Small Apartment Home Gym (Design, Setup & How-To Guide) (2024)

In this apartment home gym guide, we will cover the equipment, concerns, benefits, and costs.

This should help you get an idea of essentials items you need, how to plan and budget your apartment gym, and more.

How To Set Up A Home Gym In A Small Apartment? (DIY Space-Saving Ideas)

This owner not only has a cute dog but has also decided to transform the bedroom instead of the living area into their apartment gym setup.

Luckily this one is on the ground floor, so weight isn't as much of an issue.

Because of that, a full weight rack is utilized, along with a Swiss bar, standard barbell, and a folding bench.

You will also notice the use of the Bowflex SelectTech adjustable dumbbells and rack storage hooks to save space.

This smaller townhome turned a small spare room on the first floor into their gym and has made use of exercise tiles for the flooring protection.

The rack and storage were handmade and are fully mounted for security.

This is agreat use of storage space to double as the rest and rack while providing ample room for the workouts.

This owner also plans to include a rowing machine which will most likely double as a workout chair when needed.

The important takeaway here, though, is that while space may be at a premium, combining the rack and storage in a space-saving design is one solution if you have DIY talents.

It also makes building a garage gym a lot cheaper if you can make some items yourself.

For the rest of us, though, spare room home gyms may look something more like this: no handmade racks and storage, but plenty of options.

The natural light, overhead light, and mirrors add depth to the space, making it look larger.

The free weight storage racks accommodate the multiple dumbbells, but a couple of adjustable dumbbells would save even more space here.

The folding bench and rack are the main focus and where most of the workout will take place.

But we love the ample room in the front to perform your warm-up and cool down stretches without having to move a lot of items around.

As you can imagine, not everything in a small space gym will be a benefit. There are pitfalls and downsides to be aware of.

If you know about potential problems ahead of time, you can avoid them or find solutions during construction. Let's learn what the biggest issues are.

One of the biggest drawbacks to apartment gyms are the weight limits.

With the exception of the ground floor units, the higher the floor you are on, the less weight each floor can hold.

While all floors will be able to handle the average weights of standard household items (furniture, appliances, etc.), the additional weight for equipment and plates can be too much.

Causing stress, fractures, and even breaking of the load-bearing framework, you will need to know the maximum weight per square foot of the space [1].

If you are unsure or cannot find out, it is best to keep your equipment near the edges of the room and near the center of the apartment where the load-bearing beams meet.

Learn More - Can You Put A Home Gym On The Second Floor?

Noise is another concern that can cause many apartment dwellers to work out at fitness centers.

Constant impact with weight stacks, dropping weights, jumping, and using the equipment can get noisy.

Shared walls and floors with downstairs neighbors will be the most disrupted by your workouts.

You can avoid this by using quiet equipment and non-metal plates such as bumper weight plates. We recommend getting at least a yoga mat or rubber floor tiles to reduce noise.

You can also exercise during normal waking hours to minimize the complaint opportunities.

You might even want to consider some soundproofing to block out excessive noise and vibrations during your workout [2].

Read Also - Bumper Plates Vs Iron

With movement comes vibration, and that vibration can transfer from one area to another.

If your home gym is located in a room that shares a wall with a neighbor, for example, your equipment vibrations can shake the walls and even knock photos or items from the walls next door.

To avoid angry neighbors, you want to minimize vibrations by utilizing workout or yoga mats under your heavy weights and equipment and avoid using the shared wall for weight or equipment storage.

See Also -Do I Need Rubber Flooring For My Home Gym?

Some apartment and condo complexes may have limits and regulations against setting up home gyms or heavy equipment.

Usually, for the reasons outlined above, if you fall under this restriction, there may not be much you can do.

You want to read through your rental agreement or lease carefully to ensure you have the right to add or build gym equipment in the apartment.

Otherwise, your best bet may be to use the shared gym at your complex.

Obviously in smaller apartments, space is the number one concern.

While there are ways around this (see below), using the right equipment, planning your gym layout properly, and taking your time to expand and grow will be the best combatants of the space situation.

Read Also - Home Gym Size Guide For A Small Space

When looking to start building your own apartment gym, there are certain parts, pieces, and equipment setups that will work well and others that won’t.

Your choices will depend on several aspects, including the space you have and the type of gym you wish to construct.

Knowing the limits based on your current setup and future needs will help you get started on the right foot. Let’s find out more about the specific equipment perfect for smaller spaces.

Check out our complete guide to every piece of equipment with pictures to help you understand all the different options available.

Free weights are a muscle building staple in any home or commercial gym, regardless of size.

They are readily available, have multiple uses, and are generally affordable. In a small home gym, though, they may be the primary focus of your setup.

With free weights, you can use dumbbells for most movements, even mimicking a straight bar bench press.

You can also use straight bars and curl bars with weight plates that all mount on racks for out-of-the-way storage.

With selectable weight dumbbells, you can save even more space by essentially combining multiple weights into a single unit. They are available in dumbbell and kettlebell form as well.

Suggested Equipment - Best Olympic Weight Sets

Portable training gear is also a worthy investment. By design, portable items are made to be compact, easy to store, and use without taking up a lot of space.

The list of these includes weight vests, ankle and wrist weights, resistance bands, workout balls (medicine and exercise balls), and more.

Portable designs are generally meant to be packed and taken with you on trips, used in hotels, or on the go.

However, with limited home gym space, they fill the gap between a full-sized home gym and not having the right equipment for the muscle building routines you wish to complete.

Another great option is a resistance band. They are cheap, easy to use, and store. They offer a great solution for small budgets and spaces. They are a good alternative to cable machines as well.

If you want a multi-functional, portable workout solution, we recommend the BodyBoss 2.0. It comes with everything you need to get a full-body workout using different exercises on-the-go.

Read Also - Garage Gym Ideas On A Budget

While you still need to concern yourself with weight limits and noise or vibrations, cardio machines are an excellent low-impact solution for many home gyms.

Elliptical machines and compact folding treadmills are a great way to increase heart rate and get a decent workout without taking up valuable living space.

Another excellent form of cardio, and a personal favorite of mine, is a rowing machine. Most rowing machines for apartments either fold up or detach so you can store them separately.

One of the most compact cardio machines is an exercise bike. They take up very little space compared to treadmills. Exercise bikes are also much easier on your joints.

If you decide to go the machine workout route, there are plenty of options to choose from.

With folding options and models designed for portability and storage, you can get high-quality equipment that remains out of the way when not in use.

Suggested Equipment - Best Cardio Equipment For Home Gyms

All-inclusive systems typically have everything you need for a full-body workout.

Whether a full rack system or a cable and pulley machine, you can use a weight stack, free weights, full bars, and even Olympic plates.

The best part is that these systems typically come in various sizes to fit different situations. You can even find designs built to be placed in corners, so they are useful but out of the way when you aren’t working out.

All-in-one home gyms usually come with a weight stack included, so there's no need to buy additional weight plates.

Of course, with an all-in-one solution, you have extra weight, higher initial costs, and more noise or vibration. This also means there is more assembly and high levels of routine maintenance.

However, with the right system, sized to match your apartment space and the right floor mats, care and maintenance routines, you can get the most out of these setups compared to the other options.

One of our favorite models is the Marcy MWM-988 home gym. It has a 150-pound weight stack, which is enough weight for most users.

It allows you to work out your upper body and lower body as well.You can also upgrade the weight stack later when your progress in your training.

Suggested Equipment - All-In-One Home Gym Reviews

When space is a concern, and you need to be limited on your equipment, there are several pieces designed to help.

Below we outline some of the most recommended home gym equipment standards that work well with little space.

An adjustable bench allows you to perform home workouts with both free weights and cable weights. In addition, you can use an adjusting bench as a rest, chair, laying for bench presses, and more.

In small spaces, though, you need a compact bench that can still offer full functionality. This is where folding weight benches come into play.

Models like the Vanswe Adjustable Weight Benchare ideal for small spaces. It has a smaller footprint of 61 inches long when fully extended. It also features 7 different backrest positions and 4 seat positions.

Best of all, it also comes equipped foot holders so you can use it as a sit up bench, and hooks for your resistance bands—full functionality of a weight bench plus the added space-saving design for other exercises.

Our Favorite Adjustable Weight Bench

Adjustable dumbbells are affordable and compact in design.

With several dumbbell brands and models to choose from, you can have your pick of various weight ranges that allow a single dumbbell to replace several.

They will save you storage space and make your weight selection and workouts smoother and faster.

Take theBowflex SelectTech 552, for example. This adjustable weight dumbbell ranges from 5 to 52.5 pounds and stores everything in a 15 x 9 inch area.

While the initial price may seem a bit high, when compared to buying individual dumbbells that, combined, will take up to 10 times the space, it costs much less.

On average, an adjustable dumbbell can save you up to 30% compared to buying individual dumbbells.

Many people find that adjustable dumbbells are all the equipment they really need for strength training.

Our Favorite Adjustable Dumbbell Set

Pull-ups are one of the more essential workout routine exercises, and they target a lot of muscle groups, including shoulders, back, and core muscles.

In a tiny apartment, you may find it difficult to perform a pull-up without the use of acompact wall or door-mounted model.

The Gronk Fitness wall-mounted pull up baris one such example. This model mounts easily to a wall and will allow you to perform a variety of pull-ups, chin-ups, and wide-grip pull-ups without fuss.

You can even attach your resistance bands to the multi-gym for different angle exercises.

Our Favorite Pull Up Bar For Home Gyms

Barbells come in many sizes, styles, and shapes. A standard barbell, Olympic barbell, and Hex bar are the more common local gym bars. However, they typically are very large, bulky, and long.

In an apartment or condo, you may not have the room width to accommodate a full-size bar and will need a compact model.

Ones like the Rogue Fitness C-60B are compact, durable, and still meet standard requirements.

The Rogue Fitness C-60B is only 59-inches long, weighs 25 pounds, and has a weight rating of over 300 pounds.

The distance between the collars is only 44 inches, which prevents it from being racked on a standard barbell rack.

Our Favorite Short Barbell For Small Gyms

Squat racks can be useful for many reasons, not just squats!

However, with a bench, the rack can also hold the barbells for performing bench exercises, seated exercises, and catch the barbells if they fall.

However, finding one to accommodate a small apartment can be a challenge. Wall-mounted folding racks are great if you have a wall big enough and stud beams strong enough.

One of my favorite options for a wall-mounted folding rack is thePRX One and Pro models.

Ideally, though, you are using a non-standard barbell (as mentioned above) and will need a rack system that can accommodate.

The best options are squat stands. Freestanding, easy to store, and can be placed close together to fit smaller barbells.

The popular CAP model below is a great choice for tiny apartment spaces and it'll offer you a good workout.

Our Favorite Standing Squat Stand