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Five Finds: The Home Gym

Some of us don’t have quite enough space in our homes for a gym (I know, I know – what an outlandish suggestion) and it can be hard to make room for ugly equipment that takes up precious floor and, after a while, possibly, doesn’t get used quite as much as, er, intended.

So, this week, Five Finds is dedicated to bringing you a home gym that is just much home as gym. First up is the Ciclotte, and I chose the picture wisely as not only is it beautiful, but the wooden bath gives you an idea of the price point that goes with it.

ciclotte exercise bike
ciclotte exercise bike

It will come as no surprise to many of you to know that this bike is Italian in design and was made so that it could fit into the modern home almost like a sculpture. It has five different spinning positions and various optional extras including an iPad holder.

italian design
italian design

The tagline is: “Ciclotte, Finally, an exercise bike for living”, and you can see why.  Designed by Luca Schieppati of Milan and manufactured by the Lamiflex Group in Bergamo, Italy, the bike (if we can dare to call it that) “breaks with the designs of gym equipment that have always emphasized the functional aspects, to address. . . users that appreciate both physical and aesthetic lines”.

sculpt your body on this piece of sculpture
sculpt your body on this piece of sculpture

The cost? Well, if you need to ask … oh you do … it’s €8,300. So, yes moving swiftly on, what about this? This is a wall of picture frames that doubles up as a climbing wall. Made by the Japanese designers Nendo, this is a very cool idea, isn’t it?

climbing frame wall from apartmenttherapy.com
climbing frame wall from apartmenttherapy.com image by Daici Ano

Sadly, it hasn’t yet been adapted for home use as this is the climbing wall at a fitness club in Tokyo. Nendo said: “Instead of the usual rough and outdoorsy climbing wall, we came up with the idea of using interior design elements like picture frames, mirrors, deer heads, bird cages and flower vases to create a challenging wall with hard-to-find holds and unusual finger grips. We hope that our unique climbing wall inspires newcomers to try out the sport, and starts a new wave in fitness with style.”

Climbing wall at the Illoiha Omotesando fitness club in Tokyo.
Climbing wall at the Illoiha Omotesando fitness club in Tokyo.

So come on designers, let’s see this idea adapted for home use. There’s nothing to stop you even putting pictures in the frames so that it’s decor as well.

The next piece takes the idea of desk working to a new level and was made by Darryl Agawin. It’s called No, Sweat!

Darryl Agawin No Sweat desk
Darryl Agawin No Sweat desk

So there you are at your desk when you feel the need to burn some calories. So while you go and change, here’s the gear.

The desk equipment doubles up as a gym
The desk equipment doubles up as a gym

Suddenly it starts to make sense doesn’t it?

burn a few calories during the lunch hour
burn a few calories during the lunch hour

There’s also a bar for squats, a skipping rope and the chair presumably helps with the old tricep dips. Vancouver-based designer Darryl Agawin came up with the concept of combining the office dynamic with functional workout furniture. Do click the link to see a video of all the pieces in action. It’s quite brilliant.

no, sweat! indeed.
no, sweat! indeed.

It might be better for those of us that work from home though as I can’t imagine how your colleagues would feel if you suddenly started taking the desk apart to pump iron for half an hour while they were all eating sandwiches al desko.

Next up the kinesis system designed by another Italian Antonio Citterio, for technogym.

technogym by antonio cittero
technogym by antonio citterio

The idea of this is that it provides a series of resistance-based exercises in a very small space as it’s built into a wall. Apparently, you can do more than 200 different exercises using the cables, weights and grips.

kinesis one by antonio citterio for tecnhogym
kinesis one by antonio citterio for tecnhogym

The equipment covers 3.5sqm can be fitted in your home, office or a hotel room and you can choose from the mirrored version, the white or the gold one.

Finally, enough high concept and, let’s be honest, high price. For those of us that just want somewhere to store the bicycle so that it’s not cluttering up the hall, what about this?

flocked bicycle holders from Graham and Green
flocked bicycle holders from Graham and Green

A flocked bicycle holder from Graham & Green. And, at £99, that’s probably about as high concept as most of us are going to get.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags : ciclottedeskexercisehome gym
Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

1 Comment

  1. My favourite is definitely the picture frame climbing wall! I like the idea of the technogym kinesis system, though not so keen on the look, but it certainly looks like it would be a great all rounder. Now if only I exercised… at all…!

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