As an athlete, having access to a high-performance gym can be crucial to achieving your fitness goals. However, sometimes getting to a gym can be challenging, especially with busy schedules and limited hours. The solution? Creating a home gym designed specifically for athletes.
With the ever-expanding options for gym storage and functional training equipment, athletes can now bring the training center home.
Here are some key considerations for designing a home gym for athletes that will help you maximize your workout and achieve your fitness goals:
Identify Your Goals and Needs
Before you begin designing your home gym, it is essential to identify your fitness goals and needs. Do you want to improve your endurance, strength, or flexibility? Are you training for a specific sport or competition? Do you have any injuries or limitations that require specialized equipment or modifications? By understanding your fitness goals and needs, you can create a gym tailored to your specific requirements.
Choose the Right Equipment
Once you have identified your fitness goals and needs, it’s time to choose the right equipment.
Plyometric exercises, including box jumps, are standard programming options for many sports and conditioning routines. Sprinters can benefit greatly from conditioning with box jumps of various heights. When space is at a premium in a home gym, stackable soft plyo boxes, or the Aktiv 3-in-1 soft plyo box is a great, functional choice. Incorporating plyo boxes like these can be easily stored out of the way when not in use and can provide multiple height options for various explosive exercises, elevated pushups, or even Bulgarian split squats.
When it comes to core strength exercises, stability, balance, power, and explosiveness all start in the core. Creating a strong foundation from the abdomen, hips, and trunk can leverage several great sports modalities. Recently, research has shown massive improvements in change-of-direction speed for football and soccer athletes with greater isometric core strength. Hanging knee raises are a great abdominal strength-building exercise for example and require a safe and sturdy pull-up bar. Atomic planks can be done on a bodyweight suspension device like the RECOIL or STRAPS. The pallof press just requires a strength band and a waist-high anchor point.
For strength training, good ole’ fashion heavy weightlifting is a staple modality for many athletes. Strength training at a home gym is simple with kettlebells, dumbbells, and medicine balls, especially with the space to safely employ common strength and conditioning movements. Power cleans with dumbbells and kettlebell swings can result in some serious performance improvements. Power athletes, like combat sports, rugby, or powerlifting competitors can benefit from a kettlebell single-arm push press or classic kettlebell swings.
Optimize the Space
When designing a home gym for athletes, it’s essential to optimize the space for your specific needs. Start by selecting an area with enough space to accommodate your equipment and movements. Next, utilize smart rigging and storage so you have a proper place for every tool, which leaves room for lateral movements, forward bounds, or walking lunges, all part of an athlete’s regular training regimen. GYM RAX storage and suspension bays are configurable for every exercise space and provide both smart storage and the connection points athletes need to integrate a variety of accessories. You should also consider flooring, which is important here as well to help with sound dampening and durability. Many styles and colors of exercise flooring are available to fit the design motif of any home.
Designing a home gym for athletes requires careful consideration of your fitness goals and needs, selecting the right equipment for specific exercises, and optimizing the space with smart storage and flooring. By following these key considerations, you can create a high-performance gym that will help you achieve your fitness goals and take your training to the next level.
Contact Aktiv to get started designing your home gym today.