Building Our Fitness Room

Fitness Room Equipment

As we approached retirement, we decided that physical fitness was going to be one of our core pursuits. Knowing that we were going to spend a lot of our time exercising we had to decide if we were going to join a local gym or build our own fitness room. The benefits of joining a local gym were access to gym quality fitness equipment as well as the variety of fitness equipment available. An additional benefit was possible access to a trainer. The benefits of building our own fitness room were 24-hour easy access to the equipment and low cost after purchasing the equipment. We decided the best decision for us was to build our own fitness room.

Two years before our retirement we began building our own fitness room. With our children grown and out of the house, we had ample space for a fitness room. In this blog post, we will discuss the equipment we have purchased and how we use it each week.

What to Purchase

We decided that we would wait about 6 months between purchases. That decision gave us time to implement new purchases into our exercise regimen and demonstrate that we were serious about keeping up with our fitness. We also purchased equipment that we felt had good value. The emphasis here was keeping cost low but buying only the equipment we felt we would get the most usage. We only purchased equipment that we felt would be used multiple times each week. This slow and steady approach to equipping our fitness room meant that it took us nearly six years to complete the purchases. However, it also gave us the time to develop good exercise habits.

Stationary Recumbent Exercise Bicycle

One of our first purchases about six years ago (2020) was the Marcy ME 709 Stationary Recumbent Exercise Bicycle which we bought at Walmart. At the time, we purchased it for about $150. This bike has magnetic resistance with 8 preset levels. The lowest level (1) has almost no resistance and the highest level (8) feels like you are riding up a steep hill. It also has an adjustable seat based on your height. Recumbent bikes have a comfortable chair-like seating position that lets you sit back, and the pedals are in front of you. The riding position is comfortable and supportive which minimizes back, neck and shoulder strain. Recumbent bikes provide a great lower body workout for the glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves.

I use this stationary recumbent bike daily for 30-40 minutes at a resistance level of 7, covering about 7-10 miles each session. Tammie uses this bike occasionally.

Elliptical

Our second purchase about 5 ½ years ago (2020) was the Weslo Momentum Elliptical that we paid about $125 from Walmart. Tammie used it frequently and I used it occasionally when we first purchased it. Gradually we began to use it less frequently. There were several reasons for this. First, it was cheaply made and has an annoying squeak when using it. Second, it has a limited range of motions. Third, as we purchased additional equipment (stationary bike and treadmill) we found the elliptical was redundant. Currently, this elliptical has been moved to another room and is awaiting being sold or given away.

Dumbbell Rack, Dumbbells, and Weight Bench

During COVID (2021) we purchased a Weider Dumbbell Rack and dumbbells (from 2 pounds to 25 pounds) from both Walmart and Target. During COVID it seems like everyone was buying dumbbells, so we went back and forth from both stores to complete our set. The dumbbell rack costs us about $50, and the 12 dumbbells cost us in total about $300.  A year later we purchased a Maxkare Weight Bench for about $60.

I work out with dumbbells and a weight bench two or three times weekly.  I do thirty repetitions of the following exercises: shoulder press, frontal raises, lateral raises, hammer curl, chest flyers, goblet squats, single arm rows, and incline press. I use a variety of 15-, 20-, and 25-pound dumbbells for those repetitions.

Tammie uses the dumbbells and weight bench every day. She uses 10-pound dumbbells and does 10 repetitions of a large variety of exercises including hammer curls, triceps kickback, side raises, chest fly, reverse fly, side bends, bow extension, and a variety of swings and rotations. She often repeats these same exercises once standing up and then again on the weight bench. She does this routine for about 30 minutes.

Home Gym

A Marcy Home Gym is a brand of multi-functional fitness equipment designed for full-body workouts which features a compact design with a weight stack, pulleys, and various stations for chest press, leg extensions, lats pulldowns, and more, allowing users to perform dozens of exercises without needing multiple machines or fumbling with loose plates, making it convenient for building muscle and burning calories. We purchased our home gym three years ago (2023)  for about $650. I use this machine two or three times weekly. I do thirty repetitions of the following exercises: seated bench press, pectoral fly, wide lats pull-downs, high pulley ab crunch, leg extensions, and triceps pushdowns. Tammie does not use this machine.

Treadmill

Just over two years (2024) ago we purchased the Funmily Treadmill with Incline for about $400. Before the purchase, I had done all of my walking in the neighborhood or on the Swamp Rabbit Trail in hot and cold temperatures and in sunny and rainy conditions. Now I do the majority of my walks on the treadmill and occasionally walk in the neighborhood or on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. While I do enjoy getting out in good weather to walk, it is hard to beat the convenience of stepping on the treadmill in a climate-controlled room. I use the treadmill every day for my 5-mile walk which takes about 90 minutes at a 3.4 mph setting. If I do decide to walk outside, I just reduce the time I walk on the treadmill. During the month of January, I have averaged 14,500 steps with about 10,000 steps coming from my treadmill walk.

Tammie also uses the treadmill every day and normally walks about 2 miles at a speed setting of 3.5 mph. Her goal is to get in 8,000 steps a day with about half of her steps coming from the treadmill.

Power Tower

One of our most recent purchases (Christmas 2025) was a Pooboo Power Tower Dip Station.  We purchased it for about $250. A Power Tower is a multi-station metal frame for bodyweight exercises like pull-ups, dips, leg and knee raises, push-ups, and dead weight hanging. I use the Power Tower two or three times a week to do a dead weight hang for 15 seconds, 5 pull-ups, 30 knee raises, and 30 push-ups. I plan to increase those numbers gradually.

Tammie has really taken to this machine and daily does between 10-20 repetitions of dead hang belly crunchers and knee raises. She also does 10-20 repetitions of variations of vertical knee and leg raises. Finally, she stands next to the tower to complete a variety of leg lifts (side, front, back, diagonal) and hip flexors each having 10 repetitions.

 Stretching Machine

Another recent purchase (Christmas 2025) was a GMWD Stretch Machine. We purchased it for about $200. Stretch machines are designed to stretch legs, hips, back, and shoulders with a 90-degree swivel seat and multi-grip handles. Tammie is a lot more flexible than I am and uses this machine daily for about 10 minutes. I use it three or four times a week for about 5 minutes each time.

Miscellaneous Items

In addition to the fitness equipment, we've also added several fitness items including: a yoga mat ($20), tablet holder ($25), weight-lifting gloves ($15), weighted vest ($65), kettlebell ($20), and ankle weights ($12).  Tammie often uses the yoga mat, gloves, and ankle weights.  I use the tablet holder every day and the weighted vest occasionally.

In addition to our fitness room routine, we have other physical activities each week. Tammie attends a seated exercise for seniors’ class through Whole Fitness once a week. During the spring, summer, and fall we try to play pickleball at least once a week. Finally, we practice dancing two or three times a week. We have taken a break from dancing while Tammie is recuperating from a knee injury but hope to get back to it very soon.

Summary

It has taken approximately five years to fully equip our fitness room.  We have spent about $2,300 on the equipment. Between the two of us, the fitness room gets about 4-5 hours of daily use. If instead we’d each had a membership at our local gym (Anytime Fitness) for five years, our total costs would have been $6,500 ($650 per person per year). Having our own fitness room has already saved us over $3,000 over a gym membership. Since we have likely finished buying equipment, our savings will be even greater in the future.