Starting training at a young age, especially in your teens, can be extremely beneficial for developing your body, teaching yourself discipline, and creating habits that will last a lifetime. That is the time of your life when you will have the most free time to spend working out and when you will see the best results in the shortest amount of time.
Having said that, one problem a lot of teens face is the lack of financial support from parents who may not agree to cover the cost of a gym membership, leaving the kid with limited options for training.
This is where our article comes around to help you learn how to make your own home gym without spending a lot of money and still ensuring that it’s suitable for covering all your needs. So, if that sounds like something you want to learn more about, then keep on reading.
How Do You Build a Home Gym Suitable for a Teen?
Before we begin giving our practical advice on how to build a home gym for a teen, let’s first get a huge topic and question out of the way. A lot of people believe that in order to get in good shape and to build muscle, you need to be training with weights all of the time, an assumption that couldn’t be farther away from the truth, especially when it comes to teenagers, young adults, and people with little to no experience in the gym.
When you’re between 14 and 18 years old, your body is constantly changing and rapidly developing; you don’t have the muscles or the body structure of an adult yet, and you’re capable of easily adapting to exercise and growing your “adult body.” That’s why training with any kind of resistance, even bodyweight exercises, can be massively effective and help you build the kind of physique you desire.
Now that we got that out of the way let’s discuss the must-haves for a teen home gym.
- Mat
Many exercises require you to either be lying on the floor or to press up against the floor (think of push-ups). If you do the hard floors of your home without any cushion, you will likely injure your back, chaff your skin in multiple places, and overall turn exercising into quite an unpleasant experience.
Now, the easiest and best way to solve this issue is to get a training mat from a fitness store – typically, they’re not incredibly expensive, and for around $15-20, you can get a decent one. However, if your parents aren’t feeling generous and are not willing to give you the money for one, then you can always do the exercises on a floor that has a carpet, or alternatively you can use an old, thick blanket to soften the feel of the floor on your back.
- Pull Up Bar
When it comes to training the upper body, you might find it difficult to do so without any extra weights or any extra equipment. Yes, you have exercises like the push-up and the Superman, which are extremely effective and, to some degree, minimize the need for a workout bench and dumbbells; however, as you start to get stronger, they might not be challenging enough anymore.
That’s why it’s a good idea to invest in a pull-bar that gets installed to your doorframe – that way, you will be able to do several variations of pull-ups (one of the most effective exercises) and combined with different variations of the pull-up you will be able to do a challenging workout for the entire upper body.
- Free Weights
When it comes to training the upper body, there are many effective exercises that don’t require any additional weight – we already went over most of them. However, our legs are typically stronger, and they do require more stimulation in order to feel challenged. One way to do that is by making the lower body movements explosive – that means doing squat jumps instead of regular squats, jumping lunges instead of regular ones, and so on, you get the idea.
The problem with that is that you cannot always jump around the house – after all, you live with other people, and no one wants the unnecessary noise. That’s why you need to find an alternative way to challenge the lower body muscles. The easiest way for that to happen is by getting some free weights – dumbbells, kettlebells, or some resistance bands. In this case having a decent workout bench which offers more stability and adjustability than doing weights on a kitchen chair is essential. They don’t cost a lot and there are multiple products offered on the market.
However, if your parents are against it and you have to make do with household items, we’ve got you covered. Take an old backpack and fill it with as many books as you can – put it on your back and perform all your regular exercises with it – that’s the easiest and most budget-friendly way to add weights to your lower body seasons.
Final Thoughts
Building some type of home gym, even without a huge budget, is entirely possible, especially for teenagers or beginners who don’t need that much external stimulation to see results. In these beginning phases of your fitness journey, being consistent and progressing slowly is far more important than having access to a fancy fitness facility. Hopefully, our article gave you fun tips and ideas on how to turn your room into a nice, DIY gym that can help you build a better physique and feel healthier overall.
Luciana joined our team as a mum blogger in 2020. A dedicated mum to a lively daughter and a dog, Luna, Luciana brings authenticity and passion to every post. Her expertise in parenting and lifestyle topics offers practical, relatable advice for real-life situations.