My biggest reason, by far, for wanting a home gym is because I cannot stand going to my local commercial gym (no matter what time) and having it be more crowded than a nightclub. Dozens and dozens of groups of 4-5 dudes all just chilling next to every single machine. Even when you manage to get on a machine, you have to deal with another person just hovering next to you, staring at you, waiting for their turn. I hate it.

Recently converted my garage into a home gym and the thing that’s struck me most is how it’s helped on those days where I only have the time and/or energy to hit 20-30 minutes worth of work. Aside from the time constraint, I think being reliant solely on a commercial gym can also create a feeling where you feel obligated to plan a certain minimum amount of workout to justify the trip which might not jive with how you’re feeling that day. Having a home gym had certainly help me get 20-30 minutes in on those days that would otherwise end up at 0 minutes if I only had the gym membership.

Great video. I am a 68 year old woman. I have been lifting weights and working out since I was 16, really since I first learned to ride a bike and dad took the training wheels off the family bike. At that moment, my fate was sealed. Most of my weight lifting time I was going to a commercial gym. Other than that I have been an avid cyclist and runner. As I got older and had more money, I had a commercial gym membership and a home gym. I’d go to the commercial gym during the week when I was working and use my home gym on weekends and during holidays when I did not want to drive to town. I moved to a small town in Texas built 216 square-foot spacious home and a 400 square-foot gym/hydroponic garden space (yes I grow my own vegetables). Being somewhat of a veteran in the commercial gym space and having the history to know that I would use a home gym, I have spent $6000+ (not including the building) building my own home gym exactly the way I wanted it. Here in town, we do have access to the high school gym but it smells like teenage sweat and it’s built more for brute strength. I can do anything I want in my gym I am not limited by time, equipment, or space. I never have to wait for equipment or wipe someone else’s sweat off equipment. I have several pieces of Concept2 equipment (for the days it is too hot to get my aerobic work done outside). I have a rogue squat rack, several rogue barbells and lots of weights plates to go with them, ironmaster and MX adjustable dumbbells, kettlebells, fitcord resistance bands, etc. even when I belonged to commercial gyms, I did not use the machines. Most are designed for men, and I believe they mask imbalances in strength, so I have always preferred free weights. I believe for a home gym to be an asset, the athlete must be honest with her/himself. I agree that too many people equate gym with socialization. I always found this bazaar. When at a commercial gym, I literally would have men standing around my workout station (a bit of a cocoon I would create around my space at the gym) watching my workout. They knew not to talk to me or interfere when I was in “the zone”. This is why I was confident that spending $6000+ on my home gym was a no brainer. The world recedes and there is only my breathing, my body awareness, and the pure joy of lifting weights.

I have my home gym for the time savings and as a plus, my wife joins me in the gym. Something she wouldn’t do at a commercial gym.

It is so much better working out at home. You can go back and forth between equipment all you want, there is no body looking to jump on the equipment but you. Try new lifts without embarrassing yourself. No driving to the gym. No hassles with stuff not working. A power rack, high low pulley station, land mine, couple barbells, three pair of db handles and a pile of plates, and a Concept 2. Its heaven on earth.

The biggest perk to having my home gym is that my young kids see me train and sometimes they join me. Setting them down the path of fitness from a young age will set them up for future success.

Great topic, Coop! And let's not forget that working out at home means no moldy showers, no more waiting for a machine or leg press, no more trying to find parking. Plus no more waiting for guys holding court on a machine you're waiting for or having to find the dumbbells that someone has left all the way across the gym. And no more waiting and waiting for the only calf raise machine to get fixed only to have it broken again almost immediately. I LOVE working out at home!

After being a commercial gym rat for 25+ years at Golds, I built my own garage gym in 2007 and have enjoyed every minute of it! Best decision I made and would never go back to a commercial gym again.

I remember after graduating high school I had wanted a Cap barbell that spun and thought how expensive it was (I think $150) and thought I would never get it. Took years but now I have a bedroom gym that I'm truly proud of.

Number five gets to me. The local Crunch gym has some of the funkiest weight set ups from mismatched barbells and plates (kg for BB, lbs for plates) to racks that are bottom of the barrel useless in terms of j-cups and safety spotter arms. On the other hand, my gym has calibrated plates, IPF and USAPL sanctioned barbells, and a solid rack with over-engineered return rollers and beastly spotter arms. Blessed are the garage gyms.

This isn't "myth" related, per se, but to anyone thinking about going the home-gym route and is worried about cost: scalability, scalability, scalability!! I started my home gym with a pair of powerblocks in a spare bedroom just to get relatively in shape after spending most of my 20's doing jack shit. Then got a pretty cheap CAP rack, bench, barbell and weight set. Then some horse stall mats. Then got a titan pulley tower. Then added some auxiliary pieces and attachments, kettlebells, etc. Rower is on its way as we speak. You don't need to go all out right away, my gym has been "under construction" for 5+ years. If you're thinking about the home gym life, start small and you'll fall in love with your new happy place. I honestly can't stress how much better even a cheap, under-equipped home gym is than a commercial gym (at least for people like me who aren't "trying to be seen").

I started my home gym journey when the gyms closed and I've never looked back. There are ups and downs but I absolutely love the convenience and having my own domain to train however I want!

Got my power rack from Titan scratch and dent, Titan axel bar, Rogue boneyard bar that's fantastic, built my own platform, bench, and weight holders, made weight plates from concrete and others from old brake discs, got a really nice power tower from Ollie's for 1/2 off retail, added some cheap turf, plus some other random stuff, and absolutely love my basement gym. No commute, can play with my dog during my workout, can train barefoot, blast whatever music, do laundry, check on what's in the oven or instant pot, it's made life so much more efficient and for a busy person it takes away a lot of the barriers that a commercial gym has. But I'm a simple guy and stay away from machines anyway. Getting creative with it is a lot of fun too.

Transitioning to a home gym in 2 weeks when my membership runs out! Always wanted to have one and I bought most of it on Facebook marketplace. Let’s go! I can blast that music and grunt as much as I want!! Lol

If anything I feel like my overall variety is better at my home gym. Because I'm working with less/limited equipment so I have to do different kinds of exercises I never thought of to make progressions. I have learned so much more on how to maximize the equipment that I have in order to get stronger. In a commercial gym I would get caught up using the same equipment all the time and doing the same exercises because of the machines. In my home gym I have to keep finding ways to make things more difficult whether it is changing angles, cutting out rest time, try to make light weight feel heavier etc.

I love my home gym. Just recently I went to a commercial gym to show my 15 yr old what it was like. We had fun using the various machines... when they finally became available. We both preferred the fun of working out at home where we put on the shows we want, joke around and be loud, and can spend as much time as we want when we want doing the exercises we want. Even if my home gym does not have everything, it is where I prefer to train.

When you were adding up the cost of a commercial gym you can add in transportation. I did the math for me to go a planet fitness it would run me almsot 1000 a year with gas prices

So another thing to include in the costs of commerical gyms is if you have to drive. Fuel + wear and tear on the car adds up big time. If you take public transport that's less cost but then you are relying on set schedules and more time taken up travelling. Think I have spent about £5,000 since covid and in fuel costs alone I have nearly broke even. Add in wear and tear on the car being saved, gym membership and of course the amount of time I have saved travelling (plus having a gym during the holidays when everything closed), I'm well into a profit.

I’ve had my home gym since the pandemic, I must say it felt different working out by myself, but I got use to it. I’m still adding equipment to my gym, but what I like the most, I don’t have to share equipment and whatever I buy I own it love it 🥰

For me, building a home gym solved my issue of not going to the gym. PF was always a fight to use equipment, and id sometimes spend an hour just on the treadmill waiting to use a machine, so i stopped going and wasting money. Since i built a home gym, ive worked out damn near every single day

I love my home gym. Its my temple. I can do exercises there that I am too self-conscious to do in a public gym. In other words, I am comfortable experimenting and learning, and looking foolish. I have all the equipment that I need, and what I don’t have I can improvise. I do my program without waiting for equipment and without interruption from other gym goers. I can play my music at the volume that I want it at. I can set the lights as high or low as I want. I can workout any time of day or night, and I do not need to drive to get there. I can do curls in the squat rack, I can absolutely destroy myself to the point where I collapse on the floor and lay there for an hour and nobody will ask me if I am done with the rack. All the sweat that has dripped and dried on things is mine. My dog can be there with me. Thats probably enough for now.

Home gym life taught me that I don't need an audience to workout, has increased my consistency and training days(while sick even), and I don't need a huge variety of equipment to get big and strong. Can't imagine going back to commercial gyms

Myth 6 - You forgot to include that at home, you can workout in your underwear/ranger panties and not get called out. Squat day is frequently underwear, belt, and knee sleeves.

Appreciate this channel so much. Thank you Coop and GGR team for consistently pumping out gems ❤

Having a home gym is actually harder to “get up and go” because driving, you at least get a different scenery/a routine, where as a home gym is “at your hands” you can go whenever you want. My personal experience

I started building my home gym in 1995. Its pretty massive now. In almost 29 years Ive never missed a day other than when Im on vacation. I love being able to wake up at 4am, workout, shower, then off to work. I can set all my equipment up the night before, do crazy supersets, everything. I don't think I could ever workout in a public gym at this point.

I'm always amazed how easy it is to talk myself out of taking the 15 to 20 steps to my garage gym to go workout. The struggle is real!

As someone who rents an apartment, my home gym cost less than $1800 and is crammed into a 10x10 room that doubles as my work office. Had to scour the used market and definitely don't have as much space as I want for certain things, but you can get sick gains on a budget, while renting, and without a huge amount of space

I train in my home gym with the equipment I designed to add to my power cage, like a pivot leg press machine. Also designed cable systems for my power cage, such as crossover cages with adjustable heights, a cage system for seated leg extensions, and seated leg curls. I use cylindrical roller thrust bearings rather than bushing for rotating parts. The pulley cage systems are 2 to 1 leverage pulley systems. These two features make the equipment function smoothly.

DO THE TRULAP ADJUSTABLE DUMBELLS !!!!! love the vids def want to see a trulap vs nuobells

Home gym is the way to go, I've spent about 2,200 or so on my setup over the past 3 years, which is more than a commercial gym would have cost over that same period, but I will continue to use those items for years to come, and the convenience factor cannot be overstated here, I get more workouts done knowing I can just go to my basement and smash out a quick workout than I ever would having to drive to a gym. The myth of space is defied at my place, I have about 300 square feet to work with at my place and I have everything that I need, and am able to have a pretty diverse selection of exercises.

I built my gym in my garage after having my son. Getting out of the house for my workout got 4x harder after he arrived and having the gym there for when I can squeeze it in has been incredible. I'm very blessed we had the space and resources for it. And this channel has helped me make it an amazing place to workout!

Planning to make a home gym in my garage very soon can't wait

I have a pretty nice home gym. Cost to date is over $9000 (steel plates and bumpers, rack, multiple bars, dumbbells, treadmill). I use it WAY more than my old gym membership. Like all gear, if you buy what interests you, you will use it more. finding ways to use this gear instead of machines is fun/interesting. The nice part is that my home gear is pretty decent - rogue, ivanko, eleiko, etc. and nobody is screwing it up. oh... and I put my plates away when I feel like it. :)

While I’m still a member at the local commercial gym, I love my home gym. I have all the equipment I need in about 800 sf, & the best part is that nobody will interrupt me there during a workout to ask me training tips or questions. 💪

Weights and cardio are the easy part, IT'S THE POOL that takes me to a commercial gym!

Power rack, barbell, bench , bumpers, pulley, done , dead on video, love my home setup 🙏🔥💪

Great video on home gyms! Love it!

My home gym has helped me miss very few workouts. I'm never going back to the big box gyms.

the music is way better in my home gym then any commercial gym 🎸🤘

I started my home gym journey only a few months ago (so thanks Coop and the team!) and being in Australia it's been slightly different but an interesting experience. Used to go to commerical gyms in my teens and 20s until family life and career took over. Now in early 40s, it's great to get back into it, and now have the budget and space for a decent home gym but you can still buy 2nd hand good stuff out there and thankfully, lots are selling their Pandemic gear so plenty of quality bargains to be had. Biggest myth I see is the entertainment side too. Not only can I enjoy not having to work in with others but also I can put my own music on without headphones, and even stick YT on the TV I've set up in there and watch a few GGR between sets.

I’ve used and liked both settings over the years. I’m really surprised, though, how hard it is to find a great deal on used equipment. I thought there would be tons of that stuff out there but not so much really.

Amen brother, amen!

Built my home gym for about £500 in 2017, paid itself again and again... When not injured, I'm in there 5-6 days a week and easily have time to spend with my wife, kids, friends and work. Commercial gym I could only do twice a week max... My home gym has been a god send, and it's normalising exercise for my kids - something I never had when I was a kid.

Time travelling back and fourth to the gym is not added into your calculation of how much a gym costs. And it's also not subtracted out of the cost of a home gym. It is my view that the break-even point for a home gym is a lot earlier When you factor in the time savings. I'm traveling to the gym, Getting ready for the gym, waiting on equipment, and driving back from the gym. Also the gym I used to belong to was not a 24-hour gym I use my gym at 4:00 in the morning. That has to be factored in as well

Ouch, the last myth hurt my brain. How is that even possible that people think you can't get big and strong in a home gym?

I save a lot of money not buying food and drink both on the way to and from the gym. Nothing worse than your hunger spiking as you drive past fast food places to get home.

The main reason I want to build a home gym is to not have to wait for equipment to be available. At my big box gym we're lucky enough to have 8 power racks but during busy times its still often a 20+ minute wait to get on one of them. Same with getting a bench. Now if only I didn't live in a small apartment with a spouse that doesn't want large gym equipment taking up space. I have a fold-up bench and some dumbbells that allow me to do some work but I still go to the gym most of the time instead.

I agree with everything you say. I love my own home gym and use it every day. However, I want to put in one small word for public gyms based on my own experience. I joined a commercial gym and started working out when I was 51 years old. I had no experience before then with systematic exercise. If I had tried to go directly to working out at home then, I would have failed because I didn’t know how to work out. By being able to try a lot of different machines and equipment in a big box gym and see other people working out, I was gradually able to figure out how I could exercise in a way that worked for me. By the time the pandemic came around a decade later, I was well experienced with exercise, and I was able to make the transition to home workouts very smoothly. I do miss the socialization aspect of public gyms a little, but otherwise I much prefer working out at home.

I am a personal trainer at my local ymca and I have convinced them to order a rogue Ohio bar and Ohio power bar as well as an elitefts power bar. They also ordered an SS Yoke bar and a reverse hyper.

The biggest advantages for me that a Home Gym gives is that it has been cheaper than going to a commercial gym, I don't have he risk of being mocked on social media or accused as a snitch by a woman wanting attention and recording for TikTok. Also, I can train when I want, without waiting for equipment to be available or being in line for a specific equipment

Awesome video, Coop!

More important - you don't have to share equipment and wait for it.

6:30 I have more versatility at home. I can do things I would never have done in a commercial gym AND i have almost everything covered with the equipment I have. I would never do glute kick-backs with people around for example. I also would never take a bench to a set of cables. But since its my functional trainer and my space I can do ALLLLL kinds of stuff I never did before. I would 100000% never go back. If I had no choice I would just do prison workouts in my bedroom.

You should review the Rogue Hybrid Power Bar

A bench ( nautilus i found for free) the bowflex adjustables and a barbell with some plates saves me on days its crowded definitely want a rack next so i can never go back since the fitness craze every gym has been stacked since January definitely love coop motivated me to start and its helped tremendously with my goals

Where can I find the Olympic bar storage at 1:50 on the rep rack?

My local Golds gym uses Rogue Ohio Powerbars for Barbells. They have 5 of these. Not all commercial gyms are equal

Can anyone help me out with what was that setup at 6:25? Landmine attachment with what pad?

I think whats made me really decide to start building a home gym is the cost analysis. Ill get my money back in about 3 to 5 years plus ill have the equipment still as well. Being able to do tiny things through the workday is great. The gym tik tok videos accusing men of doing wrong was also a factor.

Best "Channel" on You Tube. Always informative and helpful, Coop. Appreciate the effort, keep up the great work!

= 💯💯 Love my home gym❗ Thank Coop❗

Trained in my front room for 15 years till last year when my wife relented and let me convert the garage ( previously a storage area) and I've never been more enthusiastic I use it 8 times a week religiously never been happier, not a very social person .

Pre-Pandemic I was going to OrangeTheory Fitness. When everything shutdown, I purchased a Bowflex Treadmill, NordicTrack S22i Bike, Ab dolley, Perfect Push-up, and this past Christmas I got the Bowflex 552 Dumbbells. I workout 3-4 times a week. Each workout avg 1100 calories burned. Since I am pre-diabetic, I changed diet and its working so far. It's all about dedication. Once I hop on the bike or treadmill, the mind power takes over. Then I do the Caroline Girvan KZfaq workouts (Highly recommend for at home workouts).

Looking big lately👍

I just hate waiting for a squat rack to open up because some inconsiderate person has spent the last 45 minutes doing curls in it. Also at my local recreation center where I used to train they have really dumb rules about dead lifts; if you put the weight down too fast and it makes noise the grouchy receptionist will come give you shit. I built my home gym 4 years ago and haven't stepped foot in the local gym since. Considering the cost for membership fees that I would've been paying had I continued to train at my local gym, my home gym has paid for itself twice over.

We've always used an extra bedroom or game room for our home gym. I've had a home gym for over 30 years and haven't had a gym membership for 8 years. I'd rather use my setup than even the most extravagant gym. I rarely find people sitting on my bench checking their text messages. No gym has the Ironmaster dumbbell spotting stands that I use. I save tons of time and money.

Having to drive to a gym kills my excitement so I could never keep a regular plan. The closest gym to me is also Planet Fitness, which isn't a good gym. At the beginning of last year I decided to use my finished basement to build a gym figuring I could add as I go. I have not missed a workout since. I have a bench, squat rack, tons of plates, dumbells, bars, kettlebells, door pullup bar, a bike and punching bag. I am set for now. My first room is now full and I will expand into the 2nd room down in my basement if I want more stuff later on. It did cost more to get all this stuff, but it is not so bad adding over time. The motivation I have to workout now was worth the price.

Just the shear fact that I cant just go in and do what I came to do makes it worth it. Also if you work from hom its great because I split up my workouts to get activity throughout the day.

Hey can you do a MAJOR LUTIE review please?

Hopefully someone can answer this. Would a rogue monster lite pull-up bar/crossmember that is 43in wide fit in the hole spacing of a rep rack? I want to potentially get rep power rack with Athena but have it at 49in wide instead of 47in. Thanks

How do you keep your garage gym dust free over time? I’m thinking about adding a gym to my garage but I am worried about the dust being in a garage. Thoughts?

Biggest reasonfor me to haveing homegym is that i get left alone and can rest as long as i want between setsetc, and i dont feel rushed because 3 other dudes want the squat rack.

I've been building my home gym for over 39 years now. Starting 30 years ago I started giving myself $500 a year to spend on gym equipment figuring that was how much I would be spending to belong to a "real" gym every year.

Where I live in Vegas commercial gyms are way too overcrowded. Depending on what time you go obviously but for the most part just too crowded. I would love to have an awesome home gym. Right now. It is not feasible though. I do have a couple of things That are helping me get back into shape though. I have a cheap power tower and an old Total Gym. Was thinking about getting a functional trainer but wife said no.

What is that treadmill?! Is there a review for it?

I built my home gym and use it 5 days a week. My neighbors thought my insulated, climate controlled Amish shed gym was a storage building.

Not to mention with a simple waiver you can charge family & friends to train with your equipment & it'll pay for itself then some.

Just get a Powertec unit and be done with it, free weight lifting with no need for a spotter. I’ve had the Powertec Multi-System and a couple of other of their pieces for 25yrs and it all still looks and functions like new. Heavy duty stuff.

I did a single month jump back to a box gym just to do some machines and within 2 experiences, I absolutely regretted my decision. The home gym has made working out so much easier. The convenience of not driving/walking and being able to split up workouts through the day... it's limitless how important a home gym can be to your overall health (physical and mental). I'm actually really happy I experienced this because it's been about 4 years since i've been in a box gym and I'm now even MORE grateful for the home gym community. Thank you Coop and so many others who have reviewed equipment and made this possible.

I have body solid 3,000 and 350 lbs of olympic weight plates and dumbbells from 15 to 50 but I do have Kensui dumbbells thanks to coop and have been working out for about 7 years

all you need is body weight and 15 and 25 bound dumbbells'

The biggest upside to having a home gym for me is not needing to do my hair and makeup to go workout. I definitely work out more frequently due to being able to exercise in a less than socially acceptable state.

Myth #8: Garage Gyms are better than Basements... 🤪

lol @8:33 don't fool yourself Coop. Little granny next door can out flex you on her worst day. She'll hit the back double bicep on her way out after dropping off the homemade chicken noodle soup

If I remember correctly, Frank Zane trained for the ‘79 Olympia in his home gym, because he liked the solitude and peace of it. Just him and the equipment.

Random question, but what brand of T-shirt is that?

Having my garage gym is nice but I much prefer to go to my commercial gym. I like the social aspect of it and it’s not necessarily to talk to other people or be looked at, more so just being in that environment of like minded people

I am wondering where I can get one of those chairs. 😂😁

1-I work out 6 to 7 days a week 2- my one arsenal strength cost more then 3k(I have 37k so far in my gym) 3- 16x23 is my gym size. So yes ur right 4-no I have so much to pick from. 9 leg machines in my gym 5- my gym is better then my town commercial gym 6-75% no some days yes 7-lol

Myth: you will be guaranteed to look like you lift if you get a decked out home gym. Getting 30$ gymnastics rings, a $200 power rack, barbell and plates plus training to failure or close to it plus calorie surplus then you will.

After I built my home gym I could never go back to commercial. Maybe to a power lifting gym only for the environment.

I'm waiting for your "stack" to come alive at any moment now!

You’re right just because you spent a load of dough on a home gym doesn’t mean you’re gonna use it. How many expensive coat hangers have been purchased every new year.

Always use my home gym, tried a commercial gym for a month and hated it, much prefer to workout at home, have been using the same bench for the past 25 years and added more weights as I needed them, made my own trap bar and pulley system for free.

100% agree

Review HACK SQUAT MACHINES

Best gains I've ever made have been made in my home gym by myself 90% of the time.

I am 330a/4a guy at my local gym.., and I like it.., but once my kids get older, I will probably build a home gym for them

My first ever good quality barbell was my synergy barbell with needle bearings lol. Only other barbell was a texas barbell at a local gym, but it was always being used for obvious reasons.