I have a shed built behind my house that I use as my gym.
Although the space isn’t gigantic, it’s big enough for my purposes.
I like that it has a cement floor and windows at both ends for ventilation. I have invested into folding mats, a set of hand weights, a jump rope and incline bench, and I workout for about an hour every day. When we first moved in, the shed was outfitted with electricity but lacked temperature control. We live in an area with a fairly mild climate. For the majority of the year, I can dress in shorts and a tank top and open the windows for the sake of fresh air. However, the middle of summer brings temperatures in the mid nineties and excessive humidity. The middle of winter presents the opposite issues, with cold temperatures down into the low forties. I initially tried to get by with a box fan and portable space heater. The fan wasn’t sufficient to cool down the space. I’d sweat profusely before I even finished my warmup. It was difficult to get motivated and push myself when I felt so overheated and sticky. The portable heater wasn’t enough to keep the shed warm. I’d bundle up in layers of clothes and have trouble warming up my muscles and joints. I finally decided that my workouts are too important to have the weather wrecking them. I hired an HVAC contractor and invested into a ductless heat pump. There is a small outdoor compressor that links by way of a conduit to a streamlined compact air handler that is mounted up high on the wall. The air handler provides both heating and cooling, and I’m able to adjust temperature, fan speed and direction of airflow from an app on my phone. The system is quite energy efficient, and since I only operate it during the workout, it costs me very little.