Reinventing my workouts

(And setting up a home gym in my garage!)

Working out has been necessary for me for as long as I can remember. But in the last year, with the demands of a high-growth leanly staffed startup, long hours and an inconvenient commute, the work day suddenly took over my life and left me with little to no time for other activities.

I could no longer work out every evening after work like I used to. Going to the gym after work in rush-hour traffic started becoming a 2+ hour ordeal, even after 12 hour work days. If I did make it to the gym, I would either be left with little energy to give my workouts my best, or I would find no equipment at the gym in it’s busiest hours, when other professionals like me were also hoping to get in their daily workouts.

I am not much of a morning person, and didn’t want to have to wake up at 4 or 5 am to get my workout in when I was already waking up at 6 am to get to work. I am not much of a runner either, which didn’t leave me with many options. I knew I had to reinvent my workout and change habits, and learn new ways of staying fit and healthy.

With the advice of my cousin, a personal trainer, a yogi and an overall great guy, I made two changes. One, I added evening yoga twice/week so my body could relax and recharge. And two, I started doing more movement based workouts with kettlebells at home.

To get started with these changes, my cousin taught me some basic yoga asanas which quickly made me realize how inflexible my body is. Not surprising — given I had never done yoga in my entire life!

He also taught me a few basic kettlebell moves, specifically the kettlebell swing. For about a week, all I did for exercise was 25 minutes of 15 pound kettlebell swings and two yoga sessions twice a week. All I needed was one 15 pound kettlebell, and access to a yoga studio a few blocks away from home.

I kept going to the gym on the days I could and added yoga and at home kettlebell workouts on the days I couldn’t make it to the gym. This worked perfectly — I learnt some new ways to challenge and recharge my body, I used my time effectively and my workouts benefitted from some much needed variation.

Then the coronavirus hit. The first two weeks of WFH and social distancing left me fantasizing about how I could use my time more effectively to do longer workouts at the gym in off-peak hours if I managed my work day effectively, and do more yoga in the evenings after work, but this was not to be. The gym and yoga studio closed within days of the virus spreading. Left without many options, I decided to build on the foundation I had already laid with the kettlebell workout at home. I had a somewhat unfinished garage with enough space in a corner. I was going to convert that into my home gym.

To start with, I researched what items I would need to set up a basic home gym to meet my goals. I looked at a ton of blogs and forums, and several of the items listed were not ideal for me and my personal goals. For example, while a rowing machine would be great for cardio purposes, my goal from the gym did not include cardio at home. With this research, I identified a set of items I would need to get set up. Next, I prepped the garage area. We hadn’t used the garage other than for storage and parking our cars so the area needed some TLC. I cleared out one area of the garage, and swept and washed the floor.

I wanted the gym area to be minimalistic, no frills and inexpensive. I wasn’t looking for my gym to be featured on Pinterest. All I needed were 5–6 basic items. So no wallpapers, fancy floors, big branded equipment. Simple, utilitarian and cozy was what I was going for.

My criteria for what I needed to set up my home gym was the following:

• Fitness Goals: I added items that would allow me to hit my fitness goals. Specifically, for me, I want to continue to do weights, kettlebell and floor exercises to weight train and build strength. I also wanted the home gym to serve as a DIY yoga studio.
• Purpose: I wanted each item to serve multiple purposes. This was the reason I did not consider a treadmill. I didn’t need an expensive, large piece of equipment that took up a lot of space just for moving my legs. Instead, dumbbells are inexpensive, tiny and can serve so many purposes, so I invested in those.
• Budget and Space: I didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg to build out my arms and legs ( pun intended, couldn’t resist!). I set aside a budget of $500 to get started, and will add items as I go along if I feel something is lacking, subject to availability. I want to be able to do a majority of what I would normally do in the gym, but also being realistic about what I’d not be able to do immediately due to space / budget considerations
• Availability: With the news of the lockdown, the demand for hand weights, benches, squat racks, kettlebells, etc skyrocketed. Within a few hours, I found myself unable to find any home gym equipment online. I scoured every online site in vain. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one wanting to work out at home! I was able to find a pair of 25 pound dumbbells that I bought after hours of searching obsessively, and scouring every online site. Eventually, I secured a pair of dumbbells on Facebook Marketplace that we drove an hour to pick up curbside ( with a mask, gloves on and heavy sanitization efforts). Side benefit: Great road trip, with a drive-through delicious and sinful burger for lunch. #iexercisetoeat!
• Space: I wanted to be able to do a majority of what I would normally do in the gym, at home but was realistic about what I’d not be able to do immediately due to space / budget considerations. e.g a fully loaded squat rack and barbells, which I would really love to have, but wasn’t willing to spend on immediately.

With the above criteria, here’s what I ended up getting

1. A gym mat from Amazon to line the floor of the garage, and create a sort of rubber floor with some cushion that I could do weights and floor exercises on
2. 3 kettlebells — 15, 25 and 40 pounds for a variety of full body kb workouts. Pairs weren’t available, so I’ve added those to my wishlist!
3. A pair of 25 pound dumbbells
4. An exercise ball to do abs and more core body work, and to serve as a bench to do upper body weights.
5. A foam roller to smoothen out my muscles post workout.
6. 2 yoga mats — one for each of us if we want to do a home yoga session. PS: We tried our first couples yoga session with candles and some essential oils and a YouTube video to follow along, and it was relaxing until we got too cold and came back up to the main level of the house. Perfect? Not quite, but it worked.

Here’s a before and after picture of my basic 1.0 home gym.

Home gym 2.0 Wishlist ( Most of these items are currently sold out, or not available for a few months)

• A pair of Bowflex adjustable dumbbells
• Full pairs for my Kettlebells to complete my set
• A workout bench
• A squat rack and barbell with 40–100 pounds

I’m curious to hear how you have prioritized your health through all of these changes, and would love to hear any suggestions or comments you might have for me. Please do share!