) and overall footprint (~38-square feet). Despite this compact size, it has robust 2x3-inch (50x75-millimeter) uprights and thick, durable 13-guage steel.
For many, getting their hands on a Buffalo, a barbell, and a few bumper plates might allow them to classify their resolution to create an efficient home gym as “completed”. For others, additional supplemental items can be included to make workouts more effective and enjoyable.
Training for Success
Now that you’ve got your home gym planning juices flowing, it’s time to discuss the kind of training regimen that you’re going to put into practice. It would be nice if we could experience the positive benefits of training by simply purchasing cool gear, but these items don’t do us much good if we don’t put them to use.
If you’re leaning towards picking up a Smith Machine/power rack combo, a bar, and some plates and calling it a day, you’ll most likely be leaning towards a powerlifting or bodybuilding type of training program. Both of these training approaches will build massive amounts of strength and muscle, but each approach has its distinct characteristics.
A powerlifting program will focus more on easy-to-learn compound lifts (bench press, deadlift, squat, overhead press, bent-over barbell rows) that, with regular increasing of weights used, will result in impressive overall strength gains. In contrast, a bodybuilding program will focus on more isolation exercises that will create a physique like a Greek god.
If you opt for even a few additional pieces of equipment (a leg extension machine, like the PLC01, is actually a very important piece for a bodybuilder’s upper quadriceps muscle development and a dedicated platform does wonders for a powerlifter’s deadlifts) you can greatly enhance your workouts.
With a set of kettlebells, you can create a legitimate cardiovascular development routine. Large sets of kettlebell swing are an excellent way to build elite-level stamina while strengthening and toning muscles all over the body. Incorporating more technical movements like the kettlebell snatch builds explosive power and Turkish get-ups craft superior balance and general body awareness and stability.
Finally, consider the possibilities of adapting the High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) philosophy into your home gym New Year’s resolution. These workouts can include movements involving heavy barbell exercises to simple bodyweight movements. By mixing short, intense training periods with built-in rest breaks, you can enjoy metabolic improvement while developing serious power reserves.
Whichever approach you ultimately decide on, be confident that with your efficient home gym setup, you’ll be able to perform whatever exercises you want to reach your goals. Also, don’t be afraid to have an unstructured training session every now and then. Nobody ever complained about getting a nice pump from a short, random workout!
Make no Mistake; this is the Year
We hope that we’ve given you some things to think about as you continue to craft your fitness plans for the upcoming new year. You still have some time to decide how you will train, but we know you’ll feel more prepared by collecting the tools you’ll need for your training.
Resolving to get your home gym arrangement set up is an admirable lifestyle objective. Thankfully, with just a small amount of creativity (and an even smaller amount of empty space), the sky is the limit to equipping, and ultimately succeeding in, your new garage or basement home gym.
