Finding time to keep up with your fitness goals can sometimes be a real challenge. Combining both convenience and functionality, garden gyms offer a perfect solution. This dedicated fitness space, right in your back garden, can take various forms, from a modest shed kitted out with basic equipment to a garden room that could be just like a professional gym, packed with a wide array of machines and weights.

What is a garden gym?

A garden gym is your own personalised workout space to use as and when you like. This could be a dedicated outside area of your garden or you may have additional indoor space separate from your main house, like a garden room or large shed, that you can use. The latter can be customised to meet the requirements of a workout space, i.e. heavy-duty flooring, and it offers year-round usage, along with aesthetic appeal. A perfect solution for those invested in achieving and maintaining long-term fitness goals without bad weather becoming a regular excuse.

Why have a garden gym?

If you’re committed to pursuing fitness and living a healthier life, your own garden gym can help reduce those pesky excuses like lack of time and feeling self-conscious from rearing their ugly head and getting in the way of your progress.

Time is a precious commodity that we all value, so no wonder better.org.uk found it to be the biggest reason why people choose to skip their workout. Having your own garden gym allows you to have a flexible workout schedule as well as reducing travel time when all you must do is take a few steps across your garden to your own private gym. It’s also a space you’ll have all to yourself where you can focus on your workout without fear of judgement from others.

The benefits of a garden gym

Convenience 

Having your own garden gym allows you to have utmost flexibility. You won’t be governed by opening times or having to factor in travel time, your workout sessions become entirely at your convenience. With your dedicated exercise space just a few steps away, you gain the freedom to use it whenever suits you best, seamlessly integrating it into your schedule alongside other commitments, errands, and daily tasks.

Privacy

The second biggest reason for people skipping the gym is lack of confidence and feeling self-conscious. By having your own garden gym, you can focus on your workout without feeling judged and you can always book a 1-to-1 with a personal trainer who will be able to do the session at your home. The other benefit of having privacy is there are fewer distractions, whether you’ve previously worked out in a public gym or if you had your workout space inside your home. This deliberate isolation allows you to engage in your fitness routine without disturbances, whether it's early morning yoga, midday cardio, or evening strength training.

Versatility

The space you will gain from an indoor garden gym will allow you to set up whatever equipment you may need from cardio and strength training to yoga and Pilates, making it a versatile space for diverse workout routines. Equally, if in the future you decide to take your fitness journey in a different direction, the garden room used to house your gym can take on a new valuable purpose. Most home gyms will be lined and insulated, which means they could easily become a games room, entertainment space, or even a workshop.

Great Value

While establishing your garden gym may require a substantial initial investment for both the garden room and necessary equipment, consider this expenditure as a wise and enduring investment. Beyond the immediate costs, the long-term advantages, as previously outlined, extend beyond personal fitness. In the grander scheme, you're not only saving money over time but also enhancing the overall value of your property. Think of it as an investment not just in your well-being but also in the lasting value and appeal of your home.

Our gym features & considerations

Year-round use

If you’re going to be setting up your own garden gym, you will want to ensure it will be usable all year round for it to be worthwhile. We would highly recommend that the garden building you choose is fully insulated, and any windows are double-glazed. This prevents the internal temperature from getting too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter, allowing you to work out comfortably from season to season. We offer a range of garden buildings which either have these features as standard or come as optional upgrades. 

Electric Pack

Another element to ensuring all year-round use is having adequate lighting and access to a power supply in case you need to plug in an electric heater in the colder months. Depending on the type of workout that you intend to do and the setup you envision, you may also want to have a sound system as well as equipment like a treadmill that often requires a power supply. We offer an electric pack optional upgrade which pre-installs 4 double sockets, 1 external double socket, 1 8-way consumer unit, and LED spotlights. We are unable to connect your garden building to your power supply, this will need to be carried out by a qualified electrician.

Sturdy floor

Some gym equipment like a treadmill, weights machine, or rowing machine etc. can be heavy, along with the added weight of someone using them can put stress on standard flooring options affecting their longevity. We would highly recommend you choose our heavy-duty flooring upgrade. While our standard floorboards are ex19mm thick, our heavy-duty boards are ex38mm thick, and will offer a sturdy, durable platform for you to exercise on that will have a better chance of withstanding the test of time.

Aesthetic Appeal

As much as you’re choosing your garden building based on its functional ability as a garden gym, the aesthetic appeal is just as important. You will need to consider the overall style of the garden building to ensure it works with the look and feel of your home.  Our modern-style buildings, like the Holt and Salthouse Studios, are most popular for gym use as they let in the most light with their larger windows; however, we also have a few more traditional options, like the Garden Room or Binham Studio, if that would suit your home and garden better. Each garden building can also be personalised in terms of exterior and interior paint colours, which will be key to making your garden gym feel like your own and make it a stunning feature in your garden.