A home gym in three square metres: what you actually need

Most people write off training at home with "I don't have the space." In reality, squats, presses and deadlifts need an area where you can spread your arms and lie down. That's roughly 2 × 1.5 metres.

What to buy first

Adjustable dumbbells. The one purchase that replaces a whole rack. A pair going up to 24 kg covers your first year and costs a fraction of a barbell setup. Get metal collars, not plastic — plastic cracks within a year.

A mat. Not for comfort, for your floor and your neighbours. 10 mm foam is enough.

Resistance bands. Cheap, they live in a drawer, and they cover the pulling work you can't do without a bar.

That's it. A bench, a doorway pull-up bar and a kettlebell are nice, but buy them after three months, once you know you're still training.

A plan that fits in a corner

Three exercises, three rounds, forty minutes, three times a week:

1. Goblet squat — 3 × 10, dumbbell at your chest

2. Standing overhead press — 3 × 8

3. Romanian deadlift — 3 × 10, slow on the way down

4. Bent-over row — 3 × 10 per arm

Add 2 kg as soon as the last set is clean. That's the whole progression — nothing more complicated is needed in year one.

Where it all goes

Dumbbells under the bed or behind the sofa, bands in a drawer, mat rolled up behind the door. When getting set up takes ten seconds, the habit survives a bad weekend.

Space-specific setups and programmes are at GymHome. And if you post your progress, Kupsledujici helps get that first audience moving while the profile finds its own footing.

Measure your free corner tonight. It's almost certainly bigger than you need.