Looking after your home gym in a heatwave

We've had some hot summers lately. And while the headline around that in the fitness community is usually how to keep yourself cool while training, it's also important to look after your gym equipment in a heatwave. Garages and sheds heat up fast and tend to hold onto that heat far longer than the rest of your house, which can threaten the longevity of your equipment if you don't take proper care of it.

All you need to do is follow this small checklist to ensure your equipment doesn't age beyond its years during the summer months.

Keep rubber out of the sunlight

You've probably heard the advice already during warm weather: limit direct sunlight during the day to keep your home cool. Well, that's especially true for home gyms, where it also helps protect your rubber.

Heat speeds up how quickly rubber degrades. Floor tiles, resistance bands, dumbbell coatings and grip surfaces are staples in home gyms, and the UV exposure from direct sunlight can dry these pieces of equipment out, which leads to cracked, faded surfaces.

Fortunately, the fix is simple: curtains or blinds. Blackout ones where possible, but that seems to be the standard these days anyway. Garages and sheds can often get overlooked when first installing curtains around the house, but they become doubly important when converting the space into a gym in order to control the climate in there.

Rubber loses its durability after prolonged UV exposure.

Wipe equipment down after hot sessions

We recommend wiping your equipment down regularly year-round. Sweat and other moisture sit on your equipment if it's not cleared up, leading to rust and corrosion over time.

In hot weather, especially heatwaves, we'd suggest making this a habit each time you train. You don't need us to tell you how hot those summer sessions can get, which leads to more sweat and moisture in the air.

All you need to do is take a dry cloth to your barbells, dumbbells and anything else you were in contact with during training to remove any moisture and prevent rust from setting in.

Let your gym breathe

We're UK-based and so are our customers, so air con throughout the house isn't a luxury that many of us have. In summer months, this makes it extra important to keep your gym space well ventilated.

You'll have seen this yourself, no doubt: the windows steaming up or any mirrors in your space picking up a layer of moisture while you're training. That's the moisture you can see, and it'll also sit on your rack and bench uprights if you allow it to build up, which has the same risk of rust and corrosion as the previous point. We could tell you to wipe down your whole squat rack after a session, but we're being realistic here.

All you need to do is open a window or door while you're training to give the air space to filter out. It's an easy remedy and one that will provide a more comfortable workout as well as protect your larger pieces of equipment.

Invest in a dehumidifier

We know we've talked about moisture a lot, but it really is the silent killer in home gyms. It's worth taking several actions to protect against it, one of which is a dehumidifier.

These won't cool your space down, but they'll take some of that moisture out of the air, and as long as it's not going onto your equipment then that's good news. It's up to you how industrial you go with a dehumidifier. You can invest in a plugged-in unit or choose to pick up some disposable units to sit in a corner of the room.

Whichever you go for, it's good to know that whatever moisture it does pick up is moisture you're keeping away from your kit.

Treat any existing rust

Before getting into new habits like the ones we've listed above, it's worth checking your equipment for any rust that might have already formed. Even small bits of discolouration on bars and dumbbell handles are worth treating before they grow into something more visible.

WD-40 is our go-to for treating rust. Spray it on to any affected metal surfaces, leave it for a minute or two and then wipe it away with a cloth. This could be the most important step to follow, as there's not much point committing to a tidy house without a deep clean first!

Silicone-based oils are great for gym maintenance.

Don't sweat it

None of these are big changes, but cumulatively they'll protect your gym equipment against the warm weather so you can focus on enjoying the sun.