Introduction with Results
This annual survey asked home gym owners to rate 14 common “issues” as either a large, medium, minor, or no issue at all.
While results didn’t change much from previous years, they’re a useful reminder for equipment makers about the challenges owners still face. Even minor or medium issues present opportunities for innovation.
Many owners start by tackling the biggest problems, then gradually work on smaller ones as the hobby becomes a bigger part of their lives. For example, 20% say keeping the home gym clean is at least a medium issue, potentially affecting millions of people, and catered storage systems may be on top of their minds.
Similarly, about 36% report ceiling height as at least a medium issue (up from last year). That might not seem alarming to larger companies, but a business could likely thrive by focusing exclusively on solutions for that market—especially for basement gyms.
With the sheer number of home gym owners today, even the “small” problems represent opportunities to make a big impact.
Below, you’ll find a chart comparing all issues, followed by a closer breakdown by category.
Notes on the data: On average, 500 people responded to each question via Instagram Stories. Issues were ranked using a points system with 3 points for a large issue, 2 for medium, 1 for minor, and 0 for not an issue, then averaged. The list below reflects those rankings.
| Rank | Issue | Not an issue | Minor Issue | Medium Issue | Large Issue |
| 1 | Lack of space for home gym is | 10.96% | 27.74% | 29.31% | 31.99% |
| 2 | Price of obtaining more equipment is | 11.43% | 26.37% | 40.88% | 21.32% |
| 3 | Ceiling height is | 32.77% | 30.85% | 20.43% | 15.96% |
| 4 | Temperature control is | 34.88% | 27.27% | 25.79% | 12.05% |
| 5 | Amount of equipment is | 30.37% | 37.74% | 23.43% | 8.46% |
| 6 | Quality of equipment in home gym is | 53.09% | 18.34% | 15.57% | 13.01% |
| 7 | Keeping home gym clean is | 40.67% | 39.33% | 16.18% | 3.82% |
| 8 | Distractions during home wokrouts are | 41.63% | 39.87% | 14.76% | 3.74% |
| 9 | Working out safely is | 62.71% | 18.43% | 8.69% | 10.17% |
| 10 | Not enough lighting is | 53.07% | 33.11% | 10.31% | 3.51% |
| 11 | Concern about making too much noise is | 61.14% | 22.71% | 12.88% | 3.28% |
| 12 | Warming up for home workouts are | 62.98% | 24.15% | 9.26% | 3.61% |
| 13 | Finishing workouts in home gym is | 73.62% | 18.58% | 5.96% | 1.83% |
| 14 | Equipment aging quickly is | 83.64% | 11.75% | 3.00% | 1.61% |
Biggest Issues – Space and Price of Equipment, Celing Height a distant third
As the numbers show, lack of space for a home gym and the cost of adding more equipment are each at least a “medium issue” for roughly two-thirds of respondents.
These are the two biggest challenges by far.
Ceiling height climbed into the top 3 (ranked 6 last year), but is still far behind these two more broad topics.
Middle-Ranked Issues – Temperature Control, Quality of Equipment, and Keeping Hym Clean
Each of these received at least 20% large or medium issue votes.
Small Issues – Distractions, Safety, Lighting, and Noise Concern
Over 15% votes for these as at least medium issues.
Smallest Issues – Warming Up, Finishing Workouts, Equipment Aging
Very few have concerns about these issues.
Changes since 2023
In general, we have not seen too many shifts since 2023.
A few noticable shifts from last year include:
- Keeping the home gym clean going from 4th to 7th largest issue.
- Ceiling height going from 6th biggest issue to third.
- Quality of equipment was 9th largest issue in 2025 vs. 6th this year.
| Issue | 2023 Rank | 2024 Rank | 2025 Rank | 2026 Rank | 2025 vs. 2026 Difference |
| Lack of space for home gym is | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Price of obtaining more equipment is | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Temperature control is | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | -1 |
| Amount of equipment is | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Keeping home gym clean is | 5 | 5 | 4 | 7 | -3 |
| Distractions during home wokrouts are | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -1 |
| Ceiling Height is | 7 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Not enough lighting is | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Quality of equipment in home gym is | 8 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 3 |
| Concern about making too much noise is | 10 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 1 |
| Warming up for home workouts are | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | -1 |
| Finishing workouts in home gym is | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 0 |
| Equipment aging quickly is | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 0 |
| Working out safely is | 14 | 14 | 8 | 9 | -1 |