Home Gym Hacks

 Home Gym Hacks  

If you’re anything like me, it’s hard to motivate yourself to stay focused on anything at home, especially exercise. I’ve worked out at the same gym for years, but I could see how, especially in college gyms, the fear of being watched or judged by more experienced gym-goers may prevent beginners from working out at all. I decided to challenge myself by working out exclusively at home for a week, and I’m reporting what I’ve found works to give you my 3 biggest home gym hacks. 

1. GET. A. MAT. 

No matter what type of flooring you have in your dorm, apartment, or house, I highly recommend a workout mat, which you can buy at pretty much any department store or on Amazon. Slipping and sliding on hardwood or tile sucks, but don’t think you’re safe under carpet, either. Rug burn sucks. 

2. Consider the kinds of exercise you want to do before you buy equipment.  

As a fellow broke college student struggling to control my insatiable spending habit, I highly recommend doing your research before you race to buy the types of equipment you see on infomercials. Most of the time, all you’ll really need are things like dumbbells, resistance bands, or kettlebells (and you can get these at places like Target or even TjMaxx). Sometimes, you’ll really only need bodyweight, which is completely free!  

3. Keep your space organized.  

I tried all of my home workouts in the comfort of my 12’x13’ sorority house room. Sharing this small of a space with a roommate makes it so that the space can get cluttered pretty quickly. However, I found that having a clean and organized surrounding space made it easier not only for me to do more physically but also to stay focused on my workout mentally as well.  

I hope you build a home gym that works for you so you can enjoy a cheap, stress-free, and convenient workout too!