Period home gym

[JoceAndChris]

We are making a gym!! Because we have grown fat and a bit cronked out Anyway it's going to be tiny little gym in the inner sanctum of the 1980s workshop and we bought a really good elliptical cross-trainer yesterday, to start us off.

Will the room in question require ventilation? There are black mould spots on the walls pretty much all over, but the room hasn't been occupied for 13 years- it used to be an office for the previous owner's business. Is it OK just to attack the mould spots with sugar soap prior to decorating? Do we need to rig up an extractor fan and knock a hole through to outside? There's no window- but nothing to stop us putting one in I suppose.

The floor is bare concrete; what flooring would you put down? We will want to do mat work and have a bench with weights and the bare concrete isn't very appealing. The room is small - around 4 metres by 2.5.

Bizarrely someone has gone to great lengths to make a panelled wooden ceiling in there. I'll put up some pics. It means I can do a two or three tone FnB scheme with all my leftover paint which will make me happy

 

[skier-hughes]

I would definitely go for some ventilation.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks Graham, in that case I'll make sure the door is left open until we can fit an extractor or window in there - there's quite a gap under the workshop doors (which are double garage doors) so the breeze should blow directly in.

 

[LadyArowana]

There are specialist gym floors that have a certain amount of cushioning so if you drop weights they absorb the impact ( a bit ) and also they have a non slip surface so machines etc don't move about. Some are laid in big bits, others are more like jigsaw pieces that lock together. http://www.anytimeleisure.co.uk/pavigym-fitness-floor-tiles.html Cant remember the name on the one on the floor at the London one, but I think Pavigym might be the brand in Singapore, although it might be a different spec for a club than home use.

 

[88v8]

Flooring... good point. What about horse mats?
These look ideal
http://www.horsematshop.co.uk/35-anti-fatigue-mats

Ivor

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks for the suggestions LadyA and Ivor. I think a hard wearing carpet might be sufficient in this case; I don't want to spend much and am keen to avoid it looking too industrial.

 

[Penners]

I'd say that ventilation is a must. If you're going to be huffing, puffing and perspiring - sorry, glowing - in there, you need decent ventilation. I would consider an extractor fan controlled by a humidistat. The mould spots may respond to sugar soap, but if they're stubborn you might need a mild bleach solution.

A carpet sounds a great deal more comfortable than horse mats!

Pity you've just bought a cross-trainer - my daughter told me yesterday that she's going to sell hers!

Is "mat work" a euphemism?

 

[Flyfisher]

I've come over all peculiar just thinking about a gym - I think I need a quick lie down.

 

[Penners]

I've come over all peculiar just thinking about a gym - I think I need a quick lie down.

While you're lying down, FF, a few "crunches" wouldn't go amiss, would they? :wink:

 

[Flyfisher]

Not like you to be so careless with your spelling :wink:

 

[Moo]

I think you should explain the subtlety of your spelling to Mike, Penners.

 

[Penners]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

I have a suspicion that he understands well enough, Moo.

 

[LadyArowana]

To drag this rather boringly in the direction of the original question.

I looked at the mats in the London gym yesterday and the soft workout ones ( cushioned for floor work etc, not "flooring" for equipment to stand on ) were by these people http://www.kay-metzeler.com/sports-safety-products/superlight.php and yes, I am not telling porkies just because the brand logo is an elephant! Underneath was a non branded speckly looking rubber floor, and honestly I think a piece of thick accoustic underlay would do the job just as well in a domestic situation and would probably be cheaper than some sort of specialist gym floor and more practical than carpet.

 

[skier-hughes]

For floor work, I'd suggest a washable impervious covering rather than carpet which will soak up the sweat and smell.

 

[Flyfisher]

Hard to be entirely sure, Moo, but I suspect that he knew, that I knew, that he knew it was a gift of a feed line and I knew that he knew that I wouldn't be able to resist and he knew that I knew that he would be surprised if I did so I didn't and he knew I wouldn't and I knew that he knew that. Or so I thought.

 

[Penners]

That's exactly what I thought.

 

[Flyfisher]

Phew!

 

[Penners]

I do love a bit of intellectual debate.

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol: :lol: :lol: Me too.

But, to go back to FF's point of feeling all exhausted at the thought of a gym; he doesn't need a gym because he does all manly things with tractors and angle-grinders and suchlike.

And as for the suggestion of sweating, euurgh, no plans for that at all, besides which, I of course wouldn't be capable of any such unladylike thing. No, a gentle bit of exercise whilst still in my morning robes, perhaps a few 1930s style physical jerks, that will be sufficient.

Thank you for the mat company LadyA, that's great. Horatio says no thank you, though, to hard cold flooring underneath. Maybe an old Persian rug that can be beaten out on the line would be good.

I have found woodworm in this room now so heat and ventilation are going to be critical.

Would I get into trouble if I knocked a big hole in the wall for a pair of French doors to outside? I suppose that will require PP.

 

[skier-hughes]

No point having a gym if all you intend is such gentle exercise that you don't bring up your heart rate and do a little perspiring.