How to Build a Shipping Container Gym

Shipping containers are increasingly being used to create flexible training spaces for home gyms, personal trainers, sports clubs and commercial fitness facilities.

But a shipping container gym doesn’t necessarily mean squeezing all your equipment - and yourself - inside a steel box.

Depending on the space available and how you plan to use it, the container might be the gym itself, provide secure storage alongside an outdoor workout area, or form part of a much larger covered training facility.

Here are three different ways to approach a shipping container gym, followed by a look at how you can attach gym equipment and structures to a container without drilling into it.

 

What Size and Type of Shipping Container Is Best for a Gym?

The right container depends on how you plan to use it. A 20ft container provides roughly 14 m² (150 sq ft) of internal floor space, while a 40ft container container provides 28 m² (300 sq ft), giving you more room for equipment, storage or training.

Length isn't the only consideration. A High Cube container provides additional headroom, while an open-side container or one with doors at both ends can be particularly useful if the container will connect to a larger outdoor training area.

Before choosing a container, think about the equipment you want to use, how much clear space it requires and whether your training will take place inside, outside or both.

💡 Our guide to shipping container sizes can help you compare the different options and work out how much space you’ll have to play with.

A shipping container gym can combine equipment storage with a compact indoor training space

 

1. Create a Gym Inside a Shipping Container

One simple option is to turn the container itself into an enclosed workout space. This can work particularly well for a compact home gym or private training space where keeping equipment secure and protected from the weather is important.

If you're converting the interior into a space where people will regularly exercise, you'll also need to consider practicalities such as ventilation, lighting, insulation and suitable flooring. Many of the same considerations apply when converting a container into other occupied spaces, so our guide to converting a shipping container into an office is a useful starting point for planning the details of the interior conversion.

An indoor gym doesn't have to be the end of the story, however. One of the advantages of using a shipping container is that the space around it can become part of the gym too.

 

2. Combine a Shipping Container with an Outdoor Training Space

Instead of fitting the entire gym inside the container, another approach is to use the container alongside the surrounding outdoor space.

The container can provide secure storage for equipment when it isn't being used, while the area outside provides substantially more room for training.

This is particularly useful for equipment and activities that need more space than the narrow interior of a container can provide. Equipment can be brought out for a training session and packed securely away afterwards.

A container gym combining indoor equipment storage with an external frame (attached with Domino Clamps) and outdoor training space

 

This type of setup can combine indoor equipment storage with a much larger training area outside the container. An external frame can also extend the usable structure beyond the container itself, providing additional space for mounting training equipment.

The type of container you choose can also make a big difference here. A standard container's cargo doors provide access at one end, but containers fitted with a roller shutter, doors on both ends or a large opening along the side can create a much stronger connection between the indoor storage space and the outdoor training area.

The outside of the container can also become part of the training setup, providing fixing points for equipment and allowing the outside of the containers to be used as a workout area. 

Our customer Will To Train did exactly this, using Domino Clamps and tube clamps to attach a horizontal tube along the top of their equipment container. The tube provides attachment points for TRX suspension trainers, gym rings and pull-up bars. Read the full Will To Train case study.

Will To Train's setup creates multiple suspension training stations along the outside of the container.

 

Domino Clamps and tube clamps support the horizontal tube used for suspension training, gym rings and pull-ups.

 

3. Create a Larger Container Gym with Multiple Containers and Covered Areas

For a larger training facility, the container doesn't need to define the size of the gym at all.

Multiple containers can be positioned around a larger training area, providing storage and other enclosed spaces while the area between or alongside creates additional workout space.

Adding a roof or canopy can make that external space much more useful in poor weather while retaining the flexibility of an outdoor or semi-outdoor gym.

Our customer Indigo Fitness created the ATC Pirbright Soldier Performance Facility using shipping containers and a large covered training area

The Indigo Fitness project demonstrates what container gyms can look like at a much larger scale. Here, the container forms part of a wider training facility, with a large external structure creating substantially more usable space around it.

The covered training area at ATC Pirbright provides plenty of space for multiple training stations and group workouts.

💡If you're interested in creating covered space around shipping containers, we also have a separate guide to attaching roofs, awnings and canopies to shipping containers.

Attaching Gym Equipment to a Shipping Container

A shipping container gym often involves attaching equipment or structures to the container itself. This might include pull-up bars, suspension trainers and equipment frames, or larger additions such as lighting, roofs and awnings.

Drilling or welding directly onto the container is one option, but permanent modifications aren't always desirable, particularly if you want the setup to remain removable or reconfigurable.

Shipping containers already have extremely strong structural connection points at each of their eight corners: the corner castings. These reinforced steel castings are designed to take the forces involved in lifting, securing and stacking containers.

Domino Clamps allow you to use these existing corner castings as attachment points without drilling into the container. Once installed, a Domino Clamp provides an external bolting face onto which other components can be mounted.

What Can You Attach?

The examples above show some of the possibilities. Domino Clamps can be combined with other components to create attachment points for tubes, frames and training equipment around the outside of a container.

For example, tube clamps can be used alongside Domino Clamps to mount horizontal tubes for pull-up bars or suspension training equipment.

For larger facilities, Domino Clamps can also provide attachment points for external frames or structures such as roofs and awnings, allowing the training area to extend well beyond the container itself.

 

Conclusion: More Than a Gym in a Box

A shipping container can certainly provide a compact enclosed gym, but that's only one way to use one.

Pairing a container with outdoor space can give you secure equipment storage and a much larger training area. Multiple containers and covered structures can take the same idea further, creating facilities that extend well beyond the footprint of the containers themselves.

Whichever approach you choose, planning how the container connects to your equipment and surrounding space from the beginning can give you far more options than simply trying to fit everything inside it.

And where you need to attach equipment or structures to the container without drilling into it, the corner castings provide a strong existing connection point that Domino Clamps can help you make use of.

• Ready to build your gym? Visit the Domino Clamps shop and find the right attachment solution for your project.
• Planning a larger covered training space? Read our guide to attaching a roof or canopy to a shipping container.