Why Build a Garden Gym Room?
Whether you’re already regularly working out or just starting in your fitness journey, a garden gym room can offer a wealth of benefits:
- No gym membership fees
- 24/7 accessibility and convenience
- Privacy and personalised workout experience
- No waiting for equipment or having to adjust settings
On top of these, a garden gym room can be a long-term investment, boosting your property value and providing a unique selling point for prospective buyers. Learn more about the benefits of investing in garden rooms.
At The Garden House Company, we have personal and professional experience of building garden gym rooms and fitness spaces in Kent & Sussex – my wife’s pilates studio was actually the first garden room we built as a company!
If you want to experience the same benefits, read on to find out ideas tailored to your fitness experience and what you need to consider when building your garden room.
What’s the Difference Between a Garden Gym Room and Shed?
A garden gym room is a dedicated building designed to house workout equipment and be fit for use throughout the year, complete with heating and water supply. Meanwhile, a garden shed gym is a cheaper, but ultimately less durable structure which may be susceptible to the elements and only usable at certain times of the year.
If you’re just looking to supplement your fitness routine or current gym membership with a workout space at home, then a garden gym shed may be the right option for you. However, if you’re looking to cut membership fees and have a long-term, customized structure, then a garden gym room is the clear choice.
Whilst a garden gym shed may be cheaper in the short-term, it may end up costing you more if your expensive gym equipment is ruined by cold and wet weather throughout the year, which is an ever-present threat in the UK.
Garden Gym Room Ideas to Inspire Your Setup
Pilates and yoga studios
Pilates and yoga studios have been cropping up all over Kent & Sussex over the past few years, but with that rising trend have come some extortionate membership or class fees, which can put people off.
A fantastic way to move and keep fit, pilates and yoga are even more enjoyable in the tranquil setting of a garden room surrounded by nature. My wife Helen jumped on this trend in 2020 and set up her own home pilates business, with The Garden House Company building their first garden studio for her.
For Helen’s pilates studio, it needed to be a place of calmness where the studio blended seamlessly with the surroundings and drew upon the strength of nature to allow people to develop their pilates technique. With air conditioning, remote lighting and Wi-Fi installed, Helen enjoys the room “all year round” and allows her clients the perfect environment for complete focus and calm.
See how we built another client’s yoga studio.
Multipurpose garden gyms
Why not combine your garden gym room with a garden office or garden man cave? The beauty of a garden room with the Garden House Company is that it can be tailored to your needs. Make it easier to get a workout in at the end of a work day by having the gym right there next to you!
Cyclist gyms
Kent & Sussex are full of keen cyclists exploring the countryside and getting miles in throughout the summer and spring months. However, when the weather turns during autumn and winter, it can be difficult to get out on the bike and have an enjoyable experience!
Keep that hard-won training in the legs over winter by installing your own indoor cycling gym, complete with turbo trainer and cross-training equipment.
Weight training gyms
Create your own customised weight or resistance training experience, complete with your favourite equipment, and avoid expensive membership fees and waiting for other gym-goers to finish. With functional mood lighting and speakers, you can design your ultimate garden gym experience! Learn more about lighting options for your garden room.
Key Considerations for Planning Your Garden Gym Room
Location and Space Requirements
Think about how much space you need for your equipment and the movements you’ll be doing. If you work out ealy, position your garden gym room to make the most of the morning sunshine. Additionally, consider accessibility – the last thing you want is small children dropping a weight on their feet!
If you have a small space to work with, you need a floor plan that will maximize the space for the equipment you need – our design and planning service at The Garden House Company can help you with this!
Planning Permission & Building Regulations
Depending on how big your garden gym room is, you may need to consider planning permission. However, if the building is less than 2.5m in height (which most of our garden rooms are built at) then you generally don’t need this. If you do need planning permission, for example because you need a higher ceiling for throwing weights of medicine balls around, then The Garden House Company can help you navigate the process.
Insulation and Ventilation
Heating and cooling are important factors when designing your garden gym room, particularly for when you’re working up a sweat in the summer months. Consider design options like bifold doors and air conditioning to help you keep optimum temperatures in your garden gym room, as well as insulation to keep you warm whilst you’re warming up in the colder months.
Learn more about how to heat your garden room.
Flooring and foundations
If you’re going to be throwing around heavy weights in your garden gym room, you need to ensure your base foundations are strong enough – consider concrete foundations or other options like ground screws if you’ll be doing lower-impact activities. See how we reinforced Sarah’s home garden gym for her varied sporting activities.
Additionally, make sure you protect your floors for future equipment with hard-wearing wood floors or laminate flooring. Rubber floor mats can also provide additional protecting and soundproofing – we’d recommend commercial grade interlocked foam or rubber floor tiles you see in gyms if you’re going to use free weights.
Learn more about different garden room foundation options.
Essential Equipment for Your Garden Gym
Some good options for garden gym room equipment includes TRX ropes which take no space and offer a varied workout for the whole body, as well as dumbbells which can be stored away and are good for small spaces.
Stationary bikes or running machines are great for cardio, but make sure that the electrical outlets are positioned in the room for optimal positioning – you don’t want wires running across the garden room for you to trip over.
As a rock-climber, my son uses a pull-up bar often, so this is another great option for an full-body workout – just ensure if it’s not freestanding, that you have the right hooks for the wall and that the wall can take the strain!
Build Your Garden Gym Room with Experts in Kent & Sussex
At The Garden House Company, we have extensive experience in creating tailored garden gym rooms for our clients. View our case studies or get in touch to start creating your garden gym room today!
