Bodylab: Designing The Ultimate Home Gym

By Adam Sinicki

I'm a guy who likes to work on projects because it makes me feel cool like Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne. One of the cooler projects I'm currently working on goes by the code name 'Body Lab' (all the coolest projects have code names, see Project Superman and Project Bullet Suit for two others). This particular project is actually my geeky way to refer to my home gym efforts that hopefully also indicates its status as an 'ultimate' home gym; a 'body lab' where I can test training routines and supplements on myself to hone and tone my muscles and brains as I see fit.

As it currently stands the bodylab has leopard skin wallpaper. Not a style choice I would have chosen, but unfortunately I have been thus far unable to redecorate since gaining access to the room. Otherwise it's very cool however and consists of the following items:


The Bodylab 2009:

Three sets of dumbbells which a maximum capacity of 35kg each
One barbell with a maximum capacity of about 100kg (but unfortunately no rack to speak of)
One pull up bar
One incline bench for incline sit ups and recline bench press etc
One abs roller
One resistance band
One 'wobble stick'
Weighted wrist and ankle bands
One ab belt
One skipping rope
Grip strengtheners
A punching bag
An exercise ball
A biofeedback device (a heart rate monitor and a set of scales...)
A shelf of supplements

So this isn't perfect and there are certainly a lot more things I'd like to add to the concoction. Whether or not it can be called ultimate yet is debatable. At the very least I'd like a multi gym, a flat bench and a squatting rack. However I'm actually between gym memberships at the moment and this proves more than adequate. While having a few extra things is quite nice, I still mostly use bodyweight training and things involving the dumbbells and pull up bar. For the most basic home gym imaginable then you will only need dumbbells and a pull up bar to provide an entire body workout at minimal cost with limited space. So get started on your home gym now with this 'minimal home gym list'.

The Minimal Home Gym:

Dumbbells up to 20kg
Pull up bar

Okay so I didn't really need to use the list format but I've got a pattern going here. From this you might want to go the expensive and slow route like me and slowly build up the dumbbells, then add a barbell and bench; or you might want to go the quick but more space-devouring and less adaptable route with a multi gym. With such a home gym it will become possible to cut a two hour gym trip into a forty minute workout in front of Xfactor and with no need to pay for a membership.

So that's the basic gym specs. But what would really create the best home gym experience at a normal budget? If I were starting again what would I go for? Below is the Ideal Gym Setup. This would require a fairly large garage or basement for storage and will cost a fair amount over time.

The Ideal Gym Setup:

50kg Dumbbells
150kg Barbell
Bench (with incline/recline option and rack)
Squatting rack
Preacher bench
Pull up bar
Multi gym
Treadmill
Punching Bag

So that's the ideal gym setup for most gym goers. But here at the Biomatrix we don't do things normally and my vision for my personal home gym is very tailored to my own needs. So when Project Superman becomes the number one best seller and I can afford a big place to myself with great gym facilities what will that include? Baring in mind the budget here is unlimited and I can have things built from scratch, here would be the Ultimate Bodylab - for not just bodybuilding but for general overall performance. With this gym I'd never stop training, and would become a monster in a very short space of time. It includes some training equipment of my own design and as such I've included some annotation. Who says you need to stick to the known training equipment? Think outside the box guys!

The Ultimate Bodylab:

(These items would be on top of the items from the ideal gym setup)

Resistance Tank - This is essentially a giant tank filled with water and a small mask to breath out of. In here you would wear weighted ankle bands to sink to the bottom then perform martial arts moves against the resistance of the water.

Bodyweight Frame - A giant climbing frame complete with crash mats underneath to allow for a whole range of gymnastic moves and bodyweight exercises to target every body part. It would include walls, ladders, poles and parallel bars.

Wooden Dummy - Martial arts version of a punching bag that improves aim and control and toughens skin.

Launch Pad - From Fre Flo Do, a special kind of treadmill that requires no monitor at the front end - meaning you can jump on and off either end as it rolls.

Better Biofeedback Device - I'd like to be able to plug into a real Biomatrix that would read biological data in real time and transmit it wirelessly to a computer to log all progress and flag up warning signs. This would include heart rate, blood sugar and oxygen levels, calories burned, brain activity, BMI and more.

Cable Pulley Device - Two opposite cable pulleys for flies etc.

Tennis Dodger - One of those guns that fires tennis balls but in a confined space for dodging rather than racketing.

High Gravity Chamber - Okay so I got the idea from Vegeta on Dragon Ball Z, and it's highly unlikely to ever even be feasible. But still it would be cool right? While we're at it why not add in a hyperbolic time chamber (fellow geeks will know what I'm on about).

Low Oxygen Chamber - For training VO2 max. A treadmill would go in here. Even cooler would be to have the whole bodylab a vacuum where temperature, oxygen and gravity could be altered at will. Damn this is an awesome training room...

Pressure Pads in the Floor - I'm sure this would have some purpose...

Decent Sound System

Walk In Shower - Because they feel cool to walk in to and would be awesome right after a work out.

I call my study my Fortress of Solitude by the way...