While I’ve dabbled in community gyms in the past, in my experience, I’ve found having a home gym is 1) more cost-effective in the long term 2) easier to access, and 3) more comfortable. Of course, there are negatives as well. For instance, I can only do so much in my space at home. While it works for me, I understand it’s not for everybody. My home gym has progressed much like my fitness routines over the years, and if you’re curious about how I slowly built it, read on.
The Big Move
I moved from California to Barcelona about 12 years ago (in 2012), sold (almost) everything I owned and pretty much started over. In my house in California, I had a weight bench and a set of dumbbells. For obvious reasons, these didn’t make the cut. When I landed in Spain, it took some time to get settled, but my first ‘gym’ purchase was a yoga mat and a set of dumbbells (I’ve always opted for the ones you can add and remove weight to, they feel more versatile to me).
For several years (from about 2012-2018) I lived in small apartments and didn’t add anything to my home gym. At some point, I had suspension straps and bands that you could shut into a door for different moves and intensity. But, if I’m being honest, I hardly used them. I was exploring a new city and would meet friends for exercise walks, do some yoga or use the dumbbells here and there at home.
Running Has Never Been for Me
It wasn’t until I moved out of the city and to the countryside of Catalunya that I really started getting excited about getting stronger and figuring out ways to do that. I spent about a year trying to run. I remember my first time running 5 miles without stopping to walk. While that was a huge feat and I was proud of myself, I never really enjoyed it. One thing I was doing consistently during this time was hiking. I would set out on long (5-10 mile) hikes once or twice a week. I loved being in the mountains, forest, countryside and just exploring. I usually set a pretty brisk pace and had an elevated heart rate throughout the whole thing. To this day, hiking is one of—if not the—most important parts of my daily and weekly routine. Running just isn’t for everyone, find the thing you enjoy and keep doing it. For me, that’s hiking.
Research, Research, Research
I spent hours researching different workouts. I had dumbbells and a mat and found many different things to try. But it was a bit willy-nilly. I would just look up a workout and do it, I didn’t know what weight I should be using, and I didn’t know exactly what I was doing or why. Around this time, I moved from an apartment to a large house in the country. It had 4 bedrooms, I claimed one for myself as an ‘office/gym’. I got a better yoga mat for Christmas and picked up a new set of dumbbells and a barbell with heavier plates. I researched different exercises and followed fitness influencers on Instagram, watching their videos and adapting them to fit me. I was still doing HIIT sometimes, but I was also learning about weight progression and surprising myself with how much I could actually lift. Having the second set of dumbbells was amazing because I didn’t have to switch them out as much for weights. I could have 2 sets of different weights and work from those.
The Big Four-O
In 2018, I decided that by my 40th birthday (something I had looked forward to most of my life), I wanted to be the strongest version of myself: mentally, physically…everything. So I leaned even more into strength training, listening to myself and understanding my body.
At this time, a friend of mine who had been more of an acquaintance up until now expressed her love of weight lifting and strength training and we started hanging out more and even getting together to train sometimes. She was into Spartan races and convinced me to sign up for one with her. I was now researching new things, like how to train to climb a rope and other crazy Spartan-y things. I was so nervous leading up to the race, thinking I had gotten in way over my head. We traveled together to Mallorca, Spain. My brother was also visiting at the time, and my friend Danielle joined to cheer me on. On the day of the race, full of nerves and anticipation, I tried my best not to freak out. Once we took off, I had the time of my life. I was able to complete just about every obstacle and had fun doing it. (This is proven by all the race photos where I’m grinning ear-to-ear).
Then Covid Hit
A lot of us had more time during lockdown. The days were long and now with everyone working from home, it felt like there was just more time. So I trained even more. I ordered a weight bench that had some additional features for leg raises and hamstring curls, I was going on more hikes (our property backed up to a natural forest so I had access to all the trails with no one on them). I got more plates and was deadlifting and pressing heavier and heavier.
I turned 40 during lockdown and felt amazing (besides the things going on in the world around me). My partner bought me new heavy kettlebells and a plyometric box for jumping (so fun!).
I eventually added another set of dumbbells and some lighter kettlebells. Plus resistance bands of all different strength levels and sizes.
The ‘Finished’ Product
We bought a house in June 2021 and converted the second kitchen in the house into a gym for me. It has cement floors, great lighting, and fits all of my equipment perfectly. It’s tiny, but it’s big enough for what I’m doing. I’ve also added some odds and ends since. The co-creator of this website bought me a macebell (thank you Seamus!) and my partner bought me lifting straps because I struggled with my grip as my deadlifts got heavier and heavier. I’ve got my eye on a new rack that has pull-up and squat rack features, plus I think I’m ready to add some heavier plates to the mix, but for now, I’m good with what I have and feel lucky to be able to work out in the comfort of my own home whenever I want.
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