Living Room to Your Personal Gym 

Going to the gym is an important and popular way to maintain a healthy lifestyle and build muscle; only thing is, it can be tough to make time to get a few times a week as life’s schedule progresses and helps keep your open time minimal. We all wish we had more time to go to the gym, but that’s often just not the case.

So how can you make yourself a space within your home to address issues of fitness and help you meet your health goals? Simply put, you can build your own fitness centre smack dab in the middle of your living room.

In this post, we’ll help outline a few ways to help you make this a reality, by moving furniture, changing the layout of your existing space, addressing atmosphere, and which workouts are perfect for the home.

Stand Back and Assess your Room

Choosing the right space is just as critical as what you choose to place in that space. Choose a space that’s too small, and doing your coveted yoga routine may be a difficult fitness goal to achieve in the living room. Likewise, having a set of heavy weights beside the couch may not be the most flowing piece of decor.

Choose a space that allows for some movement, and take into consideration your ability to swiftly transform the room from your new workout haven back into a living room again. Arrange the room to give you as much access to floor space as possible, while simultaneously being able to store things like water bottles, yoga mats, weights, towels, etc.

Build Some Atmosphere

The tricky part when adjusting your living room into a gym or fitness centre is to not let one aspect overwhelm another. There’s a delicate balance involved in creating the perfect atmosphere for not only yourself, but your guests when they enter the room. You don’t want the room to feel like it has a singular purpose, rather, a balanced dual purpose.

Put up a motivational poster to help motivate you to get up off the couch to do a few sets of weight-lifting, or make yourself a few playlists of music to help you mentally transform the space: rock and upbeat music for your workout routine, and calmer, more mellow tunes for kicking back with a tea and a book after dinner.

Ensure that you’re able to open a window or two to help air out your living room space, to address issues of odours - this will help you balance the atmosphere of the room exponentially - the smell of sweat and gym clothes in your living room will always remind you that the balance is off.

Use What You Have!

There’s little sense in purchasing a bunch of workout gear that you’re never going to use. Instead, consider using what you already have available to you to help you ramp up your workout routine. Your furniture is already there, so consider using it in new ways that help you get in shape. Here are a few ways to help you mentally transform your space into a fitness centre without breaking the bank, or changing the ambiance of the most popular room in the house.

-Squats - A great exercise that helps tone your legs and butt - and one that doesn’t require any equipment. Simply clear enough space to help you meet the requirements of your skill level and alleviate the pressure and financial burden of buying a Bowflex.

-Tricep Dips on a Chair - There’s more than one way to use your huge gameday recliner chair! With your back facing the seat of the chair, position your hands on the seat while squatting. Extend your legs to place weight on your triceps and arms and lower yourself until you begin to feel your pants or shorts touch the ground. Extend back up and repeat for a hefty tricep workout that requires no weight bench.

-Sit-ups - Lay on your back and use the edge of the sofa to place your feet under a secure lip. Lace your hands behind your head and use the weight of your sofa to help you bring the weight of your upper body towards the seat cushions.

Decor

You want your living room to still feel like a living room at the end of the day, so be sure to i ncorporate decor that helps to transition between both a gym setting and a comfy living room.

Use mirrors to help you feel like you’re at the gym, and ditch your old coffee table that features no storage space for weights, yoga mats or blocks, in favour of one that helps you hide your things. Consider function over fashion - use every inch of your space to hide, or embrace, the function of the room. Use your media centre or wall unit to store your free weights or house a set of clean towels. Get rid of bulky chairs that impede your ability to complete a set of jumping jacks or push ups.

Colour theory is another powerful weapon in your fitness living room arsenal. Use of a specific set of colours can help you to ramp up or calm down depending on which way you’re facing. A power colour like red or orange may help you when undertaking a high-intensity workout, while a green or blue can help yogi’s to embrace a sense of freshness or renewal. Alternatively, opt to paint an accent wall in a gym colour so your space isn’t swayed too far in either direction.

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Remember, it’s not just the space you have - it’s what you manage to accomplish in the space you have. Adjusting and adapting your living room space into a fitness centre is one great way of reminding yourself to never neglect your physical well-being.