Time to start working on that fitness

In the last 2 years, we all have been challenged on how to make the most of our space.
Our home became more than just homes as they transformed themselves in offices, school, entertainment centre, gym, spa etc… I remember when Singpaore’s Circuit Breaker (lockdown) was announced, so many people were rushing to Ikea - among other places - to prep their setup for workspaces for themselves or/and their kids.

In my case, I was lucky to already have a workspace setup for the entire family at home. When I started THE FIFTH COLLECTION from my home in 2013, the first thing I did was to make sure thatI had a proper area to work. My husband did the same. And because I value the mantra “everything in its space and space for everything”, our daughter also has her own space to work at.

To top it all off, I do have a thing for home offices. I see them as the center of command of the house where one can finish some work, do all the personal admin (hello adulthood), prep the menus for the family and so much more. I’ve always wanted mine to have a workout/meditation zone. Instead, I mostly had a functioning desk and a triage center for all the things that needed to be repaired, donated or sold.

Being stuck at home meant that the entire family needed a space to work-out, including my little one for her HBL (Home-Based Learning) EP class. So, there was no other perfect moment to tackle this project. I had few prerequisite:

• Must not interfere with our decor.

• I was not going to purchase any bulky gym equipment, in fact I was going to use what I already had scattered around our apartment.

• It was not going to take too much space

• everyone will be able to use it

I am now happy to report that not only do we have a proper workout corner in our home but, more importantly, I finally have the center of command I’ve always wished for.

To tackle this project, I first started looking for some inspiration on the net mainly on Pinterest, while at the same time making sure that my triage center was thing of the past. While researching, I came across very few solutions for small gym corners. Most of the information out there seems to be targeting people that have lots of space and are willing to invest in heavy equipments. Not for me, though. Thanks to my research, I learned a few things here and there, and have summarised under 3 very simple solutions that I believe are easily achievable, budget friendly and will fit any space.

1.USE A TROLLEY

Trolleys are just great for some many things. I use them around the house as well as the office. At home, I have one that is only for DIY materials for my daughter, and one in the kitchen to hold some food staples as I don’t have much storage space.

Transforming a trolley especially the Raskog from Ikea, which comes in different colours, into your Gym-on-wheel is a simple, effective solution.

I love the fact that the trolley can be sharable among the entire family, and that it can move easily from room to room for whomever is using it. Finally, it doesn’t need much space to be stored.

My advice will be to keep the top shelf with some space for any device you use while working out with a stand. You can also have some space for water and a towel.

2.A VERTICAL WALL

Check your walls. Do you have any space on any of your walls that could hold either floating shelves, bookshelves or pegboard to hold all your gym equipment?

My favourite solution when it comes to a vertical wall is the pegboard. Ikea has a great one that comes with various accessories I have even seen some fixing a pegboard to a trolley in a very ingenious way to hold more of their gym equipment. In our home, we use one to keep all the dogs accessory in order and to keep them easily accessible.

My advice is, depending on where your free wall is located, to try to keep all gym equipment in the same colour scheme as your decor so it blends in easily.

3.KEEP IT IN A CLOSET

As I have managed to make some serious space around the house, it meant that I now have an entire closet at my disposal. I picked the closet option from all the other options as I wanted to make sure that by giving this closet a clear purpose it won’t get filled with items we did not need.

The only thing I purchased to keep all the gym equipment together was a soft hanging shelves from Ikea, the rest I all had already. I kept the tennis backpack and gym bags hanging from wood hangers. The yoga mat and bolsters are kept straight thanks to the bottom of gift box I kept. I did such a good job at clearing the closet that I was even left with some extra room. Finally, all the balls and rackets can be kept in a corner of my study ina baslet with wheels. But if you exclude this part you really don’t need that much space if you use a closet.

My favourite part of this project is that now we all want to workout 🙂

I do realise that the equipment we use at home might seem very light for some of you. In our experience all of the bulky equipment we purchased in the past never stayed that long with us and that our lighter equipment are sufficient for us. The only piece I miss at times is a pilates reformer but I am sure that with bit of research I can remedy this issue, too.

If you are curious about the pieces we keep in our arsenal here is a list:

• Yoga Mat Pro by Manduka: We chose the 6 mm as it is more gentle on the knees

• A bolster Pillow by Manduka : Great for when meditating

• Kettler push up handles

• Various Resistant band by Decathlon

• Jumping rope: My husband says it is the best cardio

• Trigger point grid foam roller

• Balance Cushion X 2 by Decathlon

• Ankle weights and arm weights : I am thinking of upgrading to the Bala one including the circle one to have more variety of weights

• TRX worth every penny as you simply need the back on the door to do lots of different exercise