Building My Own Home Gym: From Cold Concrete to Personal Sanctuary
Like a lot of people, my home gym story started right around the pandemic—but in my case, just before everything shut down. I lucked into a big Smith machine, free weights, and a few other pieces from a local thrift store. Nothing fancy. Just heavy iron and opportunity. At the time, I was renting a one-car garage near our townhouse. No power. Barely any light. Just concrete walls and a roll-up door.
And honestly? I loved it.
I’d throw on music from my phone, lift weights, and be completely alone. No waiting on equipment. No mirrors full of egos. Just me and the work. The downsides were obvious: winters were brutally cold, summers were miserable, and the setup was primitive at best. But I kept at it. Over time I added barbells, a rowing machine, and a few other essentials. I was running eight-minute miles, benching consistently, feeling strong and capable.
Then work stress caught up with me.
As my stress levels climbed, my health slid the wrong direction. Sleep suffered. Recovery suffered. I started looking for ways to actively pull stress out of my body, not just grind harder through workouts. That’s when I started experimenting with cold exposure and heat therapy.
I bought one of those inflatable ice baths you see all over Instagram. Fill it with ice, hop in, embrace the suck. And yeah—it worked. Shockingly well. The problem? Under my weight, the inflatable walls would collapse, water would spill everywhere, and getting in and out felt like a circus act. Effective, but sloppy.
Then we moved.
Suddenly, I had a two-car garage and actual space to work with. That’s when things escalated quickly—in the best way. I headed to Tractor Supply, laid down thick rubber mats so I could drop barbells without wrecking the floor, and bought a large rigid tub to build a real ice bath. No more inflatables. No more ice runs. I added a chiller, pump, spray foam insulation, wrapped the whole thing, and topped it with a lid. Stable. Clean. Always cold. Honestly, that setup alone deserves its own post.
From there, the garage transformed fast.
I added a sauna in the corner. A fridge. A TV. More free weights. An elliptical for low-impact days. A heater on a schedule for winter mornings. A massive industrial fan for summer heat. Shade. Airflow. Control. What used to be a dark concrete box became an environment I wanted to be in.
And that’s the real difference.
This garage isn’t just a place to lift weights anymore—it’s an oasis. A pressure valve. A space where stress gets processed instead of ignored. While a lot of people abandoned their garage gyms once commercial gyms reopened, I never looked back. This setup isn’t about convenience anymore; it’s about ownership. It’s built around my routines, my recovery, and my mental health.
I don’t see myself ever not having a home gym now. It’s not a phase. It’s not a pandemic artifact. It’s part of how I stay grounded, healthy, and sane—and I’d build it again in a heartbeat.