Ropes, bands and a kettlebell
Rubber and nylon do not mind damp. Bands, battle ropes, a suspension trainer and a cast-iron kettlebell cover most of what you need and all fit in one box.
Alfresco Garden Gym
Alfresco Garden Gym
Training outdoors in a garden-sized footprint — the kit that survives being outside, and the surface to put it on.
A garden gym does not have to mean a converted shed and a rack of weights. For most people it means somewhere flat, a small amount of kit that stores in a box, and the fact that stepping outside is easier than driving to a gym.
The constraint is weather, not space. Everything below is chosen for that.
Start here
The surface matters more than the kit
- Decking gets lethal when wet. If you are training on it, fit anti-slip strips or work on rubber matting.
- Interlocking rubber tiles over paving give you a defined training area, protect the slabs, and lift and stack in minutes.
- Lawn is fine for bodyweight and mobility work, and terrible for anything you have to put down — it will be a mud patch by February.
- Give yourself two metres clear overhead if you are pressing anything, and check what is above you.
Kit that copes with living outdoors
Almost nothing should actually stay outside. The realistic setup is a storage box that everything lives in, next to where you train.
What to keep indoors
Anything with bearings, foam or electronics — benches, treadmills, adjustable dumbbells. Outdoor damp destroys them faster than use does.
One box, by the door
A ventilated storage bench keeps kit dry and within reach. Kit stored in the loft is kit you will not use. See the Storage Upgrade.
Shelter extends the season
A gazebo or an awning takes you from "when it is dry" to "most of the year", which matters more than any piece of equipment.
Light it if you train early or late
In a British winter, both ends of the day are dark. See the Evening Upgrade.
A weatherproof speaker
An IP-rated Bluetooth speaker, and consideration for how close the neighbours are at seven in the morning.
Recover afterwards. The reason a lot of people put a gym and a hot tub or ice bath in the same garden is that they go together. Both are covered on the Wellness and Water Features page — including the safety points that matter.