A workout room to age in place in


When I first set up my workout room, the intention was to supplement going to the gym, with a special emphasis on injury recovery, but nowadays I'm redesigning it as part of my project of being able to age-in-place in my house. I don't have a gym membership anymore, and I'm fully recovered from my accident, which was over twenty years ago.

As you can see, it's mostly dumbbells, resistance bands, and most importantly, floor space. I do a lot of training while lying on the floor, and the last thing I need would be a room so crowded that I would trip over things, or stub my toe. The north wall is where I have my lighter dumbbells, and also where I hang my resistance bands. The table there on the left is where I have my little aquarium for my triops, and although the drawers don't open all of the way, it doesn't matter as I mostly use it as a small table. The drawers do open, but only a couple of inches, which is fine.

I have heavier dumbbells, but from now on I'll be leaving them on the floor, against the east wall. To use them I simply need to roll them into place, as I do my pressing from the floor, not with the weight bench (although I do use that bench sometimes, so I'm gonna keep it!). Here are the heavier weights, up to sixty pounds, will is plenty for me:


As you can see, there's a generous amount of floorspace, and a very comfortable deep pile carpet. I don't need to put down a mat, which I'd have to store somewhere, and would probably trip over. I just painted the south wall, and that's where I just picked up a few more feet of leg room, which is what I need (I have long legs!).

Just did some paint touch up where the second dumbbell rack used to be

My next major birthday, in about four years, will be seventy (!), and I have no idea how long I'll be able to continue enjoying my fitness, so I guess I just gotta do it and find out. I like living my house, and I like training here, so everything I've been doing lately will allow me to continue to do that as I age. That's how age-in-place works. I'll let you know how it goes.

And yes, I'll continue riding my recumbent trike:

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