Your home gym is waiting.
In its leanest form, a home gym is simply a television set with a few square feet of clear space in front of it.
Or, on the high end, it can be a multiroom, several-thousand-dollar complex with equipment to rival the gym down the street.
Whatever their shape, home gyms are muscling their way into American homes. According to the National Association of Home Builders, one-third of potential and new homeowners consider a home gym essential or desirable. And the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association reports a 30 percent increase in the number of Americans who exercise in their homes.
"It's a big trend all across the country," said Jim White, a home gym consultant and owner of Jim White Fitness Studios in Virginia Beach. "The gyms I've seen range from an 8-by-10 -foot room to garages to living rooms to special rooms with state-of-the-art equipment."
White has helped a score of homeowners set up gyms here, in Florida, Ohio and Arizona.
The most requested pieces of equipment, he said, are treadmills and elliptical steppers, which can run from $400 to $3,000. Some of White's clients want weightlifting systems that target every major body part and can cost $5,000 or more. Free weights, bikes, plasma TVs - some gyms have it all.
But don't despair if your wallet can't handle such heavy lifting.
An exercise mat, a jump rope, ankle weights, a towel and a medicine ball are sufficient to outfit a home gym.
"For under $200, you can have these basics and do everything you need to do to get in shape," White said.
Helena D'Agostino of Virginia Beach has tucked her home gym into a space the size of a sleeping bag in the corner of her bedroom, including bands, boxing gloves, weighted ball and mat.
"It's all here, whatever I need," she said.
Proper technique is critical to avoiding injury, White said. Options for learning how to use the equipment range from one of the hundreds of how-to books and exercise DVDs on the market to hiring a personal trainer to make you sweat, a service that locally costs between $50 and $100 an hour.
"The thing about a trainer coming to your house is that you can come up with excuses to not go to the gym, but when the guy is knocking on your door, you are going to work out," said Buzz Gilbert, who works out with White in his home gym three times a week.
Whatever the size, the environment should get as much thought as the equipment, White said. Don't overlook these elements:
Decor Motivational posters are popular. So are before-and-after photographs of the home exerciser. White knows one couple who have taken close-up shots of their flexed muscles, framed them and hung them on the walls.
Music A beat can keep you going. A radio will do, but the most high-end gyms have surround sound.
Mirrors Critical in weight work to check proper form. This can range from a mirror on the back of a door to floor-to-ceiling mirrors.
Television and DVD player Watch a movie while burning calories on the treadmill, or pop in an exercise DVD and get pumping.
A fan Something to keep the air circulating
But a home gym, not matter how fancy, won't work unless it's used regularly. And don't forget, "nutrition is critical," White said.
Lorraine Eaton, (757) 446-2697
lorraine.eaton@pilotonline.com
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