From April 2020 to March 2021, surveys happened each week through Garage Gym Experiment Instagram Account. There were hundreds of questions asked during this timeframe, and each received thousands of responses.
Most of the analysis below is based on data via the Instagram Story tool, where each question is live for 24 hours. There are also some limitations to this method. For example, only 4 multiple choice options are using this feature. However, it’s been an effective way to get lots of responses, and many enjoy doing the surveys in this fashion each week. These surveys are pretty casual but deliver many key insights into those building out their home gyms. Many companies are using this sort of data to develop products and strategies for this growing market.
Get results each week by subscribing to the blog below.
Within this summary you’ll find:
Who is Answering these Questions?
As you go through the summary, keep in mind that millions of people with home gyms are most likely. Those responding follow an Instagram account focused on garage gyms and viewed the Instagram Story (about 5-10% of total followers). Therefore, you could say these are probably some of the most passionate home gym owners. Also, most of the content revolves around those building out gyms with strength training on top of their mind. Thus, the audience is not a representation of all home gyms throughout the world.
With that being said, here’s who is responding:
- It’s primarily guys answering these questions. 81% identify as male.
- Ages 25-34 make up nearly half of those answering these questions with only 5% over the age of 45. Surprisingly almost 24% said they were under 25 which seems young for a home gym owner. Nevertheless, it’s primarily millenials and younger doing the surveys.
- Most of these responses are coming from those in the United States. The data says 83% America, 7.5% Europe, 5% Canada, and 4% Rest of World. Then, when looking at just the United States, it’s relatively spread out, with the west/northwest region gaining the most responses.
- There were also many former athletes, with 74% saying they played high school sports and 31% playing in college. 60% would consider themselves as an “athlete” today.
- 55% said their occupation is “blue-collar” vs. 45% “white-collar.”
- Most of them are not just winging their workouts. 61% follow a specific workout program, and an additional 33% pay for programming. 14% have their own 1:1 coach.
- A lot of the survey respondents are parents. 48% say their children get involved around the home gym.
- Powerlifting, CrossFit, Bodybuilding, or Strongman… What interests you the most? CrossFit is the winner in this poll, slightly beating out powerlifting by just 5 votes (over 10,000 total votes).
More about those answering these questions
- Building out a gym in your home is a journey where you will most likely not purchase everything at once. 86% of respondents said they are building out their home gym one step at a time.
- This is an active group. 85% of survey respondents work out at least four times a week, with 56% doing 4-5 workouts in a typical week. This statistic would be helpful to compare with people who need to travel to a gym. Nevertheless, those answering these surveys are working out quite a bit.
- The primary reason that people train is for physical health. Mental health came in at #2. This is a survey that has been done numerous times over the last few years and the results have not changed.
- When asked about the #2 reason you train, the most popular answer was to look good with mental health as a close second. “For a Competition was not anywhere near the top on either.
Issues that Home Gym Owners Face
“Lack of space” was easily the biggest issue highlighted by home gym owners. 73% said this was an issue for them and it was without question the most mentioned and “liked” in the Sunday Survey Discussion. Ceiling height was a big concern, as well as just simply wanting more than you could fit.
Other notable issues include:
- Temperature control (cold winters, hot summers) came in as the second biggest obstacle. This was also a hot topic in the Sunday Survey Discussion mentioned above.
- Nearly half say warming up is difficult to do within a home gym setting and was the #3 issue, while only 16% said finishing a workout was a problem.
- Keeping the gym clean, not enough lighting, and concern about making too much noise are seen as moderate issues. All had about a third saying these were problems they faced.
- Most feel that they are working out in a safe environment with equipment that will last and is not poor quality.
| Rank | Statement | True | False | % True |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lack of space is an issue for my home gym | 7,507 | 2,793 | 73% |
| 2 | Temperature Control is an issue for my home gym | 6,029 | 4,353 | 58% |
| 3 | Warming Up is an issue during home gym workouts | 4,830 | 5,337 | 48% |
| 4 | Distractions are an issue during home gym workouts | 3,901 | 6,308 | 38% |
| 5 | Keeping home gym clean is an issue | 3,137 | 6,222 | 34% |
| 6 | Not enough lighting is an issue for my home gym | 3,178 | 6,652 | 32% |
| 7 | Concern about making too much noise is an issue | 2,908 | 6,486 | 31% |
| 8 | Poor equipment is an issue I face with home gym | 1,812 | 7,678 | 19% |
| 9 | I’ve made multiple home gym purchase regrets | 1,788 | 8,133 | 18% |
| 10 | Finishing workouts is an issue for me in home gym | 1,508 | 8,063 | 16% |
| 11 | Equipment aging quickly is an issue for my home gym | 1,352 | 8,662 | 14% |
| 12 | Working out safely is an iussue for me at home gym | 1,122 | 8,832 | 11% |
| Total | 39,072 | 79,519 | 33% |
The “Issues” chart above was done 6 months prior as well. All but “Temperature Control” had a lower percentage of “true” votes, meaning fewer issues with the topics above. For example, time 21% voted that equipment aging was an issue vs. just 14% this time.
The comparison below looks at the amount that voted these statements as issues then vs. now.
- It was also asked whether or not cold winters or hot summers were worse for the home gym? 68% voted for cold winters. Also, last November, 40% said their workouts had suffered as the weather got colder. The way you respond to this question probably depends on where you live.
What is Owned?
There were 29 items asked about and each one received an average of nearly 12,200 responses. Highlights include:
- Resistance bands came it at #1 with 89% owning. A barbell fell just behind (86%) and dumbbells were the third most owned product (83%).
- 29% more own adjustable benches compared to flat benches
- 67% own bumper plates compared to 61% iron (some own both)
- Only 5 of the 29 products asked about were owned by more than 75% and just 11 are owned by more than 40%.
- The large specialty machines (leg press, reverse hyper, functional trainer, GHD, Belt Squat) came in at the very bottom.
Home Gym Space
- It’s probably shocking to some that it’s not just the household’s meathead that is utilizing the gym. Multiple people are most likely taking advantage of the home gym setup. Only 30% of respondents said one person utilizes the gym, while over 22% have four or more. The most popular answer was two, with nearly 37% of the votes.
- Most home gyms are in the garage. 63% of respondents say their gym is in the garage, and basements make up another 17%. . 20% have it elsewhere.
- A massive amount of space is not something that most are dealing with. Over half are working with around 200 sq feet or less. Only 17 have more than 600 sq feet to utilize.
- Ceiling heights vary quite a bit, but most are not dealing with a ton of head room. About half have ceilings that are under 8 feet.
- Most want to have a larger home gym but have trouble making room. 3.4x more people said it was more difficult to clear space for equipment than fill it up. This question has been asked several times over the past few years and the results have been very consistent.
- 61% sacrifice storage for the rest of the house to have a home gym. Space is limited for most and it usually eats into some of the space you’d typically store other household items (maybe even your car).
About 63% are using one or two walls for their home gym, meaning that most are sharing a room with something else. Only 18% use all four walls.
Home Gym Regrets
In December 2020, GGE asked for people to tell all their biggest home gym regret. Most of these revolved around.
- Not starting earlier (this was mentioned the most)
- Not buying quality equipment, to begin with (buy once cry once)
- Purchasing large pieces of equipment that don’t get much use and take up precious space. GHD’s and Reverse Hypers are examples.
- Not purchasing a house that is ideal for a home gym (didn’t foresee the need)
- Adding flooring too late in the process or going cheap on flooring, to begin with
- Not buying the correct items for the current space and/or training goals.
- There are many more individual mentions, and it’s definitely a post worth scrolling through, which you can find below.
Barbell Data
- The best bar for most people is probably a Multi-Purpose Bar. 51% said that the best barbell for them is a bar that can do everything, but a Power Bar did get 36% of the votes. Only 13% said an OLY bar for the Olympic lifts was # 1 on their list.
- 56% see a need for specialty barbells (safety squat bar, trap bar, curl bar, etc). However, over half of respondents do not own any specialty barbells and only about 24% own multiple.
When it comes to interest of each type of specialty bar, that varies. The level of interest in 10 different barbell types were asked about below are the results.
- The Hex/Trap Bar had the most interest and in a relatively close 2nd and 3rd place were the Safety Squat Bar and Curl Bar.
- 35% was the most “high interest” votes a product received. Therefore, there wasn’t really a massive interest for any of them.
- Axle, Log Press, and Camber were at the bottom of the list.
- A whopping 89% think it’s worth spending $30-40 more for a barbell that will not rust. A follow-up conversation is here.
- Only 51% say they know the diameter of their primary barbell. 49% do not. Below are the results of those that do know. The most widely used diameter is 28.5, which is your standard multi-purpose bar (probably as expected) with over 35% of the votes.
A moderate knurl is what most are looking for. About 2/3 voted for this type. Only 6% want their barbell to be passive.
Rack Data
What’s your hole preference on a squat rack? Nearly 38% do not understand why it’s important, but the #1 response was 1-inch holes. This aligns with the Monster Line from Rogue and 5000-Series Racks from Rep. 1 inch holes received over 2x more votes than those with 5/8 inch (Monster Lite and 4000-Series Racks).
Would you even consider a rack that doesn’t have 5/8 inch or 1-inch holes? While 21% did not see why this is important, 4x voted no rather than yes.
- For your home gym setup, which rack style is best? Power racks make up just over half of the votes, with squat racks in a distant second place. About 7% don’t know the difference between power, squat, and half rack.
How much do you expect to pay for your rack of choice? The sweet spot seems to be between $400 and $700, where about 41% voted. Only 16% voted above $1,000 and below $400.
- Let’s call the level of interest in a yoke mild. `16% had high interest but 43% voted low. In general, these don’t seem to be too high on most people’s list.
- Which Rack Accessory are you most interested in (landmine, plate storage, dip attachment, or wall ball target)? The landmine is the winner, with plate storage only a few percentage points behind when it comes to these 4 rack accessory options.
- Next up is a look at some of the larger accessory options. Of these 3 options (lat/low row attachment, jammer/iso arms, belt squat), which Power Rack Accessory were most interested in? The lat/low row attachment won this one relatively easily, gaining nearly 37% of the votes. About 29% said they were not really interested in any of them.
- The ability to add accessories to a power rack seems to be essential for most. 85% voted that it’s either “Important” or “Very Important.” Less than 3% said not important?
- The question above was also asked one year prior. How did the responses change? The “Very Important” voters rose from 40% to 53%. Therefore, the ability to add accessories to a power rack is even more important than it was a year ago.
What’s your level of interest in an “All-In-One-Rack” like what’s shown below (Force USA G3)? Overall the results varied quite a bit with 23% high, 24% medium, 46% low, and 6% neutral.
How Important is it for you to have an 11 gauge steel rack? 23% classified this as very important, while 29% said it’s not. The largest vote-getter was “somewhat important” with 16% not knowing what this question means. There was less resistance on this than hole size.
Equipment Preferences
- Bumper or Iron Plates? Bumpers win this one easily with 2.2x more votes. Only 9% went with “whatever is cheapest,” so most had a preference.
- Over 3 out of 4 say that they lift with pounds exclusively. Keep in mind that most answering these questions are in the US.
- Interested in limited edition gym equipment? Just about half said no, while a 17% voted “very high” and another 11% said “High.”
Large Specialty Equipment
- Reverse Hyper. Functional Trainer. Belt Squat. GHD. You have room for one. Which one are you choosing? The number one response was a Functional Trainer with 36% of votes. It was followed by the GHD (28%), Belt Squat (21%), and then Reverse Hyper (15%). In general, this type of feedback for a functional trainer was consistent throughout the year.
Larger specialty items such as a Reverse Hyper, GHD, Functional Trainer, Leg Press, etc., are premium products for home gym owners not just because of the price. Many do not have room for these more pieces. Only 42% say they even have the space for two or more, while nearly a quarter can’t fit any. The most popular response with 35% of the votes was when asked how many of these items could fit the current space.
Cardio Equipment
There is quite a bit more interest in a motorless vs. motorized treadmill. With a total of 23% with high interest, that’s 73% higher than “high-interest” voters for a motorized treadmill. About 10% said they didn’t know what “motorless” meant, while just 6% didn’t understand what a “motorized treadmill” was.
Which one are you choosing if you could only have 1 – an Air Bike, Rower, Stationary Bike, or Treadmill? A rower and air bike made up about 2/3 votes, with the Rower (36%) being the winner. The stationary bike came in last with about 11% of votes.
“What’s your favorite piece of cardio equipment?” This question was asked in a #sundaysurveydiscussion. There weren’t a ton of instructions, so the answers varied, but the number one mentioned item was…. the Rogue Echo Bike. When looking at specific products mentioned, the Concept 2 Rower and Assault Bike were not too far behind.
A breakdown of the responses are below. A few notes and highlights include:
- The overall responses were very spread out. For example, the number 1 response received 13.7% of the responses. Nevertheless, rowers and air bikes were clearly the top 2 responses given.
- The Concept 2 Rower could very well be the most popular item, but there were a large number of people that simply put “rower.” There weren’t many people who put “air bike” as the response.
- Jokes and responses with cardio options used outside of the gym were not added. For example, the mountain bike was a popular answer.
- Concept 2 had three specific items listed in the top 10.
What would be your first piece of cardio equipment choice between a rower, air bike, treadmill, or stationary bike? The rower eked out a victory here by just a few percentage points over the air bike. These two combined for about 2/3 of the total votes.
Most do not have more than 1 piece of cardio equipment if any. When asked how many pieces were owned, the most popular response was simply 1, with nearly a quarter not owning any. About 1 out of 3 did own multiple pieces.
Secondary Market Data
- About a quarter plan on selling some gym equipment on the used marketplace in the next 6 months (Craigslist, FB Marketplace, etc.). 42% say no, and about a third is up in the air.
- Facebook Marketplace is the go-to place to sell your used gym equipment. When asked where you’d most likely post it for sale first, the Marketplace made up 69% of the votes. Let Go/Offer Up were in a distant second, while Craigslist actually came in last.
What % of your home gym was bought used? Nearly 2 out of 3 have at least something bought used, but less than 30% say that more than a third is used. Therefore, most have something that was bought used, but most stuff in their home gym is actually new.
Rogue is the Dominant Force
- Who Wins? Rogue or everyone else? 69% voted for Rogue in January 2021, which means others have quite a lot of catching up to do. This question was also asked in December of 2019, where Rogue received 67% of the votes.
- 65% of respondents said they own something from Rogue, 31% from Titan Fitness, and 29% from Rep.
In 5 years, who will be the most popular equipment supplier for home gyms? This was the question asked for the #sundaysurveydiscussion last week. Summary below:
- As expected, Rogue led the way with about 38% of the responses and Rep/Titan another 25%.
- Amazon/Walmart made up about 9% and a few even mentioned Tesla and Apple. There were thoughts that companies like this will focus more on creating their own lines or buy another company.
- The final 28% included a list of over 60 companies with Sorinex, Fray, and Ghost Strong leading the way.
Have You Heard of These Companies?
Below is a breakdown of 6 editions of the, “Have you heard of this company Survey?” Most of these companies have the ability to outfit your entire gym with a few others thrown in. As always, this survey was done via the Instagram Story feature in the Sunday Survey.
| Current Rank | Company | June 2019 | October 2019 | February 2020 | June 2020 | December 2020 | March 2021 |
| 1 | Rogue Fitness | 98% | 98% | 99% | 98% | 96% | 98% |
| 2 | Titan Fitness | 93% | 90% | 93% | 93% | 93% | 94% |
| 3 | Rep Fitness | 74% | 79% | 86% | 85% | 82% | 90% |
| 4 | Fray Fitness | 32% | 31% | 60% | 69% | 68% | 81% |
| 5 | American Barbell | 76% | 75% | 73% | 79% | 74% | 78% |
| 6 | Vulcan Strength | 61% | 62% | 78% | 77% | 70% | 77% |
| 7 | PRX Performance | 68% | 71% | 73% | 73% | 68% | 76% |
| 8 | Sorinex | 68% | 66% | 72% | 70% | 65% | 76% |
| 9 | AbMat | 61% | 75% | ||||
| 10 | Kabuki Strength | 62% | 60% | 69% | 69% | 62% | 73% |
| 11 | Get RXd | 60% | 59% | 71% | 63% | 59% | 69% |
| 12 | Onnit | 58% | 68% | ||||
| 13 | Fringe Sport | 65% | 68% | 75% | 66% | 56% | 67% |
| 14 | Bells of Steel | 45% | 44% | 58% | 62% | 47% | 67% |
| 15 | Force USA | 16% | 40% | 41% | 38% | 62% | |
| 16 | LUXIAOJUN Barbell | 41% | 57% | ||||
| 17 | Kettlebell Kings | 41% | 53% | ||||
| 18 | Ghost Strong Equipment | 16% | 20% | 42% | 51% | 38% | 52% |
| 19 | Body-Solid | 54% | 47% | 56% | 47% | 35% | 46% |
| 20 | Raptor Fitness | 22% | 26% | 31% | 22% | 31% | 43% |
| 21 | Again Faster Equipment | 53% | 50% | 57% | 46% | 37% | 41% |
| 22 | Bridge Built | 23% | 22% | 33% | |||
| 23 | I Sell Fitness | 13% | 20% | 19% | 25% | 24% | 29% |
| 24 | Dynamic Fitness & Strength | 20% | 23% | ||||
| 25 | Crane Fitness Equipment | 11% | 10% | 6% | 11% | 23% | |
| 26 | Batl Performance | 15% | 21% | ||||
| 27 | Tuff Stuff Fitness | 13% | 20% | 18% | 20% | ||
| 28 | Gymway USA | 16% | 19% | ||||
| 29 | X Training Equipment | 19% | 17% | 24% | 25% | 17% | 19% |
| n/a | Valor Fitness | 59% | 45% | ||||
| n/a | Powertec | 43% | 36% | ||||
| n/a | Synergee Fitness | 25% | 22% | 30% | |||
| n/a | Lynx Barbell | 16% | 21% | ||||
| n/a | Gorila Fitness | 26% | 35% |
Plus, here is a closer breakdown of the last few months with some notes:
- There were 39% fewer votes in March than in December (about 7,800 per company). All scores ended up being higher than what occurred 4 months before.
- Those that moved up at least 2 positions were Crane Fitness (+4), Fray Fitness (+3), Force USA (+2), and BATL Performance (+2). X Training Equipment dropped the most (-3).
A Few Notes about the Numbers Above:
- It’s a tough (and probably unfair) comparison when you add a list with so many companies. There are established brands with a nationwide reach and happy to be a “regional” or “local” brand. Besides, some have equipment designed to help a certain type of training (i.e., powerlifting, CrossFit), so the reach may not be large. This is just something to keep in mind.
- Just because someone has heard of a certain company does not mean that they will consider purchasing from them.
Other Interesting Survey Results
- In February, 68% said they’ve focused more on their physical health during the pandemic, which is contrary to what the general public says they’ve done.
- Should people stop complaining about shipping costs for heavy equipment? With nearly 13,000 responses, 56% voted YES. You can also chime in on this post here if you have something to say. It seems like the right thing to do unless you have a better solution? These companies are sometimes shipping thousands of pounds across the country.
- Most are not afraid of the installation process. Only 16% have ever passed on buying something for their gym due to being afraid of installing or assembling the item. Also, only 6% have ever not been able to assemble something they’ve purchased.
- 46% believe that it is okay to finance gym equipment and 13% of survey respondents have.
- 15% say they have returned gym equipment.
- 32% admit to being an “Equipment Snob.”
- 63% read “expert reviews” for most gym equipment purchases.
- Fellow consumer reviews are extremely important. 66% would rather read 5 consumer reviews than 1 “expert review.”
- The level of interest in reading reviews for the home gym is quite high. 73% either voted high or very high, with just a total of 8% voting low.
- Most survey respondents do not spend much time working out in the great outdoors. 52% workout less than 2 times a month outside and just 14% get a workout in over 15 time during that timeframe.
With over 17,000 responses, 62% say that they do save money by owning a home gym, contrary to many of the amazing gyms posted on Instagram. So, don’t let those fool you!
The majority of people are not very interested in getting custom work for their gym equipment. Over 81% voted low or 0% interest.
- Just about 41% believe that it’s either “almost essential” or important that the gym equipment was made in their country. Therefore, a majority of respondents are either neutral or feel that it’s not important.
- The distribution of “made in your country” equipment is relatively spread out. There are some with very little and others with a lot of gym equipment that was made in their country.
- 57% said they’d be willing to pay more for plates made in their country. How much more is the real question.
- Once you go home gym, you never go back. 95% say that space for a home gym is absolutely necessary in next home.
- Lastly, 93% say they’ll own a home gym the rest of their life.
That’s It!
A huge thank you goes out to all who voted throughout the year. As a reminder, you can participate in these surveys via the @garagegymexperiment Instagram stories each week.
Results are posted each week and you can subscribe below:
Very very helpful info! Thx, am just starting to build out a garage gym
Texas in summer scares me, but what’s a little sweat, right? I’d pay big money to get a sauna put in, can just work out and sweat as side benefit.