A Spartan’s man cave could not be complete without an area dedicated to fitness. We had been eying our basement as an opportunity…and the time was right for basement gym. So here’s how we created our man cave gym for Mark to tune up his fitness for elite Spartan obstacle course racing. It’s a flexible Spartan home gym.
I love my husband.
He is a dedicated Spartan obstacle course race elite racer, competing in 3+ races each year. And if you know a Spartan, you know that they like to find fitness in nontraditional ways. So they need a Spartan home gym that works for how they workout.
What we did to make the basement man cave gym work for Mark
When we started the idea for finishing our basement, more than a decade ago, the idea always included a space to chill. But we’ve aged a bit. Now the chill space in the man cave basement makeover also needed to have an exercise area.
Rubber mats are key for a basement gym.
Flooring is key to a healthy and stable workout. Since our basement floor is heated tile, it doesn’t work for buckets of rocks being flung around. And to make this makeover happen in a small space, I then chose rubber mats for the flooring. Along with other minimal design elements that couldn’t interfere with whatever unusual moves Mark might make.
Lighting for the task and the man cave gym mood.
Lighting is a game changer in any space. If you like a bright vibe while exercising, make sure to select the right fixtures and color temperature for the light bulbs. If you’d rather have a chill space, sconces are a good pick. We wanted ours to be flexible for a variety of exercise moods—from muscling up to stretching down—and it needed to fit the Man Cave Gym vibe. Sconces and a ceiling light that give a masculine luxe look are as divine in real life as they are on LampsPlus.com.
Old doors are now on space-saving tracks.
We reused original doors to our 110+ year old home but put them on tracks. These doors help to divide the Man Cave Gym space from a home office on the other side. It’s an easy way to eliminate the hassle of doors crowding into a space that someone—Mark—may be flinging a rope or doing dips off a concrete masonry block or something else non-typical.
Make space for unusual gym equipment.
Mark doesn’t work out with just weights and a bench. Over his exercise years, he’s since developed his own way of exercise that involves concrete masonry units, pulleys, rope, and buckets of rocks. Planning the space so it can accommodate his workout style is essential. So think about creating a flexible workout space so you can change out gear and equipment as you develop and enhance your fitness routine.
Paint the basement gym ceiling not white.
To help make the basement gym space feel airy, I then chose a soft hue for the ceiling called Starry Night from Sherwin-Williams. And then I chose a creamy white for the board-and-batten walls.
Yes, it’s a Spartan home gym space fit for masculine feats of strength, but I have a yoga mat tucked away under the stairs. Shhhh… don’t tell Mark.
Check out the article for HOSS magazine about this Man Cave Gym makeover.
I shared the details about this Spartan home gym with HOSS magazine. Check out what we did to make the man cave gym happen for Mark (and me!).
