On Monday, some survey questions were asked via the Garage Gym Experiment Instagram story in an effort to learn more about what home gym owners prefer. What started out as a few questions about barbell preferences turned into many random questions. In general, there were about 2,000 responses for each questions. It should also be noted that these are probably the most “engaged” followers considering that they went to the story and voted. There is also only 2 multiple choice options with this way of doing surveys, so it’s somewhat limited. Nevertheless, there is some phenomenal insight. Here are the key takeaways:
- Time saved is a more important benefit for most than the money saved
- Nearly 2/3rds of surveyors plan on spending over $500 on their home gym next year
- An olympic barbell for under $250 with a more aggressive knurl may be what most are looking for
- Rogue dominates right now
- Half of survey responders identify as a Powerlifter, CrossFitter, or Olympic Weightlifter
And here is a list of all questions asked with some explanation and analysis (no particular order):
We live busy lives. It’s good to see that time is more precious than money for this queson. This question also ignores the countless other benefits!
More than 60% plan on spending more than $500 in the next year, which means that they probably plan on buying at least a few items. This is a considerable amount of $$$$, but keep in mind the audience responding to this question.
It’s about 50/50 whether or not the responders also go to another gym. Even if you love your gym, there is still value in having a place to workout whenever you want in your own home.
The barbell is king/queen.
A majority of barbell owners have multiple
There is a lot of noise on social media from powerlifters about their barbell preferences, so this one is somewhat surprising. Almost 60% are using an olympic barbell as their primary barbell, probably because they are more versatile.
Close to 50/50 when looking at how much people want to spend on new barbells.
While the olympic barbell is used more often, the knurl preference is more aggressive.
Nearly 3/4ths want their barbell brand new even if it costs more
Rogue is still best known company offering equipment for home gym owners. It will be interesting to see how this changes over the next few years.
About half of the responders identify as a Powerlifter, CrossFitter, or Olympic Weightlifter. The others do not.
A survey like this will happen again in the near future. If you have questions that you would like to be asked please send an email to jake@garagegymexperiment.com or an Instagram DM will work.