Working out isn’t always easy to get motivated to do. Whether you plan on running on a treadmill, hitting the elliptical or banging out some reps on your olympic bench getting up the gumption to drag yourself into your home gym is frequently the biggest obstacle to seeing the gains you long for.
One way to drain all enthusiasm from working out at home is to make starting your workout a workout in itself.
If your home gym is in your basement you don’t want to have to move piles of laundry to start ripping those abs on your power tower. You don’t want to spend twenty minutes moving boxes out of the way so you can drag your folding treadmill out from under the steps. You can’t do much working out when your equipment is sitting piled up and jumbled together in a corner.
Remember you have gone to a lot of trouble, researching and money in choosing the best cardio equipment and best gym equipment for your home gym, just to have it hidden away or inaccessible when you want to workout.
If you got your gym in your garage, you have to ask yourself whether you are really going to back out your car, pull out the weights from under your worktable and start building muscle mass. If your bench is under your kids’ bikes and your elliptical is behind your ladders, shovels, and lawn mower you’re not going to want to spend your time moving all that to the driveway before you get started on your grind.
How can you avoid this dilemma?
The best solution is to set aside a dedicated space for your gym. Is your basement where you plan on working out? See if you have the space to keep your equipment clean and easily accessible. Make everything else be stored around your gym lay out, not the other way around.
Opting for the classic garage gym?
Consider keeping your car out in the driveway. Pick up, or build, a storage shed for your tools and mower. Keep your kids’ bikes hanging on a wall or from the ceiling. Those boxes you store all your Christmas decorations in? That’s what they make attics for.
Once you have a clean, open space for your gym equipment, you’ll see your motivation to use that space skyrocket. No one wants a whole area of their house to go unused. Plus, you’ll be seeing that stepper sitting there, staring you down, calling you on. How much more enticing will that workout be compared to seeing your equipment languish under so much junk you barely can see it?
How will you want to arrange your space once it is free of clutter?
Putting your treadmill in front of a TV is a great choice. Now you can watch that TV show you love while burning calories instead of while eating Doritos. You’ll want your weights to be in the open, where you have plenty of room to perform the correct motions. A mirrored wall is a great place to lift weights. Where should that spin bike go? Try putting it in front of a window to get a great breeze while you’re sweating.