There’s more to a home gym than just the equipment you have. Ensuring that your gym is a welcoming environment that is enjoyable to use requires a few extra items, outside of the latest and greatest weights, racks and spin bikes.
Investing in the items below will help your gym look good, feel good, and ultimately make it a place you want to spend more time in. We strongly recommend having each of these items at your disposal.
1. Cordless Vacuum and a Good Mop
One of the best things about a home gym is that you know how often it gets cleaned. In our case, it’s after nearly every use.
A good vacuum (and using it often) is going to keep your gym free from grit, chalk, and hairs. Going cordless will save you the hassle of maxing out your electrical cord. So, if your gym is a decent size then get a cordless one and save yourself the annoyance of not being able to reach into the corners. We use this Dyson stick vacuum.
Mopping your floors after you vacuum will keep your gym looking pristine and new. There’s something satisfying about the look of rubber floors when they’re still slightly wet, but freshly cleaned.
Spray mops, like this O-Cedar Mop from Amazon, take up minimal space and easily clean rubber gym flooring.
A few minutes of clean up after most workouts will do wonders for the way your home gym looks
2. Whiteboard
Our whiteboard is used non-stop.
We write out our workouts before every lift (we follow Persist by Marcus Filly) because we hate staring at our phones mid-workout. Plus, we’ll write out equipment that we want to upgrade, brainstorm gym reorganization plans and random stuff like our weekly dinner menus and grocery lists.
White boards are a cheap investment that will be used ALL OF the time.
Mount a board on your wall, get a couple of markers and make life easier on yourself.
3. Big Fan
We get hot and sweaty when we lift, and sometimes that sucks. Garages and basements are notorious for bad air flow and stale air. Add in the summer heat and it can get pretty gross.
A big fan will help keep you more comfortable, even if you don’t have air conditioning.
Overheating has been shown to negatively impact strength and cardio performance, so finding ways to keep cool will not only make you more comfortable but will lead to better fitness gains too!
Help yourself out: grab a floor fan, or still an oscillating fan in each corner of your gym.
- Floor Fan: 3 Speed Industrial Drum Fan (Amazon)
- Oscillating Fan: Remote Controlled Pedestal Oscillating Fan (Amazon)
4. Speakers and Entertainment
One of the toughest parts about having a home gym is creating an environment that you want to be in. Commercial gyms have a social component, (generally) nice equipment, and an upbeat vibe.
Sometimes we don’t have that at home.
Maybe you’re sneaking in a workout before work, after the kids go to bed, or after a long day of cleaning the house. You have to create your own environment.
Outfitting your home gym with a solid set of speakers is the first step. Music is a must for pretty much everyone – whether you like background noise to break up the silence, or need the most intense heavy metal to get you pumped.
We like Bluetooth speakers, like this Sonos One from Amazon. They’re fairly cheap, sound great and will last forever. Grabbing a couple of them and pairing them makes for a better experience, by the way.
Personally, we actually use a smart TV hooked up to Apple TV so that we can switch between watching YouTube and listening on Spotify. This really helps us for long, low intensity workouts where we might throw on a 30+ minute YouTube video to help the time pass (especially doing Zone 2 cardio work).
Wrapping Up
There are a few simple additions you can make to a home gym to make it more comfortable. From cleaning to entertainment, investing in the above items will lead to a better workout experience.
Hopefully, this will result in your gym being used more often!
Let us know your essential non-equipment home gym items in the comments below.