Create a home gym for any space
Roll out of bed and into your own workout studio
Text: Tiff H
With the Covid-19 pandemic came a rise of virtual zoom workouts and sell outs of workout equipment proving that you can stay home and get fit. With the right apparatus, it doesn’t matter how much space you have. From HDB to condominium, there are solutions that can work for all.
You heard us — creating a home gym doesn’t necessarily require knocking down a few walls if you’re stuck for room. According to to HomeGym.SG team, the first and most important step to creating a sweat station is ensuring that you have enough leg room to comfortably (and safely!) move within your perimeters. Here’s how.
Building a compact home gym
If you are tight on size, thankfully some of the best home fitness equipment is compact and affordable. Start with either a yoga or exercise mat, which will help set the basis of your workout area. If your fitness routine involves more low-impact exercises such as yoga or Pilates, opt for a yoga mat which is designed specifically to keep you from slipping and softens the ground for your joints. Otherwise, a more multi-purpose exercise mat is great for cushioning high intensity workouts.
A skipping rope is one of the best at-home cardio exercises, working you as hard in 10 minutes than a jog would in half an hour. With ropes starting as low as SGD 5, it’s a must-have in any home gym arsenal.
Include a jump rope circuit at the start of your workout or break up your strength workouts with a few minutes of rope-jumping in between. To ramp it up a notch, skipping rope weights are also recommended. Make sure that you’re skipping on top of your yoga or exercise mat, which will lessen the impact on your joints and ensure that you’re not knocking into a pot plant/chair/younger sibling.
If you’re able to splurge, a foldable rower will work wonders to strengthen your upper body and lower body, build core strength and keep your heart rate up. Also, you can fold the rower vertically once you’re done.
With cardio taken care of, complete your compact home gym with an adjustable pair of dumbbells so you don’t need to get multiple, as well as resistance bands. The flat elastic bands for just over SGD 5 are excellent for both strengthening and toning muscles. Bonus: they’re also great for dynamic stretching.
