Last week, I talked about how to do a cost-benefit analysis and how it was useful for creating information about yourself and other people. I suggested it was also useful to help you make the best of your garage gym and I mentioned the following example:
I might have the goal of squatting 160kg by the end of the year. Perhaps there is a particular competition that has 160kg as the necessary starting weight. But if I naturally tend towards deadlifting every time I do my max effort lower body workout then I am unlikely to hit that goal. If, on the other hand, I do a cost-benefit analysis on my max effort lower body workouts then I’ll quickly realise that my deadlifting mania isn’t helping my goals. So I’ll start using exercises to build up my squat.
Similarly, I know some people who are still doing the same workout programme with the same weight as they were doing years ago. Are those exercises really bringing any benefits? Or does the cost of the time spent doing them now more than outweigh the non-existent benefits?
So a cost-benefit analysis on your workout programme could be worth a few minutes of your time.
But you can do the same analysis on your gym equipment, too.
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What equipment to buy - a cost-benefit analysis
I think it’s possible to talk in general terms about the cost-benefit of buying different pieces of equipment, if only because space and cash are both such overriding considerations for most of us.
- Footprint – how much space the equipment takes up is important. It will count as a cost if a piece of kit occupies a lot of space (especially if you have a very small garage like I do).
- Multiple usage – being able to use the equipment for several purposes presents a benefit.
- Types of exercise – the type of exercise that the equipment allows you to do will be a benefit but the type of exercise you need will depend on you and your goals.
- Price – unless you are very wealthy and can do a bulk order at EliteFTS for whatever you feel like whenever the fancy takes you, cheaper equipment is likely to be a benefit.
- Quality- but you don’t want to be replacing it every other year or have it creak in pain every time your powerlifting buddies show up and start chucking weights around, so quality is a benefit.
- Homemade gym equipment - this depends a lot on you. If you enjoy the making process and/or are a bit hard up, them homemade gym kit is brilliant. If you hate getting your hands dirty, well, don’t bother. So it could be a cost or a benefit!
So, for example, a power rack has some big benefits as it has almost infinite uses and takes up relatively little space when compared with the equivalent in machines. On the other hand, it could set you back quite a bit of hard-earned cash.
A pull up bar, on the other hand, costs about as much as my weekend beer allowance and, while the exercises I can use it for are fairly limited, it does give me a lot of value for that minimal investment.
It all depends on your goals…
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