The Ultimate Guide For The Home Gym Shed

Estimated reading time: 27 minutes

There are many benefits to physical exercise, it can help increase life expectancy, improve your immune system, improve mood, reduce stress, and so much more. Your life can change in so many positive ways when investing time in physical exercise in great moderation. Everyone knows that when investing more time in physical exercise, major adjustments will need to be made in order to make it fit with your daily life. The location of your gym is one of the main things to think about, and there are many gyms open, however, it requires travel time, and has more factors you have to adapt to. We run into the pain point of having to pick gyms and although gym memberships are beneficial, gyms do have their pain points and sometimes, a home gym shed may prove to be beneficial.

A home gym shed offers unparalleled convenience and efficiency for fitness enthusiasts. You can enjoy the comfort of exercising at home by transforming a simple backyard shed into a dedicated workout space. You are also free from the constraints of public gym schedules and the hassle of commuting.

Sheds have the benefit of storage, but also plenty of more uses. You can have the Ultimate She Shed, a Bar Shed, a Workshop Shed, or even an Office Shed, and many other styles of sheds where you wouldn’t necessarily use them for storage, but for style and other activities at home. A Shed Built for a Home Gym can introduce an amazing relationship for exercise and health.

Why a Home Gym Shed

In the search for the perfect fitness haven, the idea of a gym shed takes center stage. The question of “what size shed for home gym?” becomes pivotal. An at home gym shed isn’t just a structure; it’s a transformative sanctuary for workouts. Its blend of convenience and time-saving attributes beckons those seeking to streamline fitness. No longer constrained by travel time, individuals can effortlessly integrate workouts into busy schedules. 

A gym shed offers availability and flexibility, with workout equipment ever-ready for impromptu sessions. Privacy and focus thrive within its walls. A home gym shed shields you from distractions and fostering concentration. Here, self-consciousness dissipates, replaced by an ambiance conducive to self-improvement. In essence, an at home gym shed transcends conventional fitness spaces. 

The home gym shed offers a haven where convenience, customization, and safety converge to redefine fitness pursuits. To understand the allure of a home gym shed, it’s essential to delve into its multifaceted benefits:

1. Convenience and Time-Saving: Having a gym in your backyard eliminates travel time. This makes it much easier to integrate workouts into a busy schedule. It also significantly increases the likelihood of maintaining a consistent fitness routine.
2. Availability and Flexibility: Your workout equipment is ready when you are, without waiting for machine availability or gym opening hours. This flexibility allows for more spontaneous and frequent workouts. This will lead to better fitness outcomes.
3. Privacy and Focus: In your private home gym shed, you can focus entirely on your workout without distractions. This environment is ideal for self-conscious people who prefer to train in solitude.
4. Customization and Control: You have complete control over the gym equipment, shed floor design, and overall atmosphere. This customization makes your workouts more enjoyable and tailored to your preferences and fitness needs.
5. Safety and Accessibility: Ensuring the safety of children and pets is simpler when workout equipment is secured in a shed. Additionally, accessibility improvements can be made to accommodate all family members’ fitness needs.

Equipment for your Gym Shed

One thing you are absolutely going to need to think about when investing in any home gym is what kind of equipment you need. The first thing to think about when you are thinking about what equipment you need are the goals that you are trying to achieve, and what kind of workouts do you like to do. The choices of your equipment equate as to what your goal is short and long-term. Before thinking about sizing, styling & security, you need to think about your goals and what kind of equipment you are going to need to support this goal.

If you are looking to have the ability to run a marathon, an elliptical bike, a treadmill, yoga mats, and some rope bands. If you are looking to effectively lose weight, and gain muscle or exercise more moderately, you might want to invest in the previous items, plus free weights, a squat rack, a bench, Olympic barbells, weight plates, dumbbells and even a dumbell rack or storage for Olympic barbells and weight plates which actually comes with squat racks. You might want a box jumpers as well.

Your home gym shed can have all of the gym equipment, but even the basics need to be covered. You also need to get effective and safe flooring for your home gym to protect you and your shed. Another thing to consider is some other things such as the lighting in case it is dark out, but you will need electricity. That will ensure that you are safely working out and you have vision in your workout. Lastly, another thing to consider is some stereo or sound equipment so you can jam out to your favorite tunes when working out. To support even that, you can get soundproofing in your shed so you’re not disturbing the neighbors, and you can jam out as loud as you’d like. Let’s go over some important items for your gym shed.

Flooring

Good flooring for your home gym or any gym keeps the person and the building safe. There are so many brands that support your needs of having a safe, potentially comfortable workout environment.

Effective flooring for your shed is important for long-term health of your shed. Everyone wants the absolute best support setup on your flooring because you will be putting some extraneous pressure on your floor. Your shed can have a plywood base wood floor for your shed and set up the padded flooring you need for your home gym, you do run the risk of going breaking your floor if you are doing high-pressure and heavy-weight exercises, like deadlifts, or dumbbell military press, etc. Anyone can drop a weight on the floor, and you might run the risk of the weight going through the floor.

This is why we think a metal base floor for your shed may actually work better so you can keep the base of your shed safe. However, even if you have a plywood base or wooden base on your shed gym floor, you can always replace it as long as the damage is not as bad. The above photo might be a good scenario for having a good base before laying down your flooring for the gym.

Lights & Electricity

Having electricity in your gym shed will give you the opportunity to expand your creativity for making this the most effective home gym shed. We always recommend having effective electricity solutions in your storage shed rather it is a gym shed, she shed, bar shed or just simply the storage shed you need. You also won’t be able to run your gym shed if you don’t have electricity if you have treadmills, or any physical exercise equipment that requires electricity.

Lighting in your home gym shed is an absolutely important thing to have. If you do not have lights in your building, not only you might not be able to see your progress if you have a mirror inside, but most importantly, you put your risk in danger. You will not be able to see inside and you could actually get hurt, and that is not the setback anybody would want when making this said investment. This investment is expensive up front, but beneficial in the long run. You can’t have an investment missing important factors of safety, especially if it is a gym shed. Let’s not only forget too, some really good gym lighting can compliment you, and make you feel even greater when getting your movements in for the day, and that is a tremendous feeling.

When it comes to looking into lights in your gym shed, you might want to consider placement. You can’t have just an overhead light, but perhaps gymnasium lighting that fits in your shed of choice. Potentially some Linear LED High Bays might help the cause of your home gym shed. Don’t try to go too light of course, but keep it within a good bandwidth of light waves for your shed. The fact of the matter is clear though, you are definitely going to need lighting in your gym shed.

Heating and Cooling

Let’s face the music, we cannot change the weather. Depending on where you live, the weather is going to be a massive factor in temperature control in your shed so you are not too cold or too hot when working out. When you are living in the Midwest, you might be dealing with sub-zero temperatures in the winter, and a little too hot temperatures in the summer. If you live more south, the heat in the summer can be unbearable. Your home gym shed is going to be used all year round if you are really wanting the best value for the investment at hand. You might want to consider using a space heater in the winter and get your warmup is really strong in the winter, which is a factor where you are going to need to wake up earlier in the morning in the winter.

In the summer, it’s time to get the fans out because on those hot and humid days. To keep cool, you could even invest in a good wall air conditioning unit, you are going to need electricity for this and even the space heater too. Plug it in, and your shed will be air-conditioned or heated so you can have a pleasant workout.

Cardio Equipment

Cardio equipment is typically the first line of gym equipment that goes through the minds of those starting out or even those who are seasoned when ready for working out at home. You have plenty of options when it comes up to cardio. There is the treadmill, a stair stepper, an elliptical, or even a fan bike (in case you want more cooling for your shed). Getting the right cardio equipment goes into consideration when it comes to sizing in your shed. Keep in mind what you have available so you can store other important factors and have enough room for you to have an effective workout in your building.

Sports Equipment

You can get a rope to do rope pulls or even a box jump pad so you can work on vertical jumps outside (we may not recommend it unless you get a bigger size shed). The other realms of gym equipment you can get are ladders for better footwork or spray painting dots to do even more footwork. If you have a big enough home gym shed, you could even set up wrestling mats or a boxing ring, you just need enough height in your building to support these pieces of equipment. You can have a rack of footballs, baseball bats, baseballs, basketballs, tennis balls, and more so you can play outside and store them inside. Our friends at Kids World Play Systems sells amazing Basketball Hoops if you want to lay down more of a concrete slab to support an amazing Basketball court outside of your home gym shed.

Free Weights

Having free weights proves a serious advantage for greater results. Buying free weights like dumbbells, and free-weight plates for your home gym opens up a lot of doors for movements in your routine. There are studies that lifting weights actually help you build great long term muscle depending on the diet you are on and the supplementation you support yourself with on your plan. Lifting weights helps build more muscle than just doing cardio exercises and body weight exercises. Having free weights can go a long way for you and your home gym shed.

Squat Racks and Benches

Squat racks are perfect for storage, and a center of where most of your movements can be if you buy the right one. You can do almost 60% of your movements on your routine using a Squat Rack. There is a perception that it is going to take a lot of space, but you actually are going to get more value for the space it is located in. Having a bench, especially an adjustable one can have your entire workout covered depending on your setlist. Having a squat rack with a pullup bar will also keep things more beneficial for your back day.

Miscellaneous Beneficial Gym Equipment

We can talk about multitudes of equipment for your home gym shed, but for the sake of your time, lets go over just a few more items you can get. An honorable mention is a cable pulley machine that is adjustable from top to bottom so you can cover multitudes of movements. Another great investment would be a lat pull down machine although that could be covered with the cable pulley machine. A Leg Press machine is a perfect alternative for squats but we might recommend this if you are looking to invest in a bigger shed. You could look into a leg extension machine and hamstring curl machine so you can make sure on Leg Day, you are covering the most proportionate areas needed.

You also can invest in yoga mats, rope bands, and medicine balls to cover core movements and the most important part of exercising, stretching! There is an absolute amazing amount of investment you can make in a home gym shed, but you will need to determine another factor as to how much equipment you can get, and that is the size of your home gym shed.

Considering Sizing

When setting up your fitness space, an outdoor gym shed offers versatility and convenience. Meanwhile, a backyard gym shed provides a dedicated area for your workouts. When considering what size shed for home gym, consider the following size options to determine which best suits your fitness needs:

• 10×16 Feet: Ideal for those limited by space but want to ensure they have enough room for essential gym equipment.
• 12×16 Feet: Offers more versatility, allowing for an expanded range of equipment and more comfortable workout space.
• 12×24 Feet: Provides ample space for a more comprehensive setup, including cardio machines and multiple strength training stations.
• 14×28 Feet: The ultimate home gym shed size, capable of accommodating a full range of gym equipment and suitable for multiple users to exercise simultaneously.

Let’s say you get a squat rack like this Rogue Fitness Squat Rack, and it is about 70 inches in height, you might be able to pass in most storage sheds that are less than 12 feet wide, but that Squat Rack is really going to take up some space. We definitely recommend a shed with at least the ability to have 100 inches in height, so you can have enough room to use your squat rack. This also could introduce more room for movement especially the wider and longer your shed is. Let’s go over some shed sizing for your home gym shed!

10×16 Gym Shed

The 10×16 Gym shed is the lowest area of recommendation because you are not entirely going to get the best in movement if you want to expand further than just cardio equipment or some free weights. There will be sacrifices in your decision-making when it comes to a 10×14 or 10×12 shed for your home gym. 10x16s at least do give you some space to have concise and practical movement. You could fit a treadmill, a weight rack, a squat rack, and just a little bit more gym equipment in this size of shed. Just make sure when you are looking into that 10×16 shed, you need to have an effective height to support tall things like a pull up bar or a squat rack.

12×16 Gym Shed

An optimal size for a home gym shed, this sizing can get you more bang for your buck and can give you more opportunities of movement. You can also have the setup so you can have the squat rack, weight rack, elliptical, and even a treadmill with yoga mat racks and such for a full gym studio. The only downside if you go on this approach is you might not have enough room for everything per se with having enough breathing room. However, that does not mean in anyway you are not getting enough value and room to have effective equipment with this size of shed.

12×24 Gym Shed

The recommended gym shed sizing if you want the ultimate gym setup. A 12 x 24 shed gives you a lot of room for effective movements. We think this sizing is perfect for anyone starting out because you have enough room for having all of the equipment needed, room for amenities, and room for more movement opportunities. You could have a rope pull machine in here with a squat rack, free weights, yoga mats, a punching bag, and cardio equipment. This can be an area where you can have friends who share the same goal or family members over and workout in. Its amazing how physical exercise can bring people together. With all of this room, you literally can have the all-in-one gym in your shed.

14×28 Gym Shed

This size shed is the ultimate prize if you want the most amazing training center possible. This home gym shed can afford all of the amenities laid before and can host up to potentially four people working out with you. This is for those who really appreciate fitness but loves home. You have so much space in here, you can only imagine what things you could accomplish with working out in a 14×28 home gym shed.

Other Sizing Options

If you are trying to go bigger into more of the professional athlete level, plus make a great hangout area for friends, we would recommend looking into our two story sheds as these bigger buildings can have the gym downstairs, a yoga studio upstairs, or even just an area to hang out.

We could go all day about sizing of sheds for your home gym shed, but one thing to keep in mind is that you need to have an effective height for your shed, and also have effective spacing in your shed. Again, it all boils down to your goals and what you aspire to achieve in your journey. Financing also has a lot to do with this investment, and having the best quality is most important.

Remember one thing! Depending on where you live, you need to discuss ordinances for building size allowances with your city or township, and you may even need to file an application for the sizing and purpose of your shed.

Styling Your Gym Shed

We put in the work to get the right equipment, based on the equipment you need, we made a decision on the right sizing of your shed. Now, we need to style this thing so it is specified to what you want so there is limitless motivation to get an amazing workout within the day. A big piece of the puzzle to think about when investing in a home gym shed is how am I going to style this building!? This is typically the most fun part of setting up your gym shed because you have so many ways you can style this building to your liking.

We could look into mirrors, and windows so you can see in and out of the gym shed, more decorations, and painting to theme your gym to your desire. You can add entertainment value by adding a TV a stereo system or more and can add Calendars and Planning equipment to help achieve goals and establish new ones. Lets go over these items and see what you can add-on.

Mirrors & Windows

Windows would be considered probably a “nice to have” for your gym shed for styling purposes or in case someone needs you. You could need someone or you could see what is going on outside of your gym shed if there are weather conditions or security conditions you want to consider. You do not entirely need mirrors for your home gym shed. There are benefits to having mirrors at gyms to check on progress or work on “posing” if you are into bodybuilding competitions. We all want to see our progress and there is even studies that prove how important progress photos are for your journey. This decision is up to you, but we would probably see this as a nice to have since you can simply open your shed to see what’s going on outside, and have a great mirror in your home so you can save the money.

Decorations

Nice to have as well! But we can tell you that having motivational posters, or having the right decor could motivate you depending on who you are. If you feel that having the right decor can fix up your workout and help motivate you, this is a must-have then. There are real benefits if you can have the signs right in front of you to keep going on your well-established journey and there is beauty to keeping yourself in check with sayings or inspiring characters from your favorite television programs or movies that keep you moving.

Paint

Theming is an amazing way to add inspiration for you and others in your home gym shed. You want your shed to stand out and you do not want your gym to be bland. Let’s get some good color in here and have an establishment here. What is your favorite blend of colors? You can mix it up from an exterior and interior point of view. Remember that whatever color scheme matches for good lighting for your gym.

Stereos and Sound

The fun begins. Why have a pair of AirPods, or Buds when you can have a full on sound system in your home gym shed so you can hear your favorite songs blaring inside of your gym? There are various benefits as to why you have your favorite music playing during your workout can help you have an amazing workout. Having it playing out loud and gives you that authority of your gym. No more generic branding of music you can listen to nor you need to put up with Earbuds falling off on a good set, having an amazing sound system will give you an amazing workout!

TVs and Entertainment

Every gyms have TVs playing in the background in the Cardio Room typically. You might want to catch up on the news or your favorite sports teams, or want to watch a show while working out. Having TVs can be beneficial, but just try not to focus on the TV more than your set as sometimes it can be distracting.

Calendars and Planning Tracking

This is probably going to be the necessity out of all of these items. The reason is that we want to have results when we invest the time in working out. We can’t just be wasting our time. One way to style up your shed is add some productive boards and calendars to mark down your best movements and days you workout and don’t. Rest days are important too! There are amazing strength trackers too if you want to check your strength progress in your movements. Getting stronger can actually give you more benefit while trying to trim down or obviously get bigger in muscle. You can plan ahead, establish goals, and know what you need to do right before you are starting and mark down your accomplishments giving you more motivation to continue.

Seating

Another thing to consider in case you don’t want to get ready using your bench, is perhaps some seating options. You might want to have a seat at the end of your intense workout, and having good seating options can give you great value to have the spot to relax.

We went over quite a few items to style your gym shed to make it the most valuable place for you to workout. You can get your workout in well planned, while styled, having motivational surroundings, and having your favorite music blaring out with entertainment and seating available. So far, you have built an amazing gym shed. Let’s try to wrap this up with securing your home gym shed.

Understanding Space Requirements

The size shed chosen impacts not just the type of equipment you can house but also the quality of your workouts. For effective exercise, ample space around each piece of equipment is necessary to ensure safety and comfort. This consideration is crucial when planning layouts for treadmills, elliptical trainers, and free weights, which require more room for safe operation.

Protecting Your Gym Shed

Now that we have styled out your shed, lets establish on how you can keep it and your equipment for the long run! You need to consider that your shed is a well established placement for your gym. If you do not have the recommended qualities for this gym shed, you are not going to have this shed and your equipment for long. You will need to replace it years later and need to start ALL over again. No fun! Let’s go over some amazing ways to ensure your gym shed is secure!

Insulation

Your shed should be insulated to establish good air quality. Having good air quality can provide great temperature control and if you are not using this shed as a storage shed, and as a gym shed, insulation is absolutely needed. More for self and shed protection, insulation for a shed is a necessity!

Effective Roofing

You probably are not going to want an aluminum roof solution for your shed. You are likely going to want a shed with a shingled roof because you need more protection of your equipment and most importantly, yourself. Having a well established roof on your shed is going to provide more benefit of security so the wild changes in weather do not effect the integrity of a key component of your structure. Compromising this will have a massive blow to your building, and you may as well invest in a new shed or look into cheaper and more effective ways to fix the roofing on your shed.

Moist Protection

Having a barrier of moisture protection is a massive necessity for your home gym shed. You don’t want any kind of shed to be destroyed by moisture, so keep in mind to invest in moisture protection. We use TechShield on some of our sheds to protect from moisture damage. Ohio has ever-changing weather all seasons out of the year, so being prepared to handle moisture damage is a must.

Security

Your equipment is going to be expensive and like any other measure, you should always keep in mind that you will have to have effective means of protecting your belongings. Having great locks will keep any unwanted individuals out of your gym shed. Investing in cameras in your backyard or on the front of your gym shed will keep you informed on what is going on at your property when away at work or elsewhere from home.

Doors

Remember, having the right door in place will give you more opportunities to protect your gym shed from unwanted individuals. We might recommend the garage door because there are many ways to keep it closed, tucking things away. The only thing that takes away from this benefit is the spaving you will have in your shed for the garage door opener for the garage door on your shed. Double-wide doors is alright too, you just are going to need a really good lock to support those doors from remaining shut.

Having these concepts integrated with your shed will establish a piece of mind about your belongings inside your gym shed and you can rest easy that thousands of dollars in investment will not go to waste!

Why a Gym Membership Also Proves Beneficial

So why even mention this? Why discuss why still having a gym membership can be beneficial after building the perfect gym shed? Socialization is one major word. You never want to lose the ability to connect and socialize with people with like-minded goals. If you are starting out, befriending those who are succeeding is going to help you out massively. You can get so much years of wisdom and clear advice to help you out with your journey.

You can make new friends, and have great networking for growing your professional career. Your surroundings will help shape your future and being around those who invest in this area of self-care has proven to help elevate careers, and establish an amazing future. Even if you have a gym shed, it is worth investing in that membership to make some friends.

Enhancing Your Gym’s Design

The interior design of your gym shed should be both functional and inspiring. Mirrors can make the space appear larger and aid in exercise form monitoring. The color scheme should energize and uplift. The lighting should be bright enough to keep the area well-lit for evening workouts. Integrating these elements thoughtfully will create a motivating workout environment.

Concluding

If you have made it this far, we have made a major accomplishment with some recommended steps to assemble your gym shed. We covered goals & equipment, sizing, styling, security, and some inspiration on this gym shed. We also went over why it is beneficial to also have a gym membership despite having a home gym. There is obviously so much more that we can discuss simply with this topic. Fitness and good nutrition investment on your body and mind establish an amazing future for you. It encourages you and everyone around you to make amazing decisions for your life. Now, you can do it right at the heart of home in your backyard. Or maybe even an investment property for a private workout setup, you may have it as a studio for your coaching business.

Investing in a home gym shed is a practical decision that enhances your ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle. With careful planning around equipment selection, shed size, and interior design, your home gym can become a cornerstone of your daily routine. This setup saves money in the long run and encourages consistent physical activity. If you’re ready to take the next step in creating your ideal home gym shed, consider partnering with Hartville Outdoor Products. Our range of high-quality gym sheds offers durability, functionality, and customizable options to suit your needs. Contact us today to start designing your dream fitness space!

No matter how you use the gym shed, it is there for you when you need it. We hope that this article has helped you gain some inspiration to get started on the next project in your home gym shed. If you have any questions, ask us right away. We love helping our customers or anyone curious about setting a shed up for their gym and also love talking about anything about buildings, storage, and fun additions to your home like swing sets for the kids or even outdoor furniture and deck design.