Everything Going Into My New Garage Gym

Welcome to the Garage Gym Athlete Podcast with Jerred Moon!
In this episode, Jerred takes you behind the scenes as he builds a brand-new garage gym from the ground up. After selling his previous home—and every piece of fitness equipment with it—he’s starting fresh. What follows is a masterclass in gym design, outfitting, and budgeting for anyone serious about training at home.

🏗️ The Setup: New Home, New Shop, New Gym

Jerred’s new property includes a 30x40 spray foam-insulated shop, and he’s dividing it into two spaces:

• Office space (climate-controlled)

• Garage gym (three-quarters of the space)

It’ll be the largest garage gym he’s ever had, and this time around, he’s starting completely from scratch.

🧹 Why Start Fresh?

When Jerred sold his house, the buyers negotiated to purchase everything in the gym—barbells, plates, dumbbells, plyo box, even the sauna. So instead of moving everything, Jerred took it as an opportunity to rethink and redesign the perfect setup based on years of garage gym experience.

🧱 Step 1: Flooring

Jerred’s flooring journey:

• Tried horse stall mats (durable but dense)

• Used 18mm Play flooring (premium but not magical)

• Now trying Regupol Aktiv flooring (½-inch, Greyhound speckle, more budget-conscious)

“I don’t think going super high-end is necessary. Play was good, but not worth the crazy premium in my opinion.”

🏋️ Step 2: Equipment (Ordered from Rogue)

While Rogue is one of the more expensive options, Jerred chose them based on:

• Long-standing personal experience

• Equipment that lasts 10+ years

• High resale value and consistent quality

Here’s what he’s getting:

🏗️ Strength & Setup:

• Half rack with pull-up bar

• Barbell & bumper plates

• Dumbbells (5–50 lbs to start; eventually up to 100s)

• Kettlebells (35, 50, 70 lbs, and a heavier one)

• Plyo box

• Flat bench

• Weight storage arms

• Dip bar attachment

• Wooden rings

• Climbing rope

🫀 Conditioning:

• TrueForm Trainer (non-motorized treadmill — daily use)

• Rogue Rower (trying it instead of Concept2)

• Rogue Echo Bike (Airdyne alternative)

“I’ve had all the Concept2 gear before, but I’m giving Rogue’s cardio equipment a shot this time.”

🔥 Recovery:

• Replacing his old sauna with a new one (since the old one was sold)

💡 What Jerred Left Out (On Purpose)

• No full power rack

• No squat stands

• No fancy cable machines

• No multi-station towers

• No unnecessary gadgets

“This gym is for me and my family. It’s focused, minimal, and efficient. I’m only getting what I know I’ll use regularly.”

💵 Budget Breakdown & Recommendations

Jerred estimates his full setup—including high-end flooring and cardio machines—will cost around $10,000.

But you don’t need to spend that much. He offers three tiers:

1. Budget Garage Gym (~$2,000–$3,000)

   • Kettlebells

   • Barbell + plates

   • Pull-up bar

   • Optional: secondhand stall mats

2. Mid-Range (~$5,000–$7,000)

   • Add dumbbells, plyo box, conditioning gear (rower or bike)

3. High-End (~$10,000)

   • Add premium flooring, full dumbbell rack, new cardio machines, and a sauna

🎯 Final Thoughts: Start With What You’ll Actually Use

Whether you’re starting from zero or upgrading your current gym, Jerred emphasizes:

• Prioritize quality over quantity

• Avoid buying flashy equipment you’ll never use

• Think long-term (your gym should last 10+ years)

• Build a space that works for your real training needs

“You don’t need much to get strong and fit. Start small, go consistent, and let your gym grow with your goals.”

🔧 Ready to Build Your Own Garage Gym?

If you want training that fits your setup—no matter how big or small—
👉 Start your free trial at GarageGymAthlete.com

💣 And as always:

If you don’t kill comfort, comfort will kill you.

Garage Gym Athlete Workout of the Week

Podcast Transcript

Jerred:  Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Garage Gym Athlete Podcast, Jerred Moon here, and it's just me. Today I'm gonna be talking about a new garage gym I'm building right now and what I'm purchasing, kind of my thought process and everything that's going on there. And you know, just quickly, for anybody who's been listening to the podcast for a while, we've had some weeks, we've taken some weeks off. I've taken some weeks off from podcasting here and there over the last month or two. Just letting you know right now my process, my family's in the process of moving, moving to this new gym I'm gonna be talking about today. So things have just been a little bit sporadic for me, but as we move, get the new office, new gym set up, things will definitely be back on track and have a lot of cool stuff coming your way. But let's talk about my thought process for getting a completely new garage gym. So what's really cool about this new place that we're moving to has a. 30 by 40 shop in it that was already spray foam insulated. And what I'm actually doing is turning that into a portion of it is gonna be used as office, and it's all gonna be, you know, ac, c, climate control, all that kind of stuff. And then the hat, the front portion or like really probably like three quarters of it is gonna be used for gyms. So it's gonna be one of the largest gyms I've ever had, and I'm really excited about it. But another thing to note is it's like, well, why are you buying all new stuff? When I sold my house, my current house, the people who wanted the house negotiated to get all of my gym equipment. They also are into fitness and health and everything else, and they're moving here and they were like, Hey, would you be willing to sell all your gym equipment? And I was like, sure. Like, you know, right. Like if, if you're willing to pay, definitely. You know, and, and that's what happened. But we worked it out to where. They purchased everything I, I have, and what's crazy is I've been accumulating all of that equipment for like a decade and a half. It's just been a little bit here and there. It's like I got this pull up bar and then that squat rack and then you get a rower and then a couple years later you get, you know, a bike er, and then a couple years later you get something else and a barbell here. Like you slowly accumulate these things. And like, to be honest, I probably ended up in a spot where. I didn't need some of the stuff that I had, like, you think you're gonna use something all the time and you don't, and you know, you have all these other things. So it's really cool now to be on this side where it's like, I've been doing the garage gym thing forever, and I get to kind of sit back and then just say, okay, I sold every piece of equipment I own. Like they, they bought everything. So like barbells, plates, dumbbells, plyometric box, like they just absolutely everything. And so then I got to sit down. Last week and start to plan out the new gym. And I want to go over what I got and or what I'm, what I will be getting. I haven't actually placed the order yet, but here's the thought process. So first thing that I'm doing is I am ordering flooring. So I have done a bunch of different flooring over the years, and I order flooring first because I wanna get the flooring down, and then after the flooring's down, then all the gym equipment can come in. That's why I haven't placed the order for the gym equipment. So when we, when we're looking at flooring, I've done everything. So I've done just concrete floors and then I've done horse stall mats. And then in my most recent gym, the house I just sold, I had play for flooring. If you're not familiar, it's probably like the, like the premium, most premium flooring you can get. It was the 18 millimeters. So it's like their thickest best flooring by play. And I really, really en enjoyed it. I thought it was good, but at the same time for the price point and how premium the product is. I thought there was gonna be some sort of magic to it. Like when you look at their website, it's like they're talking about layer one and layer two, but I just got the black stuff, so it's really just 18 millimeter rubber. It's a little bit thicker, it's a little bit more porous and lighter than something like, you know, the, the horse stall mat, horse stall mats are not as porous. In all honesty. I, when you, when I would pour water or spill water or whatever on a horse stall mat, like from tractor supply, the water would just sit there, it would like, it would not seep in. Kind of the exact opposite, that while it would, it doesn't like go immediately in, it would seep into the 18 millimeter. Definitely softer, better for impact. And I really liked that. So when it came down to ordering new flooring, I was like, do I wanna do play again? Do I wanna do 18 millimeter? What do I wanna do? And I actually went a completely different direction because I have a lot of floor to cover. So I'm getting this from, I'm getting almost everything from Rogue and I'll talk about that in a second too. 'cause it's the most expensive option you can do. But the flooring, I'm trying out, I might pronounce this, pronounce this wrong. It's repo, R-E-G-U-P-O-L, active A-K-T-I-V flooring. And the reason being is because they sell every single thickness they have quarter inch, fifth. Five sixteenths, three eighths, one half and three quarter inch. Now, I didn't go the full three quarter inch, which would be closer to that 18 millimeter. I went the half inch, which is closer to 12 millimeter, and then I did the 10% and I got the greyhound. So if you want that same style from play, it's just a lot more like they'll sell you the 18 millimeter pure black. But if you want any like flaking colored flaking in it. Now you're paying a, a very high premium to get that from play, and I just didn't see the point. And so I know I'm talking a lot about flooring, but I've been all over the place with this and I haven't really tried out this stuff yet, so I can't give a full review after I have it. And, and it comes in, what I think is gonna happen is it's gonna be just fine. I got the 12 millimeter, 10%, the Greyhound, like, I think it's gonna be great. And, you know, how much, how important is the rubber flooring? In all honesty, I don't do. A ton of dropping of the weights. I, I kind of having young kids now that are older, but like they're getting older. I never got in the habit of dropping weights like ever. When I finish a deadlift rep, I set it down. When I'm doing cleans, I set the weight down. I've just, I don't really drop weights a lot and so I don't think I need the, the super thick flooring. So anyway, that's the flooring. I'm gonna be trying, and I think I'm saying all this to let you know. I don't think going super high end is necessary. Like I didn't notice anything with play that was just worth the cost. I really didn't, didn't, and I'm not saying they're a bad company or anything like that, I just, I didn't see paying that premium for no reason at all. So I'm gonna try this out now. Getting into the actual equipment. And like I said, I'm ordering everything from Rogue and the reason being is just I have a longstanding relationship with this company just early on. I use them a lot. When I was publishing articles as a blogger, they were one of one of the first affiliate companies I had, which means. When I would mention them or you know, on the website and the blog and people purchase something, I would, I would get some income from that. I don't any longer, so that's not a thing anymore. So me mentioning Rogue now we have no, we don't have a relationship anymore. I don't have an affiliate relationship with him. I don't earn any money from Rogue. So anyway, just to be clear on all that I did at one point and I really liked her stuff over the years and so that's why I'm doing it. Everything I'm gonna say or order you could get from much cheaper in other places. So what am I getting? I am getting a simple freestanding rack. I'm getting one of their half racks. I'm not getting a full rack. I just don't feel like I need it. I don't do as much power lifting. I already have safety arms in a storage unit that I can utilize that are built for rogue. So I'm getting a simple rack, a half rack from them that has a pull up bar, and that's basically it, you know, starting from what's gonna come in after the flooring. So we would have the pull up bar. We have the rack now, things that I'm going to order right now, I have a true form trainer runner. I have all of the, the ERGs, I have the concept two bike er, the concept two rower, and I have the concept two skier. I have all the ERGs. I don't have an Airdyne anymore. And so as far as conditioning equipment, that's what I have. Now, what am I gonna be buying to replace that stuff? I'm actually going in a different direction. I am gonna get the true Formm trainer again. I love having the treadmill option, just the non-motorized version. I love the true Formm trainer. Works really well. Use it all the time, every single day, in all honesty, either for warmup or whatever. I do a lot of running on the road as well, but this gets a lot of use. And then two things I'm trying new. I'm not actually getting anything from concept two. I'm gonna be trying rogue's rower. So, again, I can't vouch for it yet, but I'm gonna be trying that and I'm getting their, the rogue Echo bike, so their, their airdyne, right? So I'm gonna get their rower and their airdyne and that's gonna be the majority of everything when it comes to the, the, just the cardio equipment. So I'll have the true Formm trainer and then the two rogue pieces of, of cardio equipment. And then other things, I, I'm gonna a set of kettlebells, 35, fifties. Seventies, and then I'll probably get a really heavy one. I'm also getting more dumbbells. That seems to be more appropriate for the, the current age of my children and how I'm teaching them to lift. We're doing some barbell stuff, but not a lot. So typically I would get like a, some dumbbells that, you know, you could, you know, change weights or whatever, like the Bowflex or. Power blocks or whatever, but I'm just getting a bunch of different dumbbells because sometimes there'll be three or four people working out in the gym at at a time. I also train some other people in my gym, so I'm just getting a bunch of dumbbells, starting with five pairs, five to 50, and then Rogue was currently, last time checked. I checked, they were sold out of anything above that, the next set. So I'll be getting probably up to hundreds, who knows? I want a lot of dumbbells in the new gym. I'll be getting a barbell and some plates from Rogue. I'll be getting some weight storage on the side of the half rack. I'm gonna make sure I get one of their plyo boxes, a simple bench. And then I'm gotta get some new rings, a dip bar that it can attach to the rack. And then I'm gonna get a climbing rope. 'cause I, I had one in the new gym and I think it's just a great, great workout. And then the last thing I'm getting, which isn't necessarily gym equip equipment, is going to be a new sauna because I have a sauna now. I've had a sauna. For many, many years, but they also purchased my sauna. Just cleared me out on everything health and fitness wise. So it's a full refresh here. But that's it guys. That's, that's everything. And it might sound like a lot, but it really isn't. If you just go through, if I go through the list quickly, I have a rack, a half rack that has a pull up bar, treadmill, rower, and airdyne. Those are completely optional for like the conditioning thing. And then we're getting ke kettlebells, dumbbells. Barbell plates, weight storage, plyometric box, bench rings, rope dip bar. That's it. I don't need anything else like that. Is everything. Some of the things that are like, like, yeah, you don't need a sauna flooring, you could do, you know, the tractor supply stall match, which I've done a number of times in multiple different gyms, but that is a pretty simple setup and I don't, I honestly don't need anything else. And so I wanted to come on and do this just to kind of walk you through the thought process of like, okay. I can get all of these things and what it, I think when I added it up, it's gonna be maybe around $10,000, which sounds like a lot, but a lot of that is in the, the treadmill itself. Like, I think it's like a $3,000 treadmill. And so if you're thinking about do you know, pulling the trigger on something like this kind of, you can kind of work around this list that I had. You honestly don't need much more. Like I could probably go down even further if my family didn't train with me. I probably wouldn't have as many conditioning machines. I probably wouldn't get as many, as many dumbbells. So then you could knock it down even further to having a few thousand dollars, like $3,000 probably. And you still get majority of what I said. If you cut out the conditioning equipment and now you're like at a very serious garage gym, that can get a lot done. You don't really need anything else. So there's like, there's varying levels of this, right? You could spend two to $3,000. If you didn't go to Rogue, you might be spending $2,000. You have a full garage gym, completely functional. You can go up from there and get additional conditioning equipment. Now you're looking at the five to $7,000 range. Then you add everything else and let that I got with the flooring, all that other stuff. Now you're looking at roughly $10,000, which is, like I said, nothing to sneeze at, but they're. There's so much more that you could do in the Garage Gym. There are pieces of equipment on Rogue that start like at 3000, $3,500, $4,000, things like that. And you don't need any of that crazy stuff. You really don't. You just need the basics. And if you're just getting started, you're listening to this, you're like, oh, this guy's talking about how to, how to outfit my garage gym. I would start with kettlebells, a barbell, some plates and a pull up bar. That's it. I, I did that for a number of years, and that's all you honestly need. If you were looking to get your family involved, you're gonna have to probably expand on that a little bit. But that's it for this one. I really wanted to hop in here and think of, you know, what exactly, if I was starting from scratch, 'cause I actually get to do this now. Like what would I get and this is it. This is what I'll be ordering from Rogue here in the next couple of days after the, the flooring gets in and I can just go ahead and place the order and everything else comes in. That's it. That's everything that I could think of that I would need, that I would want. Honestly, I won't need anything else, and it's gonna support me and my family for 10, 20 years. Who knows how long? You know? And that's a big part of the reason I am buying Rogue is because of how long I know these things will last. I could go on Amazon, I could find some fly by night equipment manufacturer, but I know most of this Ro Rogue stuff, all the rogue stuff is gonna outlast me. So I think that's a big part of what I want in my gym moving forward. 'cause this is gonna be a gym of hours for a very long period of time. So if you're looking to outfit your gym, that's kinda my thought process. You don't need a lot, but you can get a whole lot done with a very, very small amount and be in great shape. Alright, thank you for listening to the podcast. I've got more coming your way if you are one of our athletes. Really appreciate you. Thanks for sticking around. If you want to try out our training, go to garage gym athlete.com, sign up for a free trial, and we would love to have you.