Don’t know how to work out at home? Today I’m showing you my easy tips on how to build an at-home gym. It doesn’t take much to turn your appartment into a fitness space.

After being in quarantine for almost two months, many countries and regions are lifting restrictions again. Gyms, however, remain closed in many areas. If you are not a workout junkie like myself who likes to work out all the time, chances are you either stopped working out all together or you slowly adjusted to the entire virtual-workout-thing.

Either way, today I want to show you how to easily set up an area in your appartment or house that serves as a small at-home gym. You mostly don’t need much. I live in a small two-bedroom appartment together with my boyfriend and I use our living room for my workouts (and for my fitness videos).

I designated a small corner next to my desk for my exercise equipment. That’s two mats (one for yoga and one for regular workouts), a foam roller (because nothing feels better after a couple of intense sweat sessions), and a little basket with the smaller stuff (think weights, resistance bands, and so on).

I used to have weights up to 10 lbs (5 kg) but realized that working out with such heavy weights made me bulk up a ton. Yes, I know that fitness professionals everywhere talk about how lifting heavy doesn’t make you bulky. This may be true for a certain body type like the one that doesn’t build muscle easily (think skinny model type). But since I started my fitness program in my mom’s tummy, I develop muscles quite easily.

Scientific studies are not always the universal truth

Just because someone claims to be an expert in a field, doesn’t mean it’s neccessarily true what he or she is saying. Don’t always believe everything. Not even scientific studies show the universal truth (most of them are funded by big companies looking to display a certain message). Always ask questions and see if it inuitively feels right to you. If it doesn’t, it probably isn’t. At least for you. And that’s totally fine!

Statements like ‘lifting heavy doesn’t make you bulky’ are mostly backed up by marketing strategies to get, for example, more women to sign up for a gym membership instead of soley relying on Pilates or Yoga for their workout. But let me tell you, I know enough women in the bodybuilding industry that are crazy muscular. I’m always astonished how much you can transform your body.

It’s worth mentioning though, that these women also eat a crazy amount of calories on top of their lifting routine. Just because you use some weights here and there without upping your calorie amount much, won’t make you look muscular right away (I will touch on the sciences behind that in a post soon).

You may have gotten the impression by now that I’m against the concept of gyms. That’s not true. It’s a great place to get your body moving and connect with other like-minded people. And if you love going to the gym, then please continue doing so. I just want to make sure, you are going through the world with open eyes, questioning things here and there.

But back to my at-home gym. After I’ve thrown out all my heavier weights, I now only have 4 and 6 lbs left. To be honest, I rarely ever use them. I mostly rely on my own bodyweight and that’s challenging enough. You just have to be a little creative with your exercises. But don’t worry, I share everything with you!

You don’t need much for your at-home gym

Besides that I also have ankle weights (they come very handy if you just want to add a little zoom to your leg workout), resistance bands, sliders, a jump rope (that I never use because I would trash the entire appartment :D), and towels. That’s it! And I store everything in this cute little basket with colorful pom poms. This one is not available anymore but you can find a smiliar one here.

As I said before, you don’t need all of this. A mat, a towel, and maybe a foam roller are totally enough for start. You can always add some things later on when you feel like it.

You see, there is room for a little at-home gym even in the tiniest appartment. Now you just need some space to roll out your mat, turn on your computer/TV/iPad, and get moving!

I would love to see your at-home gym area. Share with me either in the comments below or on Instagram with the hashtag #fabhomegym.

Stay fit & fabulous!