6 Month Summary of Home Gym Surveys

The Sunday Surveys that occur weekly in the Instagram Story were nearly an instant success. In the last 6 months, there have been 22 surveys with over 250 questions asked. Most questions received several thousand votes. Insights about home gym owners are delivered each week and many on the other end look forward to answering the questions. As you go through the summary, keep in mind that there are most likely millions of home gym owners. Those responding follow an Instagram account focused on garage gyms AND are viewing the Instagram Story (about 10% of total followers). Therefore, you could say these are probably some of the most passionate home gym owners.

Below you’ll find a summary of the first six months of surveys. Let’s GO!

Who are respondants? 

To start off, most followers are male (83%) and between the ages of 25 and 44 (78%). After that, there is a very balanced set of attributes: 

• • 58% are parents (4.14.2019), a group that benefit so much from easy access to a workout. 
  • Many have an athletic past. 71% played high school sports and 32% played college (4.28.2019).
  • 50.6% blue collar vs. 49.4% white collar (7.21.2019).
  • About half consider themselves a Powerlifter, CrossFitter, or Olympic Lifter. The other say that they wouldn’t consider themselves to be any of those titles (4.1.2019). 
  • Over 90% love working out and believe a home gym is one of the best investments you can make (9.29.2019). 

More Characteristics of the home gym owner respondants:

• • Many are just getting started building out their home gyms. 40% have had a home gym for more than 2 years vs. 60% less than (4.8.2019). 
  • 66% of those with garage gyms give up a parking spot (4.8.2019) and 76% sacriifice storage (8.18.2019), helping to reveal how important their home gym is to them. 
  • Most workout before or after traditional working hours. Only a third workout between 8 am and 5 pm (4.28.2019). 89% say they are hitting the gym at least 3x a week (6.3.2019). 
  • Over half of respondants go to another gym (4.1.2019).
  • 2 out of 3 would not consider themselves an “equpment snob” (4.28.2019).
  • 53% would rather workout by themselves than with a partner (7.21.2019). 
  • 69% say “Training for Life” vs. 31% “Training is Life (8.18.2019).“
  • Physical health is the #1 reason that people train. Mental health was #2, look good #3, and a competition was the least voted reason (8.18.2019).

Characteristics of the space used for home gym:

• • 75% have their gym in the garage vs. another room in house like the basement (4.14.2019). 
  • Most pieces of equipment added are important and going to be taking up precious space. 50% have less than 200 sq feet of gym space (4.14.2019).
    • In a survey about 3 months later, 48% state they had between 100 and 250 sq ft. and another 22% have between 250 and 400 (7.7.2019).
  • Horse Stall Mats from a place like Tractor Supply is the go-to  flooring (4.21.2019). It’s incredibly tough and much cheaper than traditional, heavy-duty gym flooring. 
  • When taking price into consideration, 61% choose iron plates (6.16.2019). 
  • Many are building out their home gym one step at a time and always looking to improve.  When asked how much you plan on spending for your hove gym in the next year, 62% of respondents said more than $500 vs. less than $500 (4.1.2019).

Home Gym Struggles: 

• • 77% say space is the biggest issue home gym owners face (9.29.2019). 
  • 52% say that ceiling height is an issue for them in the home gym (4.21.2019). 55% have a celing under 9 ft. and only 12% have one taller than 11 ft (6.3.2019). 
  • 32% worry about making too much noise when working out (6.30.2019). 
  • When asked about home gym purchase regrets, most revolve around not purchasing high quality equipment in the first place (6.16.2019). 73% say that they believe in the statement: “Buy once, cry once” (9.29.2019). 
  • “Safety Concerns” was the number one response when asked about the biggest issue training by themselves (5.19.2019).
  • 3 out of 5 would consider storage for their gym an issue (8.25.2019). 
    • What’s most difficult to store (dumbbells/kettlebells, weight plates, barbells, or everything else? “Everything Else” wins this one with 42% of votes. Weight vests, jump ropes, bands, etc. come to mind here. Dumbbells/kettlebells are also an issue for many. (8.25.2019). 
  • 3x more say it’s more difficult to get a good warmup in vs. a strong finish. 2 out of 3 say they struggle to warm up (8.25.2019).
  • When asked what’s worse between the hot summers and cold winters, winter took 70% of the votes (keep in mind many respondants don’t really even have winter). – (4.14.2019)

The most important benefit for most is the amount of time saved.

• • 69% chose saving time over money (4.1.2019). This was reinforced multiple times.
    • 44% believe to save more than 45 minutes a day by owning a home gym (6.3.2019). 

The barbell and squat rack are the most important pieces of equipment for most.

Barbell Data

• • 84% claim to own a barbell and 59% own multiple (4.1.2019).
    • 39% own a specialty barbell (9.22.2019). 
  • 60% are using an olympic bar as their primary barbell vs. a power bar (4.1.2019).
    • In a survey a few months later, 83% said they’d prefer a barbell that spins vs. one that does not if they could only have one  (6.3.2019). 
  • For a new barbell, 48% expect to pay less than $250 vs. 52% more than $250 (4.1.2019). 
  • 59% would rather have more aggressive knurling than lighter (4.1.2019)
  • 73% of the barbells were bought new (4.1.2019).
  • 50% own a barbell that rusts (8.25.2019). 
  • The most popular barbell is by far the Rogue Ohio Power Bar (4.21.2019).
  • 62% own more than 2 barbells and 76% say they want more (5.19.2019).
  • 16 barbells were asked about in the first survey in September. Rogue impressed here as well. Below is the full breakout (9.1.2019). It was simply asked whether you’d heard of a specific barbell or not. 

Squat Rack Data

• For a new squat rack, 66% expect to may over $400 (4.8.2019). 
• 75% would rather have a power rack over a squat stand (5.12.2019). 
• 83% would rather have a power rack over a yoke (8.4.2019). 
• 56% of respondents have considered purchasing a yoke, but only 8% actually own one (6.30.2019). 
• 29% say that a “fold-away rack” would be their number one choice for their current setup (6.30.2019). 
• 79% actually own a squat rack (6.3.2019). 
• 85% believe that the squat rack is the centerpiece of the home gym (9.29.2019). 

Without question, Rogue is a force

• On 5/12/2019, when asked “Rogue vs. The Field,” 56% said Rogue (5.12.2019). 
• The OPB was by far the most popular and the Ohio Bar had the second most responses (4.21.2019) in a fill in the blank question about what is the primary barbell used at home
• When asked if respondents would choose Rogue Fitness vs. Titan Fitness, Rogue received 5x more votes (7.7.2019). 
• One survey simply asked: “Have you heard of X?” There were 23 different companies and the average “yes rate” was 52%. Rogue’s “yes rate” was 98%, which was the highest (6.23.2019).  Below is a breakdown of all.

Programming:

• 28% pay for programming (4.8.2019). 
• When asked about specific programming, there were over 75 different answers with not one being completely dominant. 5/3/1 and Street Parking had the most responses, but only 9% of the total (6.3.2019). 

Other: 

• Dumbbells over Kettlebells for most were answered in multiple survey questions. In a head to head matchup, 74% chose dumbbells vs. 26% for kettlebells (8.4.2019). 
• Rowers seem to be the most popular piece of “heavy” cardio equipment for home gym owners. Air Bikes are a close second (9.8.2019). 
• Favorite lift (Deadlift, Squat, Bench, Power Clean) is deadlift (7.21.2019).
• Only 10% of respondents say they pull the trigger on a new piece of equipment on the first or second visit to the website  (7.7.2019). 
• 46% say their favorite specialty bar is the SSB. The Trap/Hex is the second favorite (8.18.2019).
• The used marketplace is popular among home gym owners. 76% say they search monthly (4.21.2019). Facebook Marketplace is by far the most popular option (8.4.2019).
• Only 12% say that they buy all of their equipment from one spot (9.29.2019). 
• When asked, about what is owned, resistance bands had the highest percentage of owners. Below is a full breakdown (9.22.2019). 

That’s it for the 6-month summary. All links above will take you to the source. In addition, you can view all Survey results at this link. Subscribe to get this data sent weekly, along with other home gym tips below: