Glossary
Footprint
The floor area equipment occupies set up, and separately when folded or stored, both of which matter more in an apartment than in a garage.
Footprint refers to the floor area a piece of equipment takes up, but in an apartment it is really two numbers: the in-use footprint while training, and the stored footprint once it is folded, stacked, or moved aside. A rack or bench that folds flat can have a huge gap between the two, while a fixed machine has only one.
This matters because apartment listings and product pages often lead with the larger, more impressive in-use dimensions, while the number that decides whether it fits your actual daily life is how small it gets when you are not training, along with whether folding or unfolding it is quick enough to do every session.
When buying, check both footprints in the product listing, plus any extra clearance needed to actually use the item, such as bar length beyond a rack's width or the reach needed to fully unfold a bench. A common mistake is measuring the boxed dimensions on a spec sheet and forgetting the overhead clearance or swing radius needed once it is assembled and in motion.