Should you Set Up a Home Gym in Your Garage? (Here’s your guide to figure it out)

September 5, 2023

Should you move your home gym (home exercise space) to your garage? That’s a great question (that I’ve been asked many times)! The answer is a resounding–maybe. Today I’m going to walk you through all the things you need to be asking yourself BEFORE you move all your fitness tools out to the garage so you’ll be confident you’re making the right decision. There’s a lot more to consider than just the temperature out there.

First off, this information IS NOT for you if you have a fancy garage with a kitchen, bathroom, extra space you’re not using AND central heat and air. This post IS FOR YOU if you have a typical residential garage where you may or may not park a car or two and store all your camping gear, tools and kids’ bikes.

I’m going to help you feel confident about whether you should move your workouts to the garage by asking you a few questions. (Much like I did in the article where I helped you figure out whether you should buy a Peloton or not. You can read that article next –>> Should You Buy a Peloton? Here’s how to Decide

So, let’s find out if it’s going to be a smart move to relocate your home gym to your garage by covering a few important things you need to ask yourself…

Does your WiFi work for streaming video in your garage?

I know the garage might only be a few feet from your main house but don’t assume your Wifi will work out there.

Test out your service for streaming video from inside your garage. Trust me on this. Open up your favorite exercise on demand service and hit play and confirm that your entire video plays without any problems.

You don’t want to find out AFTER you move all your equipment to the garage that it’s impossible to stream a workout from the internet without lots of connection disruptions or ‘buffering’.

And even if you aren’t streaming workouts right now for home exercise then I still recommend you test this. If you’re exercising at home then it’s likely you’ll eventually add this resource to your home workout program.

*And, as a side note, why aren’t you using streaming workout services to workout at home? Learn more about them in this article–>> Exercise on Demand–How to Know if It’s Time to Pay

Do you have the outlets you’re going to need? (And more importantly, are they in the right place?)

Guess what, if you workout at home you’re most likely using a TV or computer monitor to look up workouts and/or stream them from the interwebs.

All that tech needs to be charged and/or plugged in to work.

While you’re scoping out where you plan to set up your home exercise equipment don’t forget to locate all the outlets in your garage.

You might need to add an extension cord to your next shopping list.

Do you have somewhere to set up a TV or monitor?

I don’t know about you, but my garage doesn’t have anywhere to place a computer, TV monitor, notebook or bottle of water–except on the floor.

If you’re planning to exercise in the garage you might need a table, shelf or some other piece of furniture to place your monitor and/or notebook.*

This might seem like a silly detail but creating a workout space that’s streamlined and functional will actually make it more likely that you’ll use it.

*Take notes during and/or after every workout in a notebook or on a calendar. Seeing your progress is an incredible motivator and an important accountability tool.

How clean is the air in your garage? What about the floor?

You need to consider the environment outside your garage door because that’s the air you’ll be sucking into your lungs when you workout in the garage (not the filtered air you breathe in your living room).

Do you live next to a field? Or at the end of a gravel road? All that dust in the air will be a part of the garage air.

Do you have outdoor allergies? Then they’re more likely to get flared up if you’re exercising in the garage.

And remember that exercising requires you to get down on the floor sometimes. No matter how much you clean your garage floor, the things in the air outside will always be coated on the floor of your garage (dust, dirt, pet hair, grass, etc.).

This may or may not matter to you. For some people, this will be a gamechanger.

Do you have A/C and/or heating in your garage?

This is the obvious question most people think of when they’re thinking about moving into the garage to workout.

Don’t underestimate how quickly you can overheat in the garage.

I realize it’s shaded in there but for most people there’s little (if any) air flow. And a fan might not be enough to keep you safe.

Where are your neighbors located in relation to your garage?

Are you ok with your neighbors watching you workout?

If you plan to have your garage door closed during every workout then this won’t matter but if you want a breeze in there (which most people will) then think about your answers to these questions…

Do your neighbors have windows that face your garage?

Do your neighbors have small kids or teenagers that play or hang out in an area where they could see you in your garage?

Again, this may or may not matter to you.

But if you plan to workout every day at noon and that happens to be the exact time the neighborhood teens get together to play ball (and watch you workout) then it might mess up your plans.

Why do you want to do this?

I think it’s important to ask yourself why you want to move your workouts to a new location.

If it’s because you think it’ll give you the motivation and/or self-discipline you’re currently lacking then think again.

If you’re not sustaining a home workout program inside your house right now then chances are you won’t do it anywhere else either.

Workout consistency is fueled by something inside you, not your surroundings.

Where you workout is important, make no mistake about it, but if you find yourself making excuses to skip workouts right now, its’ probably not going to change just because you moved where you do your workouts. (This is a trap people fall into all the time when they sign up for gym memberships.)

3 Tips for Setting Up an Incredible Garage Gym

These are my top tips for setting up a killer home gym in your garage.

Organization

Your garage is home to lots of different activities and functions.

Organizing your new workout space will keep everyone who uses the garage happy.

Pro tip–Consider all the people who use your garage. If you have kids then they’ll definitely want to investigate your workout stuff. If it’s well organized then there’s less of a chance anyone will get hurt.

Also, keeping your workout tools organized and out of people’s way will keep everyone who uses the garage happy.

Ventilation

Buy a big fan (or space heater, depending on where you live) and air purifier that you can use when you’re exercising.

It’ll make a big difference.

Don’t take risks with your safety.

Designation

All of your workout gear needs a space it can call home.

You’ll need to designate an area in your garage to be used for your workouts.

Think about how much space you’ll need in advance and tape off that much room on the floor so you can see what effect it has on the function of the garage.

Be strategic with your location. It needs to make sense without replacing any other function you regularly use your garage for (like parking your car).

And finally…my last bit of advice for anyone who’s thinking about moving their home gym to the garage…

Go for it! Among all the decision you make every day this doesn’t have to weigh on you.

If you think a garage gym is going to be ideal for you then you should try it. If it doesn’t go as planned then you’ve learned a great lesson and can move back into the house.

But don’t let the location of your home gym be an obstacle that keeps you from regular exercise.

Your home exercise roadmap.

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