5 Pieces of Fitness Equipment a Home Gym Needs

When you`re building your home gym you might feel the need to buy all the equipment you can afford. Although it’s good to have nice variety in the comfort of your own home, you only need basic equipment to work most muscle groups.

A good starting point is to cover the major muscles groups first. You need to have the most options with compound movements which will allow you to train multiple muscle groups during the same exercise. These types of exercises will provide the best results in a short period of time and possibly work best for home gyms. So what type of equipment do you really need?

Olympic Weight Set

Among the most important equipment a home gym can have is an Olympic weight set. There's no better way to develop overall strength and muscles than with compound movements. PERIOD!
Just think about all types of squats and deadlifts you could be doing. In fact the deadlift is one of the few barbell exercises you could be doing and still get a full body workout.

Regardless of the trends in the fitness industry, you will rarely see a commercial gym without a barbell. And if you're serious about working out that should be one of the first things you're buying.
One thing to add here - they don't come cheap.

A pull–up bar

Pull-up bars are a convenient way to develop the back muscles and form the “V shape” that so many people are after. It can work even for women as it can help develop strength.

The classic pull-up is also a compound movement as it involves the pulling muscles such as the back, biceps and forearms.

Some of the key benefits include strengthening your core and improving balance in the upper body. If you have the right technique and focus on the full range of motion you can get visible results in weeks.

The best thing - they don't cost a lot and you can even make one yourself. A no-brainer right?

Dumbbells

Dumbbells are so versatile that they can be the only equipment in your home and you could still perform a complete workout. The can be used for all of the major muscle groups. You can train your traps, shoulders, back, chest, biceps, triceps, abs and legs with dumbbells.

One of the often underestimated benefits of using dumbbells is fixing your body`s posture. If you perform your exercises standing you will need to maintain a good posture to perform the exercises correctly, which is a major plus, especially in a society where we sit for hours each day for our daily jobs.

Resistance bands

Resistance bands have been used for many years. They can add extra difficulty to your regular exercises and they can also force you to improve balance and posture.

Plus - resistance bands can be stored easily and taken on weekends away to provide an on-the-move workout whenever you need it.

If you want a different style of training you can also opt for suspension training which has been made popular by the military. You can anchor the system at any higher point in your home gym and perform multiple exercises to help improve the toning of your body.

The best advantage of home suspension training?

You can switch between strength and cardio training adding the much needed versatility to your equipment.

A rowing machine

Rowing machines can be associated with commercial gyms, but there are plenty of models for home use also. A good rowing machine can provide the high intensity cardio workout you need to lose weight. It can also increase your resistance levels and improve blood flow.

There are multiple types of rowing machines which can be based on air or water resistance. For home use you can even choose an entry-level model which can be challenging enough to provide a solid alternative to the traditional treadmill which has been used for weight loss training.

Keep it simple

When you build a new home gym you might be overwhelmed by all the equipment and advice you get from other users. Make sure you keep things simple and try to cover every major muscle group and a cardio option to have a complete workout at hand when needed.

You can also consider establishing a monthly budget to save for future equipment, as your fitness needs will see you progress through the routines.


"Paul is a passionate fitness enthusiast, writing about his experience in different blogs all around the web. He’s most knowledgeable in different fitness gadgets and equipment. Paul believes in the idea, that great equipment can take your workout to a next level." 

You can find Paul at http://www.dumbbellshub.com/

This may help.

Something I see often in today`s fitness industry all to often is "experts" trying to create dependency on them from clients. That makes sense in a way, I get it. Someone has grown reliant on them and therefore keeps giving them money to keep seeing them for the service or product. As I write that I can't help but think this is a parallel to a drug dealer and a junkie (in a small way). To me though it seems a little short sighted. Why? Because this industry should not be about a dependency being created, it should be about educating and creating someone that can do it on there own. Now I am not saying you need to get a degree and so on but you should understand the why's and how's just as much as the whats. Many fitness gurus advertise products and services like ,"get shredded abs in seconds", or ,"get the body you have always wanted in X days". It seems to work, these people are making money. Let us conclude that a person pays the money and does the course and is successful. What happens if they get injured and take 3 months off and put on weight and lose the "shredded abs"? They do the course again? What if they can't or they can't afford it? Well it may be a struggle to get back those "abs". What I am saying is that knowledge is power. If you go and see a personal trainer, exercise physiologist or a strength and conditioning coach they are a product of knowledge and experience. For me I want to share some resources that may help you. If tomorrow I woke up and everyone was fit, healthy and chronic disease free I think I'd be happy about that. To be clear some of these resources I used long before going to get a formal education in the fitness field and some I picked up whilst at university.

First one I will point out is Starting Strengthby Mark Rippetoe. If you are starting as a beginner and want to get strong this is a good place to start. If you are reading this thanks to Reddit, Starting Strength has a big following on there. Rippetoe is a smart guy and the keep it simple approach works really well. No BS just a decent book with a decent program that makes compound movements and the barbell king. Now I am not going to get into a deep review of this or anything merely suggest some resources that may help.

Now if you are thinking of going the Crossfit route for fitness. Becoming a supple leopard is a book you should read. Dr Kelly Starret breaks down the "standards" of Crossfit but even more important is the way he tells you that if you can't achieve movement A you shouldn't try movement B until you can achieve X. That is important to me and it helps give some prescription help and knowledge to remember for yourself. Even better though is if you can't get into a position due to a mobility issues he gives out methods to improve that issue.

If you haven't heard that kettlebells are all the rage or you have and you want to get into it. I have written in the past about how my grandparents bought me my first KB (kettlebell)here. I haven't looked back. In order to learn about using a KB though I needed help. I found Mike Mahler's training dvd. I really enjoy kettlebells they are a different but accessible pieces of equipment. If you can't afford a barbell or gym membership a KB may be the answer.

I think the last resource I will talk about is the internet. Granted there are a lot of people selling snake oil but you can now learn anatomy for free via Youtube which I encourage you to do. You don't have to be Bones to have some knowledge about how your own body works. So do some research and be diligent. After all ,Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

Disclaimer: If you do buy any of the above mentioned resources I do receive some income off of it. If you choose to go elsewhere to find it cheaper that is fine as long as you are learning.