Garage gym on a budget? 3 costly mistakes new home gym owners often make

Hey Fringe Fam! Happy Monday, Happy February 1! Whewww… we made it through January 2021! This year is officially in full swing, and we hope that you’re still crushing your goals and resolutions.

If you’re still on the gainz train this year, you might be looking to expand your garage gym collection of gear. (If you're not yet on it... choo choo, all aboard!)

We've got the 3 biggest, most-costly mistakes to be made in building a home gym below... so you can avoid making one of these. Let's talk costly mistakes.

1. A cluttered gym

When you’ve eaten at home, and you’ve got a dirty dish, you bring that dish to the sink. If there are already dishes in the sink, you’re likely to stick that dirty dish on top. If the sink is empty, you’ll likely wash the dish and put it away to dry… right?

The same concept can be applied for a garage gym.

If you walk out the door and see a sparkly clean, uncluttered garage gym, you’re motivated to get after it and get a lift in. If you walk out to your gym, and there’s clutter lying around, you’re likely to put in a half-effort workout at best, if any workout at all.

This is a costly mistake because a dirty, cluttered gym affects your strength, which affects your happiness, which affects your well-being. The beautiful equipment you’ve acquired is then money wasted. The solution is simple.

Fringe Sport tip: Keep your garage, your gym, your workout space clean and uncluttered. Make this a rule!

Lucky for you, we also carry storage pieces for all of your equipment to make it easier to keep your space clean and uncluttered (and open your frosty cold-ones after a tough workout).

2. Spending big bucks on gear of limited use…

Like a rowing machine.

This is not to say that if you love it, and will use it religiously, that a rowing machine is a bad investment. This is also not to say that we don’t love rowing, because we do.

A good, high quality rowing machine starts at about $1,000.

If you’re tight on cash to build out your garage gym… a rowing machine is not the piece to get. You know what else you can get for $1,000?

-A high quality squat rack

-A barbell

-A bench

-Bumper Plates

-Maybe even kettlebells or dumbbells, too, depending on your budget

Now, let’s think about the effect $1,000 can have on your strength if you don’t have all of those pieces of equipment. If you were to go for the rowing machine first over the equipment listed above, that will have a massive impact on your strength and performance. You might get really good at cardio and endurance workouts, but your strength will be lacking.

If you’re looking at building a garage gym on a budget, look at the big things first, like the things we’ve listed in our video about the top 5 essentials for a garage gym.

Fringe Sport pro tip: Get your strength equipment first, and save up for the big, flashy investment items.

3. Poor use of floor space

Getting things that take up a lot of space on the floor that have very limited utility is costly to your garage gym development and your strength. If you’re wondering what an example of that might be, we’re thinking… a GHD. 

We love the GHD. We love glute ham raises and GHD sit-ups, and of course, they’re a part of our training. But, if you look at the footprint that a GHD takes up on the floor along with the limited utility it brings to your workouts… it’s not one of those items that should be tippy-top priority to fill your garage gym space.

When you think about equipment that you’re using on a regular basis, a GHD might come up from time to time. That isn’t to say that it isn’t like the rowing machine above… it can, and should be if you want it to be, an investment piece that eventually makes its way into your space.

An alternative to GHD use in your workout might look like supplementing with exercises that mimic what a GHD might do for you, or visiting your local community gym (who likely has WAY more floor space and could probably use the business at this time).

Fringe Sport pro tip: Look at what you’ve got available for floor space, and consider that when you’re building your own garage gym.

If you’re interested in more tips for your garage gym journey, give us a like, a comment below, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Give us a follow on Instagram @fringesport, and tag us in your garage gym workouts, transformations, and keep us up to date on your journey within the Garage Gym Revolution.

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Questions? Leave ‘em below. As always, Fringe Fam, lift heavy, lift happy :)