Home is where the heart is. It’s also where you’ll increasingly find a gym to work that heart, along with abs, lats and every other body part that can benefit from regular exercise.
According to the National Sporting Goods Association, home-gym equipment racked up $4.7 billion in sales in 2003.
Treadmills are the runaway favorite purchase, with annual sales topping $2.5 billion. But many people don’t stop there. They build fully appointed, and occasionally regal, workout rooms complete with stationary bike, stair climber, rower, multi-station exercise machines, free weights, medicine balls, mirrored walls, televisions and more.
“It would not be unusual to see someone deck out a home facility for $15,000 to $20,000,” said Ron Arp, spokesman for the Nautilus Group in Vancouver, Wash., adding that “as a company we are trying to move fitness out of the garage and into the family room.”
What Arp means is that companies such as Nautilus design high-end exercise machines that are easy on the eyes and almost can be thought of as calorie-burning pieces of furniture.
There are, however, homeowners who prefer heavy-duty, commercial-grade hardware, which doesn’t come cheap, either.
Jason Hadeed, co-owner of Elite Athlete Training Systems in Rockville, Md., trains clients and helps outfit home gyms.
He has a few customers who insisted upon buying the same brand treadmill used by the Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens football teams, even though they cost about $12,000 apiece.
The urge to splurge is something Hadeed cautions against, however. “I’m a big advocate of keeping it simple,” he said.
Hadeed often suggests starting with a basic set of dumbbells and weights, then gradually adding more elaborate equipment as the need arises.
A common mistake is to go on a start-up-gym buying spree. That’s how many a Bowflex winds up turning into an expensive coat rack. Buyer beware: The resale market is notoriously weak.
“Equipment depreciates very quickly,” Hadeed said. “It’s like a car.”
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Jay Barnett, a 42-year-old dermatologist who uses Hadeed as his personal trainer, underwent a lifestyle change thanks to the addition of a home gym. The tab came to about $3,500. “I wanted to keep the cost down,” explained Barnett, who had reservations about his commitment to shaping up.
On the other hand, he knew his only chance of getting into an exercise routine would be if it entailed traveling no farther than the basement: “The convenience for me is important,” he said. “I’m working all the time. I don’t have time to go to a gym.”
But there are risks associated with working out at home, including boredom and the tendency not to push oneself. There’s also the distraction potential of children, ringing telephones and bags of potato chips in the kitchen.
Those blessed with the requisite self-discipline can save more than the drive time to and from a health club and hefty dues; they also can avoid the aggravation that comes with going to the gym during peak hours.
Nautilus’ Arp predicts that equipment manufacturers will soon sell home-gym packages as a way to simplify the decision-making process for consumers. He foresees home builders someday offering installed gyms as a design option.
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale ([email protected]) and Victoria Rodriguez ([email protected])