Designing a home workout area

S

sunsetbeach

Cathlete
I would like to design a workout area in my unfinished basement at minimal cost. Other than getting some heat piped down there, I need some sort of flooring, mirrors and a place for my vcr. Any suggestions as to what has worked well for you guys?
Lisa;)
 
Hi Lisa,
I remember a thread about a year ago concerning flooring. One girl had suggessted livestock mats.
We have a hog farm and my husband gets livestock mats for the pigs.
We built my exercise room in our garage. The most expensive part was carpeting the whole garage. :D But I put 2 livestock mats down over the carpet and then put carpeting on top. The mats are so heavy that they won't go anywhere. The measurements are like 5'by 11'. These were the pieces my husband got for me anyway.
I figured if they were good enough for horses and our pigs, they would work for me. I think the cost was around $40.

Some of the girls used mats that you put together like a puzzle. I tried to find them but couldn't.
There are alot of possibilities and I'm sure you will get many good suggesstions.

I have a cabinet on wheels with two shelves that holds my TV, VCR and part of my tape collection.

Have you seen Francine's pix? She has a mirror I'd love to have. ;-)

Have fun putting it altogether. I'm still work in process but my motto is: This is my space and where I'm spending alot of my quality time. So I went wild with color. Ever see a fushia colored furnace? LOL
Wanda
 
It all depends on what you have to spend and space!Some ideas - For flooring you could always go with outdoor carpeting, mirrors I have an 800 # I'll get for you(wholesaler) or go to home depot get a big mirror and you can also buy squares that I personally use for interval training and put up as triangles on top of the big mirror(ex when doing Imax- I jump over to each triangle after each set of 8 plyos,scissors etc to keep my intensity up while not focusing on the pain)For your tv build a platform or get a tv vcr cart(checkout your classifieds from people moving)also flea markets for equipment! Here's a link to check out my workout room "under fitness fanatics" let me now if you are looking for something particular!http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/com.hp.HPGuestLogin?username=francigirl&password=15709910
 
Francine, I LOVE YOUR PICTURES!!!! I'm so jealous of your equipment. We really need to get together soon! Oh wait, the 3rd is coming!!! Can't wait to see you again!!!
 
Francine!

You're more than my friend in fitness, you're an inspiration!
Thanks for the photos! My workout area doesn't have as much equipment...but I'm getting there! LOL!
 
Hi Deborah! Can't wait to see ya for Bodypump NEXT Monday--woohoo! Oh and bring your water and oxygen tank-haha-!I'll bring my camera- I still have pics to take to finish my camera up so I can post my and our pic with Cathe!
 
Hi Barbie! Thanks for the compliment! I have accumalated most of my equipment through the 17 yrs of home exercising from holidays, birthday gifts and also reward gifts for myself! My family use to say a gift certificate to collage? another piece of fitness equipment blah blah blah but now they are hip to my passion , very supportive & I'm also the easiest person to shop for now! ;-) (It works for everyone! )Take care and believe in yourself and make it happen!
 
I have my tapes and DVD's on a white particle board bookshelf I bought at Home Depot. Perhaps two of the best things I bought were a stand/holder for my dumb bells and another holder for my barbell plates. I found them on sale at Fitness Resource for about $25.00 each. Having equipment off the floor avoids potential accidents. My tv in on an old table my kids had used to play on. My DVD is on top to the book shelf and my VHS player is under my TV. I prefer a cool place to exercise and have a floor fan which I point at myself.

I exercise on an old area rug which is made from industrial carpet. There is virtually no pile. I have put extra padding under it. I do mostly low impact and am careful about turning. It has worked fine for me and has provided adequate cushioning for me knees. This was my cheapest solution.

Mirrors would be great. I know there are mirror squares which people mount on the wall.

I also have a bulletin board where I tack rotations and other information.

Hope this helps.

Rhonda:D
 
I just re-did my workout area which is in the finished area of my basement. Total cost was under $500.

For flooring, I used a double layer of interlocking foam mats which covers the entire floor. My TV is wall mounted and the mount has a shelf for a VCR or DVD player. DH built me some shelves for my videos and DVDs and another shelf for the VCR and sub-woofer. I have 5 surround sound speakers mounted around my actual "work space". Right now I only have 1 big mirror, but my plan is to cover a whole wall. Until I get mirrors, I have a tapestry hanging on the wall to add some color and white Christmas lights which I like when I'm doing Yoga or Pilates. I also have a floor fan and an air filter down there, it gets hot in the summer and the air quality isn't the best.

I hope this helps.
 
Thanks for your replies. I think I am going to try and find those interlocking pieces of flooring, paint my concrete walls a bright color and invest in some home depot mirrors. When I work out at home I can never see myself but I'm beginning to think that mirrors are important to check form and see progress. Francine, I enjoyed looking at your pictures!
Lisa
 
RE: Interlocking flooring

My local Home Depot has interlocking rubber mats (2 foot x w foot, four to a pack for $20). Since I live out in the boonies, I'm sure any Home Depot would carry these.
 
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