Building a Home Gym

09 Jun 2024 | ~4 minute read

I haven't done a FatBoy update in a little while, so I decided to do a double-whammy and talk about how I've been getting on, along with my new home gym.

When last we spoke, back in February, things were looking really positive - I was closing in fast on my 100kg target, and was confident I was going to hit my 95kg stretch goal.

Things have gone to shit since then.

I think what happened was that I started thinking I've got this in the bag, so I let my foot off the glass and started falling into old habits. It's not disastrous, as I've only put on a couple KG, but it's still the wrong direction.

Taking action

I've put myself (mostly) back on the wagon, but since I'm now lighter and fitter, my weight is starting to plateau, so I've had to up my game.

When I was in the military, I did a lot of weight lifting. I was never huge, I was just very fit and fairly toned. Now I know I'll never have a six pack again, and that's fine. But if I can get to a point where I've got a bit of muscle tone back, and I'm (more importantly) fitter and generally healthier, that's a win.

I'm lucky to have a double garage at home that I've converted into a pretty cool workshop. Now I've sold one of my motorbikes, I had some space, so decided to build a little gym in there.

I could have joined a local gym, but I already had some of the kit at home, plus the one thing I'm really poor in, is time. I just don't have time to pack a bag, drive to the gym, workout, shower, drive back, unpack etc. It's much better for me to put the kids to bed, get changed and head to the garage. It also has the advantage of being able to train whenever is best for me.

So my little gym consists of a few basic pieces of equipment:

• A spin bike for cardio (very important for fitness and losing weight)
• A weights bench
• A set of adjustable dumbbells that range from 2 - 40kg

The dumbbells are fantastic. They have a little ratchet system that allows me to choose a weight and pickup the bar. There's no messing around switching plates off and on. Plus, 40kg will be plenty for my needs, I think.

Here's a close up of what the dumbbells look like:

Training schedule

I've only been back at this a few weeks, and I've been taking it easy so I don't injure myself (I have this habit of thinking I can lift what I used to lift, overdoing it, and injuring myself).

I'm now back into the swing of things and I'm doing a 3 day split where I do push, pull, legs (PPL) with a 20-30 min spin before each weight session. I'm also continuing to walk the dogs pretty much every day, of course.

I think I'm quickly going to outgrow the PPL split, so I'll soon change to a more traditional 3 day split of something like; chest & triceps, back & biceps, shoulders & legs.

The cost

Gym equipment isn't cheap, but neither is a gym membership to be fair. At least now I own this equipment and won't need to pay a recurring fee. Here's what my little home gym cost me:

• Dumbbell set - £200 (they're now much more expensive, but I got these a while ago)
• Weight bench - £100
• Spin bike - £300
• Mirror - £65
• Total - £665 ($845)

Looking at the cost of a gym membership in my area, they're around £50/month, or £600/year. So assuming I keep at this, my little home gym will pay for itself in around a year.

Sure, I don't have the same equipment as a full-fledged gym, but I think I have everything I need to reach my goals. I might add a preacher bench and E-Z bar at some point, but I want to make sure this sticks before investing any more money into the gym.

Final thoughts

If I can get back into doing something I've always enjoyed, and get healthier at the same time, it's gotta be a win. There's been a couple of evenings where I've had to drag myself out there, but when I do, the endorphins kick in and I feel great afterwards. I'm happy to say that it's getting easier every time I do go out there.

I just need to sort my diet out now, as I've well and truly fallen off the wagon there, and that's like 80% of it.

We're now getting close to my 40th birthday, so I need to pull my finger out and get this nailed - there's no way I'm gonna fail this. I need to be <100kg before August; but then, more importantly, keep it off too.

• FatBoy
• HomeLife