SETTING UP A HOME GYM FACILITY

The following is an exclusive excerpt from the NSCA’s Essentials of Personal Training, Third Edition, published by Human Kinetics. All text and images provided by Human Kinetics.

Home Environment Issues

A home exercise facility presents additional safety concerns that revolve around the access to the exercise area by children and pets. Electrical concerns are another safety issue.

• • To prevent serious injury, children and pets should be kept a safe distance from electrical outlets and any exercise equipment.
  • A see-through gate placed in the entryway can help promote a safer home exercise environment.
  • If doors or windows provide access to the exercise area, they should be locked when the equipment is not in use. To ensure that the living environment is safe, it may be necessary to disable some types of equipment (i.e., unplug cords to treadmills, remove accessory attachments for resistance machines, remove weight pins from machines, remove weight plates from bars, place bars out of the flow of traffic).
  • The client and personal trainer should also make sure the home exercise facility has a sufficient electrical supply to accommodate the additional equipment (20).
  • When possible, outlets should have 110- and 220-voltage capabilities and be protected with ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) so that power is automatically shut down in the event of an electrical overload (15). Additional electrical outlets should be available for vacuum cleaners and other electric equipment and tools.
  • The client should use a padded mat for floor exercises to help reduce perspiration accumulation on any permanent carpeted surface.

Home Equipment Layout

Because a home exercise facility is smaller, has less equipment, and serves fewer people than a commercial facility, all fixed equipment (e.g., aerobic exercise machines and dumbbell racks) is typically arranged along the perimeter of the room fairly close to the walls. Use common sense to prevent injuries and structural damage to the home facility (see figure 24.1).

• • The space cushion around equipment is often reduced (e.g., 18 inches [45.7 cm] instead of 3 feet [0.9 m]).
  • The recommendation for space for activities such as aerobic dance, kickboxing, calisthenics, and bodyweight exercises is 25 to 49 square feet (2.3-4.6 m²) (22).

Entertainment equipment such as televisions, DVD players, radios, CD players, or newer technologies in the exercise area can be installed on a wall or the ceiling so the client can view instructional exercise videos and listen to music or news (22).

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