Chapter 20: Designing a Home Gym 305
the side. You don’t want to bump your head against the ceiling when you
press the incline button on your new treadmill. Keep in mind that many
equipment stores have high ceilings to accommodate tall equipment.Measure your door to make sure that you can get your new machinery into
the house. Liz ruined a brand-new stationary bicycle when she pounded on
the handles with a rubber mallet in an attempt to squeeze the bike through
a doorway that was too narrow. One of the handles broke off, which served
her right.Thinking about flooring
If you use exercise DVDs, place your DVD player in a room with a rug rather
than a tile or cement floor. The extra padding provided by carpeting helps
protect your joints. Plus, there’s less danger of slipping.Don’t pump iron on a tile floor, either. If you drop a weight, you’ll crack the
tile. Carpeting is okay. If you have the luxury of an extra room just for your
home gym (and lots of money to spare), consider a rubberized floor. They
can run as high as $3,000. Whatever type of floor you have, we recommend
putting rubberized mats ($50 to $100) underneath your cardiovascular equip-
ment. This reduces vibration and keeps your floor from getting stained by the
globs of oil and other junk that inevitably drip from the underside of a tread-
mill or other equipment.Equipment Shopping Tips
After you measure your space, you’re ready to hit the stores. The following
tips apply to home equipment in general. Check out the “Investing in Cardio
Equipment” and “Buying Strength Equipment” sections for suggestions that
are specific to aerobic equipment and strength machines.Shopping around
Prices vary widely, so by all means, bargain-hunt. But remember: A machine
isn’t a bargain if it collapses with you on it or gives you a hernia. For fancy
equipment with lots of moving parts — treadmills, elliptical trainers, stair-
climbers, rowers, weight machines, and the like — stick with stores that spe-
cialize in fitness equipment. They tend to sell sturdier, more-reliable, and
better-designed machines. For simpler equipment like dumbbells, ankle
weights, steps, and jump ropes, department stores and sporting goods
stores are fine.