The garage/home gym is certainly a more spartan experience than the average cushy commercial gym. But if you’re like me, after a few days of training in your garage, you might find you missed a few things that aren’t that difficult to include in your own gym. I’m not saying you need a massage table out there. But here are a few touches I’ve added that I really like.

Music

• A Bluetooth speaker/iPod dock: To me, this is essential. Not only does it help me keep my workout playlist useful, but it means I no longer have to fuss with headphones and an iPod/Phone strap or clip. I found a $35 Phillips speaker (you’re looking at it, right here) that pairs instantly to my phone when I turn on Bluetooth, and its speakers are more than loud enough to fill up my two-car garage with beats. My neighbors don’t love metal, but they can get bent. These days, you can find really high-quality Bluetooth speakers fairly cheap, too – Beats, Sonos and Sony all are pretty reputable devices, and I’d recommend the one I got, too.
  

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Heating & Cooling

• Temperature control. In Northern California, where I live, we get seasons – that means sweaty and stuffy in the summer and freezing in the winter, in garage terms. You might be lucky enough to have heat and air in your insulated garage. If you’re not, a few quick fixes are easy enough. I use a little oscillating electric space heater for heat, and a big-ass fan that I can mount in the window to cool things down. You can always dress warm enough, in my opinion, to beat the cold, and once you get moving it’s a non-issue. Of course, if you’re in colder parts of our country than me, where you’ve got snow and sub-zero temps, you’ll definitely want at least a space heater.
  

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Other Amenities

• Other things I’m considering but haven’t gotten yet: A locker for shoes/extra clothes (would be nice to have a place for extra towels, for instance); a water cooler; a hamper for dirty towels/clothes. Obviously your space will limit you at some point. If your garage is attached to your house, many of these are luxuries you won’t need or probably even think about. My garage is detached, so the shoe locker (to cut down on tracked-in dirt) appeals to me, plus it would be nice to have a clean space to store extra towels.

I’m interested to hear what else you would find to be a must-have in your home or garage gym. I’m sure I didn’t think of everything yet!