Whether you’re a pro athlete or a sports enthusiast, one thing is for certain. At some point throughout your athletic journey, regular things don’t work as well anymore. You begin to need more water, so your jug gets bigger. It would help if you had a new sports bag to accommodate all your gear.

Even when it comes to your home, you begin to recognize nice-to-haves and must-haves. That’s just normal because most homes aren’t built for fit or athletic people in mind. They don’t have all the space or amenities that athletes and fitness enthusiasts need to maintain their lifestyles.

If you’re an athlete looking to do some home renovation or home improvement, here are some parts of your home you should look into improving. They won’t just make your living experience better; they’ll also make an impact on your athletic journey.

A Sauna for Relaxation

While many people associate saunas with a generally relaxing evening, athletes see the sauna differently. It’s still relaxing, but the health benefits of a sauna make it so that they’re appealing to fitness enthusiasts and athletes on an entirely different level.

Staying in a sauna for 15 minutes can help the muscles recover, thanks to the process of hyperthermia. Hyperthermia (quite literally the opposite of hypothermia, or extreme coldness) through a sauna is a controlled form of heat therapy, repairing the muscle proteins and protecting them from oxidative damage.

Home Gym for Conditioning

Every athlete needs to work out and condition their body to get to their athletic peak. And that’s where a home gym comes in. It allows you to train and condition to your heart’s content. Fortunately, it’s a relatively cheap and accessible project. As long as you have a spare room, you can outfit it with training equipment like barbells, dumbbells, squat racks, and more.

However, it’s important to remember that the strength of the floor you’re going to be using must be enough. You don’t want to be doing deadlifts on your second floor, only to find out that the people downstairs can hear every slam, or worse, your barbell falls through.

Training Area

If you have a specific sport with specific field requirements or equipment, then you know full well how enticing it is to have your practice arena. So why not dedicate the resources for one? Should you have enough space for it, call a contractor for a basketball court, a tennis court, or even a rubber mat room.

Of course, we understand that not everyone is blessed to have the real estate necessary. But there are alternative forms of training areas, like half courts, golf nets, or even wall training for tennis. Use your awareness of your sport to figure out how you can create a makeshift training area, and your renovation will be very much worth it.

Locker for Gear and Equipment

Every athlete has a collection of their gear and equipment mixed in with their regular clothing and accessories. We all need to stop this and be responsible for our equipment. Having a dedicated locker for your tools is a great way to ensure their cleanliness and preserve their quality.

A lot of sports-specific equipment is sensitive to damage such as folding, water, or must be regularly aired out. Having a space where you’re confident to put them in will prolong their lifespan, maintain their quality, and make it convenient for you to get them.

A Good Kitchen

Muscles are 20% built in the gym, 80% built in the kitchen. That’s a quote you’ll hear every fitness athlete will say, and it’s very much true. That’s why for your next renovating project, make sure to include your good, old kitchen in the plan. There’s the added benefit of increasing your property’s resale value, but it also makes the process of preparing your food easier.

It will help if you get a wide countertop space or a breakfast island to do meal preps. It’s also a good idea to upgrade your fridge to hold all the healthy ingredients that you need. Every athlete or fitness enthusiast will do well to invest in a good kitchen, so make sure you prioritize it on your next renovation.

Athletes and fitness enthusiasts often have varying needs and goal requirements. They’re not drastic enough to merit a complete teardown and rebuilding, but it’s very much enough for the next renovation to consist of improvements for the athlete. If you’re serious about your fitness or athletic journey, consider the ideas discussed above. This way, you can maximize your surroundings while aiming for your fitness goals.