Home Gym -- Guest Room or Garage?

[fallstoclimb]

I'm transitioning into my off-season focus on stretching, strength training and mobility and I'm thinking about how I can make working out at home more enjoyable. 

Sometimes my husband and I do yoga in our basement living room, but we are a bit short on space down there around the couches, plus the carpet is always hairy when you have your face in it (animals).  I was thinking about the nice hardwood floors in our mostly-unused guest room and started thinking about turning it into a "yoga studio" of sorts -- not that we are even that into yoga, but it would be a much nicer space for it, and I think we could decorate the bed to seem more like a day bed and could do yoga in the other half of the room.

THEN I started thinking about what if we just turn this unused room into our home gym?  I'm not sure if i can talk my husband into ditching the bed entirely, even though its only been used like once, but if I can we could fit my weight bench, weight tree and standing racks in there -- over a thick rubber mat, I would assume.  Would a thick mat be enough to protect the hardwood floors?  I won't do Olympic lifts, really just do presses and squats, but could drop the weight in a bad squat scenario I guess -- although I do use homemade safety sawhorses -- but that idea still makes me pretty nervous. 

Currently all my weightlifting equipment lives in our garage, but it's kind of a bummer, the one-car garage gets crammed up with my husband's bike shop projects and all of his tools and lawncare equipment.  Plus the garage tends to smell like dog poop (from dog poop in the garbage can), and isn't climate controlled and is full of spiders and crickets.  When it got really cold last winter I'd put my space heater out there but then I'd have to move the gas cans outside (possibly overkill) -- all in all, it made it sort of a PITA to lift weights.  (I know, HTFU, but I'm great with heat and pathologically hate winter.) Oh and the height clearance in the entire basement/garage is a little suspect for overhead presses.

So I think it sounds much nicer to have a dedicated room as a home gym!  But maybe it's rude to have 2 married people in a 3 bedroom house and not maintain a guest room....?  My breakthrough about maybe doing yoga in the guest room leads me to think I'm just not thinking creatively in general about all of this. 

[Hotstreak]

fallstoclimb, I think you're on to some great ideas!  I'm right with you, the changing seasons mean some of my favorite activities are becoming harder and harder to do.  Regarding your questions, a few things I noted:
 
*  If you're worried about hurting the floor in the bedroom, consider placing a large piece of plywood above the existing hardwood and below the lifting mat.  That will distribute the weight more evenly over the entire floor, so you don't dent the wood (or worst case, punch a hole through if it's poorly built).
 
*  I don't think it's rude to not have a guest room, considering you don't have very many people staying overnight.  Would it work well for you to get a futon or use an air-mattress when guests come over?  A queen sized air mattress with a comfortable memory foam topper shouldn't be more than a few hundred dollars, you can store it in any closet in the house, and it only takes a few minutes to set up.
 
*  Keep your dog poop in a bucket outside so it doesn't stink up the garage.  Punch some small holes in the bottom so it doesn't fill up with water (Gross!), or punch some big holes for ventilation and use a lid to keep the water out.  On trash day, transfer the dog droppings in to another garbage bag or empty shopping bag, and put it outside in the can with the rest of the garbage.
 

[popsy13]

Why don't you join gym.

[Cromacster]

Why don't you join gym.

Yes!  This is the answer .:facepalm:.

My first concern was dropping the weight, Thought realistically the floor should be more than capable of supporting the weight...unless you can c&j 400lbs and drop it from overhead, but you stated you won't be doing olypmic lifts so you're golden!  Although I would share the same concern once you start deadlifting 700lbs.

I agree with the above comment about putting a piece of plywood under the rubber mats.  I would put a felt liner under that to protect your hardwood.  You could even do it like a lifting platform with rubber on the sides and plywood center.

[fallstoclimb]

*  Keep your dog poop in a bucket outside so it doesn't stink up the garage.  Punch some small holes in the bottom so it doesn't fill up with water (Gross!), or punch some big holes for ventilation and use a lid to keep the water out.  On trash day, transfer the dog droppings in to another garbage bag or empty shopping bag, and put it outside in the can with the rest of the garbage.

I was thinking about this more last night and think that moving the dog poop outside would eliminate like 80% of my problems with lifting in the garage.  Which is really much simpler than making the guest room suitable for lifting.  Why are the obvious solutions sometimes so hard to think of??

Side note, though, when I put the space heater in the garage do I really need to put gas cans outside?  If they are far enough from each other is it probably okay?  Or is this one not worth risking?  Enough people lift in their garage that I think this must be a common thing...?

Why don't you join gym.

Yes!  This is the answer .:facepalm:.

I laughed.

[GuitarStv]

I put 3/4 inch rubber mats down in my workout area in the basement.  They're comfortable to walk on, do not deform under pressure while lifting weights, are not slippery when wet with sweat, easy to clean, don't slide or move around at all regardless of what you're doing on top of them, and will absorb a lot of the impact when you drop a heavy weight.  You can find them cheap now and again at farm supply stores (called horse stall mats - used to protect the concrete under stalls from steel shoes that horses wear) . . . or if you want to pay a ton you can buy them from exercise equipment stores.  A 4x6 3/4 inch mat weighs just under a hundred pounds, so it might be wise to get someone to help when laying them on the floor (I didn't and it was exhausting loading/unloading them from the truck and moving them into position in the basement).

[Bob W]

Clean the basement, move the couch.

[Hotstreak]

Side note, though, when I put the space heater in the garage do I really need to put gas cans outside?  If they are far enough from each other is it probably okay?  Or is this one not worth risking?  Enough people lift in their garage that I think this must be a common thing...?

I would personally take that risk, assuming I had properly sealed cans & placed them far away from the space heater.  It doesn't seem much different to me, personally, than leaving a little gas in the mower and keeping that in the garage.  I can't recommend that for you though - your insurance, etc., may have an opinion on it, and I don't know all the specifics of the situation.
 
Another option, if you have a protected outdoor area there should be no issues with storing your gas outside all winter in a well sealed container.  If you're worried about freezing, look up the freezing point for gasoline.  It's extremely low.

[davisgang90]

There are some fairly low cost hacks to make a DIY Murphy bed setup.  Not sure if your current guest room would have room to move the weights aside for a guest to sleep in a pull down bed.

[Retired To Win]

Clean the basement, move the couch.

Yep.  Mine is in the basement too.  Nice and cool workout environment in the summer.

[matchewed]

Side note, though, when I put the space heater in the garage do I really need to put gas cans outside?  If they are far enough from each other is it probably okay?  Or is this one not worth risking?  Enough people lift in their garage that I think this must be a common thing...?

There certainly is a risk given gas fumes. Is there good ventilation? Would hooking up a small computer fan near the gas storage be too weird and counterproductive to the heating? Are there other storage options, build a tiny shed-like thing on the side/back of the garage?

[fallstoclimb]

There certainly is a risk given gas fumes. Is there good ventilation? Would hooking up a small computer fan near the gas storage be too weird and counterproductive to the heating? Are there other storage options, build a tiny shed-like thing on the side/back of the garage?

Does poor insulation count as ventilation?  It's pretty drafty in there in the winter.  I have been thinking about building/buying a tiny storage thing, maybe even just putting the gas cans outside in a Rubbermaid container that the dog can't get into.  There'd still be a tiny amount of gas left in appliances, or anything the husband forgot to winterize, but less gas must mean less risk right? 

[matchewed]

There certainly is a risk given gas fumes. Is there good ventilation? Would hooking up a small computer fan near the gas storage be too weird and counterproductive to the heating? Are there other storage options, build a tiny shed-like thing on the side/back of the garage?

Does poor insulation count as ventilation?  It's pretty drafty in there in the winter.  I have been thinking about building/buying a tiny storage thing, maybe even just putting the gas cans outside in a Rubbermaid container that the dog can't get into.  There'd still be a tiny amount of gas left in appliances, or anything the husband forgot to winterize, but less gas must mean less risk right?

I'd like to think it's okay-ish given a drafty area. It all depends on your risk tolerance. The flammable portion of gas is the fumes so that is the general danger source. However that is mitigated will be on you and to what level you feel it would need to be mitigated. I think less gas means less risk but what really matters is how well sealed are the things the gas is in.