What’s Your Biggest Home Gym Regret? + More

Here is a look at the most recent survey results. A breakdown of this article includes:

  • Audio: For the first time, the results are discussed in audio format! We’d love to hear some feedback.
  • Quick Hitters: Will popularity of home gyms continue to rise? How many use fitness trackers? + More

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We tried something new. This is a test of a potential podcast we will do weekly, and there are some tweaks needed, but take a listen to a discussion of these results. We would love to hear some feedback. Feel free to add that at the bottom of the post or send us a message. THANK YOU!

*You may need to click into the browser to listen.

Some Quick Hitters:

  • 85% think the popularity of home gyms will continue to rise (so do we…..)
  • 48% use a fitness tracker. That’s up 25% from an October 2019 survey.
  • 33% are currently going to another gym besides home gym, which is consistent with other times this has been asked in 2021.

Where are your primary workout shoes from?

Nike was not as dominant as expected but did gain more votes than Reebok and Adidas combined. About 38% voted “other” as the most popular answer.

In a follow-up question, it was asked what those “other” shoes were. NoBull and Under Armour are the most popular response by far.

Which “Specialty” Kabuki Bar are you going with first?

The Transformer Bar received the most votes with nearly 38% of the total.

However, the Open Trap Bar was not too far behind with almost 32%. Both received more than the Duffalo and Kadillac bar combined.

What is your preferred bench width?

This is the second week in a row this question has been asked, but unfortunately, the possible responses were not phrased as well as they should have been. It will need to be asked for a third week in a row next week. We need to figure out if most would like to have something at least 12 inches.

REP AB-5200 vs. Rogue Adjustable Bench 2.0

With that being said, we still know that most do not know their preferred width, and of those that do, it’s more than 11 inches.

What selectorized strength machine are you most interested in?

The functional trainer beats out the lat pulldown, belt squat, and leg curl/extension when it comes to stack weight. It was not absolutely dominant, though, with 34% of the votes. The simple lat pulldown received 30% of the votes, so it wasn’t too far behind.

The week before, the same question was asked about “Plate Loaded” Strength Machines, where the lat pulldown was the #1 choice. As previously mentioned, the functional trainer is the new #1 with the selectorized voting, and all other %’s went down compared to when as for the plate loaded option. For example, the leg curl/extension dropped from 16.4% to 15.0%.

Where are you most likely to get a Barbell, Dumbbells, and a Bench from? Rogue, Titan, REP, and Other were the possible answers.

  • Rogue DOMINATED the barbells with nearly 3/4 votes. “Other” received 14% of the votes and Kabuki Strength and Texas Power Bars definitely had the most responses of those.
  • The bench matchup was a bit closer, but Rogue was the winner again. REP was about 6% points behind them.
  • “Other” led the way for buying dumbbells. In a follow up question many responses included: WalMart, local distributors, Academy Sports, Fray, Amazon, or an adjustable dumbbell brand. Only a few mentioned premium brands like Intek or Watson.
  • In general, Titan did not do very well in these surveys with 10.9% of responses being the highest.

What’s your biggest home gym regret?

This was asked as a #sundaysurveydiscussion, and there were over 300 responses.

  • The most popular response was easily “not starting sooner.” Many expressed waiting until COVID started.
  • Buying low quality items at the very beginning. Many end up replacing the items which actually cost more in the long run. Adjustable benches were mentioned numerous times.
  • Choosing a spot with a low ceiling height or simply choosing a house that is not “home gym friendly.” A lot of people wished they had a bigger garage. They did not foresee the need when originally moving in.
  • Getting cheap flooring.
  • Buying large pieces of equipment that don’t get used often (GHD, Echo Bike, Reverse hyper, standing calf raise, stand alone preacher curl)
  • Getting a foldaway rack and it never gets folded. Others wished they got a folding rack.
  • Not insulating the garage.

That’s it!

Thanks again to all who helped answer these questions and then for also checking out the responses.

Please share your experience