First Published on 2010
The Plan
John Cleary flew home from Iraq on vacation and emptied out his garage. Not a very exciting vacation, if you ask me.
But, apparently that’s what men do after they read Jim’s How to Kick Ass in a One Car Garage.
“Up until the point of finding this article, I was online in Iraq researching and trying to find a hardcore warehouse-style gym in the greater Charleston area that I could be a member of when I got home,” John said. “Then, I’d never have to train at 24 Hour Fitness again.”
He never really considered working out at home because he couldn’t fit the equipment in his house. However, after he had to wait 30 minutes just to use a piece of equipment at a commercial gym – the idea was very appealing. In addition, he’d have bumper plates, be able to drop weights and even have a deadlift platform!
“I only had a little one car garage that was filled up with lawn equipment and crap,” John said. “And then I read this article and it got me thinking about how all I really needed was a power rack, an adjustable bench, a platform, bars, plates and dumbbells. And that could all fit in a one car garage because Jim Wendler said so!”
John built a shed in his backyard. He trudged back and forth between the garage and shed, carrying his lawn equipment piece by piece until his garage was a hollow void.
The void was then overflowing with EFS equipment.
- GHR
- Deadlift Platform
Going All Out
“The Collegiate Rack is by far my favorite,” John said. “Every piece of equipment is absolutely worth it. I always tend to half-ass things and don’t think I need the best, and I always regret it and get what I want anyway. This time I decided to go all out.”
Although it was a huge purchase, it was specifically budgeted during John’s deployment and took him two and a half years. It is, however, an incredible investment. John didn’t want to go back to a commercial gym, plus the amount of money he’d spend on his own gym would only be half of what he’d spend THAT YEAR at a gym. John doesn’t know this, but I did some research myself as to how much it really costs to go to a commercial gym vs. owning a garage gym. Here’s how it breaks down:
Breaking It Down
Gym Dues
The joining fee for a commercial gym is usually $100. Then, the dues are $35 a month. So, already he was paying $520 a year. But, he also has a wife and daughter. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll only use two people. So, we are up to $1,040 – and I’m not even close to done.
Travel Expense
Let’s say they both travel in the same car and go to the gym four times a week. It takes them 25 miles in each direction and the cost is 12 cents a mile. That’s $1248 in transportation costs if they carpool every time.
What are we up to now, $2288?
Incidental Costs
Oh, shit! They get to the gym and both realize they forgot their water bottles! They buy two waters at $2 a piece and let’s say this happens once a week. Then they need gloves because, as we know from your Facebook comments, most gyms don’t allow chalk. Each pair is $20 each. We just added $248 to the total.
Time – Opportunity Cost
Time. There’s a value to it, or else no one would have a job. How valuable is your time? They are already spending four hours a week driving to and from the gym. Not to mention the time it takes to get dressed, socialize as a good commercial gym member and wait for Mr. Half-Squat to get out of the rack. And hopefully they won’t have a whole workout wasted by getting kicked out by a lunk alarm for grunting.
Lunk Alarm
Anyway, back to time. Average income is $13 an hour (min wage $7.25). I’m going to attach this $13 to their drive time. That’s $2,704, then, we need to multiply it by two for both people – $5,408. Out of the hour and a half most spend in the gym, I’m going to assume about a half hour of that is spent bullshitting, changing, waiting, etc. So, they both waste two hours a week. This wouldn’t be wasted if they worked out in a garage gym. The BS time ends up costing $2,704.
Our total is now $10,648 in ONE year!
One Year Commercial Gym Cost
The Home Gym
Back to the garage gym. First of all, there are no commuting fees, they can use all the chalk they want, no one will interrupt their lifting sessions and their equipment will last a lifetime! For $4,273 they can get all the necessities. This includes a Texas Power Bar, Econo Prowler, EFS Econo Dip Attachment, EFS Econo Full Power Rack, EFS Pro Band Pack, EFS Econo GHR, EFS Econo Incline Bench and a 500 pound Olympic Weight Set.
Lifetime Garage – Home Gym
If you took this out over five years, and figured out how much you’d pay per day in the span of a year, a garage gym will cost you a Monster Energy drink a day and the commercial gym membership would be a new IPF Metal Bench Shirt every day.
Daily Cost
If you aren’t good at The Price is Right, I’ll put it into a dollar amount for you — $2.34 compared to $145 over one year. I know I’m comparing apples-to-oranges and playing with numbers here. Each case is different and in some cases the commercial gym will be a better fit. Some people place a very high value on their time while others enjoy the commute to the gym. There are also some commercial (hardcore) gyms that offer great coaching and are staffed by experts that offsets the price because these places will save you years of mistakes. What we are presenting are some of the factors that should go into this decision. Run the numbers yourself based on your own gym dues, travel time, incidental expenses, opportunity cost and, most of all, the progress you’re making. A home gym might be the right answer for you.
It is hard to compare a lifetime investment to a commercial gym. But what else would you like me to do, take it out over the course of 10 years to make a garage gym look (even more) insanely cheap? I have a better idea. If you bought a home gym and put it on a credit card with 19% interest and only paid the monthly minimum – guess what? Over the course of five years – you’d still be paying less! You could also collect money from your friends who workout in your gym to pay off your debt quicker.
Heck, with the almost 50 grand you’d be saving, you might as well go get a business degree and run your own gym!
“It’s a one-time fee and I won’t need to replace it,” John said. “After dreaming about this gym for two and a half years in Iraq, it’s finally a reality…and it all started with reading this article.”
Other Articles of Interest
How to Kick Ass in a One-Car Garage
Products of Interest
Elitefts.com Inc. strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit us at www.EliteFTS.com.
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Rachel is training for her first competition and lifelong dream of being on The Bachelor. She believes she'll win because she enjoys long romantic walks on the treadmill, Disney movies, expensive dinners at McDonald’s, stuffed animals won for her out of claw machines and the smell of blue heat on sweaty men.
Her talents include, but are DEFINITELY limited to dancing, running the monolift, smiling, correcting Dave’s spelling, baking with Betty Crocker, writing and avidly following her 5/3/1 religion.
Rachel trains at the Mecca of strength hoping to one day wear heels, lots of pretty sparkles and Protan.
She is known to her many adoring fans as "Bubbles." 
Some great insight!! I currently just don’t have the room to have a home gym that would suffice my needs. Once I do, I will have a home gym that will have all I need and more! I can’t wait!!
Speak the truth, ‘Bubbles’! BTW: That’s H-O-T!!!
I agree with the general area of this article, however, most people find gyms near their home or workplace, so I find the transportation costs to be exaggerated. I also find the graph of home gym vs. gym cost to be completely inaccurate, since I see a dip in the Home Gym cost, when you would a worst have a straight line across the graph. If it cost $8K to start, then from beginning to end it would cost at least that, then from my own home gym, I use liquid wrench, replacement parts, etc. It also shows $50K to join a public gym and be a member for 5 years? $10K per year!? It never cost me that when I was a member either. At most, it cost maybe $8K over 5 years, if you are figuring $1,500 per year. Good article, just don’t get too carried away with exaggerations!
there is no doubt i’ll be getting my own home gym in the future when i’m financially independent
Like Bryan said, there’s some gross exaggeration fluffing this article up. Not to say that it won’t apply to some people, but not most.
My gym is 1 block from my office, on the direct route home. It takes 6 seconds to pull in, and maybe 15 to pull out, depending on traffic. That’s $15.77/year in time. There was no joining fee, so the only cost is the $32/mo membership. Now we’re up to $399.77. I have no friends at the gym so I waste no time talking to anyone, and have earbuds in so nobody will try striking up a conversation. My gym is also a climbing/bouldering gym, so there’s no issue with chalk and no need for gloves. If I forget a water bottle, I’ll drink from the free water fountain.
Total cost comes in under $400/year. That’s quite a ways off from $10,000….
I tried the home gym several years ago and ended up giving my equipment away to clear out the garage. Here are some things you forgot to factor into your article:
Weather – You may not need to worry about things like rain, sleet or snow, but you do have to worry about the heat and the cold. Here in SC, when the air temperature is approaching (or surpassing) 100 and the heat index is in the 120s, you can bet the ambient temperature of your garage is going to be around 130-140. There’s no A/C in the garage. Fans do little… (If you live in a colder climate, you can at least help with a space heater)
Distractions – I have a 10 year old daughter who can’t seem to go 3 minutes without wanting some sort of attention. The old “Honey, Daddy just needs an hour to himself. Ok?” is ineffective; even less so a few years ago.
Use of space – Having a garage full of equipment means that the garage can’t be used for its intended purpose. So, if you bust a pumpkin and have to pull the rear end out of your F150, you’re gonna have to do it out there on the driveway, under the sun and amidst the choking humidity (or in the rain, snow, etc).
Just some food for thought.
I have to agree with the comments above. This article seems to be a huge cut and paste that I have read on numerous other “buy your own home gym” websites or sites that sell home gym equipment.
For example, talking about “time value” of travel, etc. I’m sorry, but this smacks of just fluffery. Do I do a cost value analysis of how much time I spend if I go out to a restaurant? Do I say “well, I just spent 30 minutes commuting, so in fact the cost of my meal wasn’t 50 bucks, but actually 65?” Hardly.
I do agree that, in the long run, a concise, well put together home gym can reap multiple benefits, not just in dollar amounts. But hyperbolic fluffery doesn’t help.
Is that some sort of a neutral grip super shoulder saver in that last picture? If not, is there one available?That would be awesome!!
I live outside of charleston and when my small dank local gym (armor plate) went under I did the same. The best decision I’ve made as to my training there’s no excuses no equipment hogs no 120 pound “shredded” cardio nazis. It’s upwards of 100f in the summer and cold in the winter but it just makes me that much more driven.
I have joined LA Fitness with a prepaid 3 year membership of $720 bucks, or $20/month. They have squat racks, allow chalk, cussing and deadlifting. I live 1 mile away from the place. I am not the type who goes to gym to look at women or socialize, but “peer pressure” and being around females helps drives up my adrenaline and aggression levels, which helps me lift more.
I also agree with the comment about distractions at home gym: wife and kids. When I go to the gym, I put headphones in and tune out from the rest of the world for 1 hour at a time.