Mounting a TV in a home gym

In a living room everyone watches from one height. In a home gym you watch standing on a treadmill, hunched over a bike, flat on a mat and upside-down in a stretch. The mount has to cope with all of it.

Start with your main machine

Pick the piece of equipment you use most and set the TV for that.

• Treadmill or elliptical: your eyes are about 6 to 12 inches higher than standing height, because the deck lifts you. Centre of the screen around 65 to 72 inches from the floor is comfortable, looking straight ahead or slightly down. Looking up while running strains the neck.
• Stationary bike or rower: you're seated and leaning forward. A lower screen, centre around 45 to 55 inches, is easier.
• Floor work and yoga: lower still, or a screen that tilts well down.

The case for a full-motion mount

One fixed position can't serve a treadmill and a mat. An articulating mount ($89) with good tilt range lets you point the screen at whichever station you're using and push it flat afterwards. It's the most useful upgrade in a gym.

Distance

Gym screens are viewed from close up — often 4 to 7 feet. A 43 to 55-inch TV is plenty at that range; bigger just means turning your head.

Keep clear of moving things

• Leave room behind a treadmill: if someone slips, they travel backwards. Don't place the TV or anything else where a person could be thrown into it.
• Keep the TV out of the swing path of kettlebells, bands, cable machines and barbells.
• Wall-ball and medicine-ball walls are no place for a TV.

Mirror walls

Mounting on a mirrored wall means either removing a mirror panel or drilling glass — a specialist job. The simpler route is to mount on a different wall or beside the mirror. A TV facing a mirror also gives you a reflected screen in your peripheral vision, which some people find distracting.

Vibration and floors

Treadmills shake framed walls slightly. A properly lag-bolted bracket doesn't care, but check that tilt and swivel joints are snug so the screen doesn't drift. Garage gyms on concrete have the usual garage issues — heat, dust and block walls; see our garage guide.

Sound and control

You'll be wearing earbuds or competing with fan noise. A TV with Bluetooth, or a streaming stick that pairs with headphones, saves fumbling. Mount a small shelf or holder for the remote where sweaty hands can find it.

Sweat and cleaning

Wipe the screen with a dry microfibre cloth only; no glass cleaner. Keep the TV out of the direct blast of a fan that's blowing damp air off you.

Labor for gym mounts is by screen size, from $94.