Indoor or home gyms are becoming a trend in the modern world. People want to exercise in the morning or at any other time of the day at their convenience. As such, most people have gyms inside their houses, some large and some small. While decorating rooms, people often leave out some essential parts of the house like the gym. A gym mirror does more than decorate the fitness center; it allows you to see your progress by giving you constant active feedback. You want to see the new shape building, which gives you more incentive to work out. Still, you need to arrange the mirrors for maximum efficiency at a minimum cost. Visit https://www.fithealthymomma.com/tempo-vs-tonal-vs-mirror to get a great review of some different options. Below is a beginner’s guide to home gym mirrors and visit this link to get a review about the differences between Mirror and Tonal.
Advantages of Having a Large Home Gym Mirror
A large gym mirror may be costly. However, it comes with unimagined benefits, which livens up your gym and justify the costs. Here are some of the many benefits that you will derive from using a large gym mirror.
It Allows You to Correct Your Posture
Gym exercises require conciseness. That is, some exercises require certain positions. For example, while squatting, bending the back may have huge negative effects. Installing the mirrors in the gym allows you to check your position or form while exercising. It helps you to correct yourself whenever you are doing an exercise the wrong way. Using a large mirror makes it even easier to correct your form, right from the start. The reason is that you can see yourself from head to toe as you train.
It Reduces the Chances of an Injury
As said, the right form is essential while working out. Doing the wrong movements may overwork some muscles or cause serious injuries. The science behind it is that some bones, ligaments, or muscles may overstrain during the training. Thus, it causes injuries, breakage or muscle pain. Watching yourself while working out can lower injury chances dramatically. This is where the large gym mirrors come in.
It Helps You Evaluate Your Progress
The biggest reason for workouts is to have the desired body shape and retain good health. Most people want to see their progress. Some want to gain mass, especially men. Others want to reduce fat in the body. Either way, each of these people wants to see their progress. An extensive work out mirror allows you to watch your muscles gain definition, or reduce weight. Watching the progress may be the only motivation that you need to continue.
It Helps You Maintain the Right Posture with Constant View
The right posture is always very important while working out. In most cases, the pelvic and abdominal muscles need to stay tight. They help in toning the lower back and keeping the whole body strong and in shape. Having a large gym mirror can be very helpful. It will allow you to observe your posture and prevent injuries. You can check the distribution of your weights as well.
It Helps You to be Your Own Trainer
Having a trainer is always cool. The trainers can help you in your movements and even motivate you to push more weights. However, it may be hard to handle the costs of a trainer, especially for a home gym. As such, you will be training yourself most of the time. Having a large home gym mirrors will help you to check your movements without a trainer. It helps replace the trainer easily.
It Also Makes the Room Appear Bigger and Brighter
One should not forget their decorative functions of gym mirrors while looking at their functional parts. The mirrors not only brighten the gym but also make it look larger. Most of the gyms are in basements, garages or other places that require to be lit up. Hence, using the work out mirrors will be a big part of brightening them up. Some of these rooms are also small, and the mirrors will give an illusion of a larger mirror.
Things to Consider When You Put Your Gym Mirror Up
Choosing the mirrors and their designs for the gym may be hectic. It may be harder for a beginner, who is only starting a new home gym. Buying the mirrors and returning them to the seller may be a hectic task, which should be avoided. Here are some of the suggestions that you should consider when choosing the mirrors.
The material of Large Mirror: Acrylic vs Glass
While choosing the large mirror to use, the material is significant. Acrylic mirrors are lighter than glass mirrors. Secondly, they are cheaper, which may work with your budget. They do not attract dust, which makes them better for places with dust like basements or garages. They also do not make sharp shards when broken. As such, they are appropriate, especially if you often have kids around the gym.
However, the quality of their reflection fades or decreases over time. They distort the images after some time. Hence, the glass mirrors are the way to go if you intend to have the gym for a long time. The glass mirrors are more expensive. However, they are durable and can keep high reflection quality over a long time.
What Glass Thickness Should You Use?
The gyms are prone to constant impacts and vibrations. As such, the recommendations for mirror thickness are higher for such facilities. 6 mm mirrors are the recommended mirrors for commercial gyms. However, 4mm mirrors may be applicable to the home gyms. Hence, a thickness of 4 mm or less is not recommended. The reason is that it may not withstand the pressure and commotion within the gym.
Should You Go for a Permanent or Temporary Mirror?
Another important factor to consider is the permanency of your gym or gym mirrors. If the gym is permanent, you may consider permanent mirrors. Such gym mirrors will come with their methods of fixing. On the other hand, if the home gym is temporary, you should choose temporary work out mirrors. They may be hanging or standing mirrors. You can easily hang the mirrors and remove them at your convenient time. When using the standing mirrors, draw the right position using a pencil and the level. A drawing on the wall will help you to place your mirror in the right position and save time. It will also help you to straighten your image while working out.
Remember to Choose the Location of Your Gym Mirror Carefully
The location of the mirrors is a vital part of the gym. While choosing the location, it is better to look at the places where you have most of the workouts. Still, lighting is an important factor in the location. You need to have enough lighting that does not shine on the mirror directly. Again, you need to keep enough distance from the workout mirror while working out. For example, you may break the mirror accidentally while swinging the dumbbells or lifting weights. Choose adequate space between you and the mirror, to avoid worrying about the damage. This will help to avoid breakage and give you a peaceful workout session as well.
Best Ways to Clean Your Home Gym Mirror
Mirrors are pretty within a room, but they attract dirt notoriously. Most people keep the gyms in the basements or garages; areas that are prone to dust and dirt. As such, it is common to find your gym mirrors dirty even if you clean them regularly. Here are some cleaning steps that can help you clean your mirrors easy and efficient.
1. Some people may decide to use expensive mirror cleaners. However, it is better to prepare your own tools and cleaning solutions. It is much cheaper. You will need water and white vinegar in a 4:1 proportion, and a spray bottle. A microfiber cloth and dry cotton wool and some old newspapers will also be used.
2. The second step is to prepare the area. In this case, you need to avoid the dripping. In this regard, put the newspapers under the mirror to avoid drips.
3. The third step is the actual cleaning. Spray the vinegar solution onto the mirror and start rubbing with the cloth. You should use similar circular motions at first, to get off the grim. Use vertical strokes followed by horizontal ones to finalize the step.
4. Get into the corners. If your mirror is framed or uses J-channels, then you’ll need cotton swabs to get right into the corners and edges.
The cotton comes in step four. This is where you clean the corners using the cotton swabs. The cotton swabs can get into the edges, ensuring that the whole mirror is clean.
5. Finally, use the remaining newspapers to buff the mirrors, which gives it a clean, shiny, stylish look.
Ways to Hang Your Large Gym Mirror?
Once you buy the gym mirror, the next step is to install it. The process of mounting the gym mirrors may be tricky for a beginner. Still, you will need to consider if it will be permanent or temporary. Here are some of the ways that you can install the large gym mirrors. You can use adhesives, J channels, or screws.
Using Adhesives
The self-adhering mirrors are easy to mount, especially if you have a permanent gym. The first necessity is a non-porous wall or surface. The surface should be clean and even. Apply the adhesive on the wall or the mirror. It will take a little while before it sticks. However, it holds the mirror for a long time after it sticks or dries up.
Using J Channels
Sometimes your gym walls may not be smooth or perfectly flat. Thus, using adhesives may not be a priority. You can use J channels in this case. These are aluminum channels that are drilled into the wall. You can then slot the mirrors into these channels. While considering the J channels, it is good to ensure that the wall is strong enough to hold the mirror and the J channels.
Installation using Screws
Screws are also common methods of installing the home gym mirrors. One can also remove the screws easily when moving out. Hence, they are applicable for permanent and temporary gym mirrors. The first step is to drill four holes on the wall. Still, the wall should be strong enough to hold the mirror. Screw the mirror tightly on the wall but not too tightly. Screwing too tightly may crack the mirror.
Polishing the Edges – Is there a Need?
Most of the mirrors are machine-cut. Hence, they often have shape edges, which may cause injuries. It is essential to polish these mirrors to give them a smooth edge to ensure their safety.
Is There Really a Need for Safety Backing?
Most of the mirrors will require safety backing. The safety backing is a protective film that you put around the mirror. It ensures that the mirror does not shatter all over the space when the mirror breaks or fragments. All the other mirrors require safety backing except the adhesive mirrors. As such, if you use screws or J channels to fix the mirror, you should use safety backing.
Don’t Get Too Carried Away by the mirror!
While the mirror helps you to avoid injuries, it can also be the cause of the damages. Some injuries happen during work out sessions. It can happen when watching yourself and lifting heavy weights at the same time. You can strain your neck or other back muscles when looking at the mirror from the wrong angle. As such, do not let the mirror be a distractor. Let it be a guide. Look at the mirror at the right time, not after every two seconds.
Remember to Work out the Muscles that You Can’t See (like the back and tricep muscles)
Again, sometimes the mirror can alter the work-out programs. Some people will keep training for the arms and legs because they can see the muscles bulging. However, the best way is to work out in all areas. Mirrors can lead to people working out only the muscles they can see. They forget other essential muscles. As such, work out the muscles you cannot see, like the back and triceps muscles. They help retain body strength and balance.
