Skip to content
gripflow

Home gym · 4 min read

A full home gym on 2 square metres

Two square metres is about 2 × 1 m: the size of an exercise mat with a little room on each side. You can do a full-body session in that space without a single machine. You need three things: a floor to work on, something to pull against and something to push against.

Measure the space first

Lie on the floor where you plan to train and reach your arms overhead. If your hands and feet are clear of furniture, the length works. Then stand in the middle and hold your arms out to the sides.

If you plan to anchor bands in a door, you also need room in front of it. Most band rows and presses work at about 1.5 to 2 m from the door, so your 2 m² should start near the door. Check the ceiling over your head too, for overhead presses and for raising your arms with a band.

The floor

A mat gives you grip and some cushion for knees, hips and elbows. Our exercise mat is 183 × 61 cm and 6 mm thick, firm enough for standing work and soft enough for floor exercises. It rolls up and stands in a corner.

If you want to protect the floor and mark out a fixed space, interlocking floor tiles make a square of 1.2 × 1.2 m that you can put the mat on. A small kneeling pad is worth having for half-kneeling stretches and presses.

Something to pull against

Pulling is the movement a home has the least set-up for, and bands fill that gap. A tube band set gives you five tubes that clip onto two handles. You can use one tube or stack several to add resistance. A door anchor fixes them in a closed door at three heights:

  • Low, near the floor: rows from a seated position, kickbacks and curls.
  • Middle, at chest height: standing rows, chest presses facing away from the door, and pull-aparts.
  • High, at the top of the door: pulldowns and triceps pushdowns.

Use a solid door that opens away from you, close it fully and lock it if you can. Put the anchor on the hinge side. Check the strap before each session.

If your door frame is solid wood or masonry, a doorway pull-up bar adds hangs and pull-ups. A long power band looped over it helps with the bottom of the pull-up while you build up.

Something to push against

The floor is your bench. Push-ups cover the chest, shoulders and triceps, and you can make them easier with your hands on a chair or harder with your feet raised. Push-up handles keep your wrists straight and let you go a little deeper. For more load, put a tube band across your upper back and hold a handle under each hand.

For overhead pressing, stand on the middle of a tube and press the handles up.

Legs and hips

Your legs need the least kit. Split squats, reverse lunges, single-leg bridges and step-ups on the bottom stair work with body weight alone. A loop band set adds side steps, bridges and clamshells. Ankle straps clip onto a tube anchored low in the door for kickbacks and side raises.

A 30-minute session

Here is one full-body session that fits on the mat. Rest about 60 s between sets.

  1. Warm-up, 5 min: loop band side steps, 2 × 15 each way, and band pull-aparts, 2 × 15.
  2. Row with the anchor at chest height: 3 × 12.
  3. Push-up, on the floor or with hands raised: 3 × 8–12.
  4. Split squat: 3 × 10 per leg.
  5. Overhead press standing on a tube: 3 × 10.
  6. Kickback with an ankle strap, anchor low: 2 × 12 per leg.
  7. Plank on the mat: 3 × 30 s.

When 12 reps feel easy on a band exercise, clip on another tube or step further from the door.

Nice to have

Once the basics are in place, a few small items add variety without taking up space. An ab wheel for roll-outs. A speed rope for warm-ups, used outside or in a hallway with a high ceiling. A firm foam roller for the end of the session.

Putting it away

Everything here fits in a drawer or a box, apart from the mat, which rolls up, and the pull-up bar, which comes out of the frame. Keep the bands in their bag, out of direct sun. Putting it all away after each session keeps the room a room.

In short

A mat, a tube band set, a door anchor, loop bands and ankle straps cover a full-body week in a space of about 2 × 1 m. The Living-room gym routine pack puts those five items in one box with a 7-day plan. Browse Mats, Bands and Anchors and accessories to build your own, and read Choosing a loop band to pick your resistance.