I spent the last few years going to the gym regularly, with off periods. I spent a lot of money on memberships and some gyms were truly amazing.

However last year, after moving back to Luxembourg, and being yet again disappointed with the various options available to me, I decided to build a gym at home again, and while I had a gym years ago, this time I decided to go minimalist and only equip myself with the essentials.

Surprisingly it worked great! It is financially reasonable, it avoids me from having to lose time in transportation and changing myself, and overall I believe workouts became more efficient.

Table of Contents

  1. Why do I prefer building my own gym?
  2. Why did I decided to go for a more minimalist version of a gym?
  3. What are the essentials I choose?

Why do I prefer building my own gym?

Memberships are expensive, they often trap you unless you pay for a premium, and the offer itself isn’t always great: gyms are not clean, they are busy and loud, and while some options allow for 24/7 access, it quickly looks shady.

Having my own gym reduced any friction with my training, my equipment is available and ready at all times, it is clean, direct, I don’t have to use transportation, and I have the luxury to do multiple series in parallel.

However, depending on the equipment you have, the training can become limited. Putting thoughts into the kind of training we wish allows us to get the appropriate equipment according to our budget.

Last time I built a gym, I had a full rack and many weights. This time I decided to build a minimalist gym, with only dumbbells, kettlebells, abs mat and gym rings.

Why did I decided to go for a more minimalist version of a gym?

Two main reasons I decided to go for a more minimalist approach to my old version of the gym: price and space.

I let you see what my old version of the gym looked like:

Old Gym Rack

I spent around 5'000 EUR for the rack, barbell, weights, stands, dumbbells, bench… And while it was amazing to train everyday with such quality, I kept thinking I could get more equipment.

Also, look at how much space the old version of the gym takes! I didn’t have a basement, so I decided to set it up in my living room, close to my kitchen, and while it’s a statement, and a way to remind myself everyday that training is a part of my life, it was obviously too much.

What are the essentials I choose?

My current equipment is as follows:

  • 2 * 12,5 kg dumbbells
  • 12 kg kettlebell
  • Abs mat pad
  • Gym rings

With this equipment I can do many exercises: abs, pushups, squats, curls, pullups, dips… With running, it is more than enough to train everyday. Furthermore, it doesn’t take much space, allowing me to tidy my equipment and use the space for various purposes.

I decided to go for high quality gears again, but simply less. It doesn’t take that much space and allows me to tidy my equipment each time I don’t use it. And overall, it is way cheaper: around 200 EUR, as the most expensive item was the gym rings and I bought those second hand.