If you are among the many people who enjoy keeping fit, working out, or simply exercising you will probably have a gym membership. Of course, it will not have been used much – if at all – in the last year or so during the pandemic lockdown, and you may have found another way to work out. Indeed, many people are installing home gyms with smart home gym equipment. Some are basic, some more sophisticated, and it might be a good idea to think about this yourself.
In the review that follows we will look at why home gyms make sense, where you should consider putting and what you need in them. Let’s get started by laying out some of the main reasons that home gyms are booming in popularity.
Why Are Smart Home Gyms Popular?
If you visit expert smart gym equipment review websites like Gym VS Reviews, you’ll see there is great interest in the market. Not only that, but quality equipment need not be expensive and can be easily incorporated in a home gym. It’s fair to say that while home gyms have always been reasonably popular, they are more so now than ever, and for many reasons.
For many of us the covid-19 pandemic threw up plenty of inconveniences. In addition to being unable to go to work, go out for a bike ride or a run, we also faced our regular gyms having to close. This put the emphasis firmly on finding ways to exercise in and around the home.
As many discovered, a home gym can be a surprisingly affordable investment. We talk about the basic equipment needed later on, but this discovery that we could work out at home led us to ask the question: why am I paying for a gym membership?
Then there’s the convenience issue – no need to book or find the time to travel to and from the gym and also the cost involved – which inspired many people to look at home gyms. Once in place, you can use it whenever you want, at your convenience, and so can others in the household. It suddenly becomes a no-brainer: you need a home gym!
Now, there are a couple of further points to consider before you go ahead: where you should put your home gym, and whether you should go for conventional equipment, or a smart home gym and we have more about those later.
Where to Put a Smart Home Gym?
The purpose of exercise is to improve your wellbeing so you need to put your gym in a space that is the right size and that is not used for anything else. Having gym equipment in the bedroom is not conducive to regular exercising and will not be used as it should be. You need to find a dedicated space that you can make into a permanent gym.
There are three popular choices: a spare and unused room, a garage, or – if you are lucky enough to have one – a basement. The spare room is popular with people who live alone or as a couple. However, a spare room is useful for when you have visitors, so do you really want to remove your guest room from use?
Do you use your garage for your car, or is it – like many people’s – simply full of junk? If it’s the latter get clearing out and have a garage sale as people buy anything! Once it’s clear you can start planning your home gym in the ideal room.
A basement is a great idea as long as it is not home to the heating boiler or a/c unit as these will make it often unbearably hot. That’s not good for regular workouts. So, the garage it is – but hang on, there is one more option.
Why not put your gym in the yard? If you’re investing in basic gym equipment this option is very much viable, as it gives you plenty of space and exercising outdoors is also great for you. So, have a think about where you’re going to put your gym, and we’ll move onto the equipment you need.
Traditional Equipment or Smart Gym?
There is a lot of interest in smart home gyms, so what are they and why should you be looking at them? A smart gym is an all-in-one unit that usually uses tension straps to provide a possible full-body workout. Some come with weights, others without. Some also offer access to thousands of videos, group video workouts, and even real-time online personal trainers.
The two leading brands are Tempo and Tonal. Both come with excellent features and different available packages, and Tempo even comes with its own set of weights that pack away neatly in the body. They take up little space and offer a wide variety of exercise routines and options. Furthermore, the best use AI to monitor your performance and learn, and will advise you where you need work and where you are doing best.
These machines are great but they’re not cheap; Tonal, for example, will cost almost $3000 and requires a $49 per month membership to access the content available, while Tempo is around $1000 less. However, it’s worth bearing in mind these machines are new to the market and will come down in cost as they are bought by more people. Are smart home gyms worth it? We think they’re the future, but that does not mean you should not invest in a set of basic gym equipment right now.
What You Need for a Basic Home Gym
If you want to wait before you go down the smart home gym route you can keep fit at home by clearing that garage and spending a few hundred dollars on a set of weights and dumbbells, a bench and pull up bars, and any other necessary equipment you regularly use at the gym.
Keep an eye on the cost of smart home gym equipment as they will become more affordable, and once you have tried one, you’ll see that they are the next generation of home gym equipment.
Tags: gym equipment, home gym, pandemic, quarantine
Good work! Thanks for sharing smart home gym equipment information.