There are many reasons why you may choose to build a home gym rather than visit your local chain. Perhaps you don’t like dealing with long waits for your favourite apparatus, inflexible contracts – or simply prefer not to work out in busy public spaces.
Whatever the reason, you’ll be pleased to know that you can build a fairly comprehensive home gym on a modest budget. And, providing you stick to your training regime, you should quickly recoup the equivalent gym membership fees within a few years.
Providing you have a little space going spare at your home, you can easily build a workout facility to target every muscle group you could desire.
Ready to get started? We’ve curated a list of eight essential pieces of equipment that will help you take your strength and fitness to the next level. Ready to get started?
Table of Contents
Gymnastics Mat
First, let us take a look at the mighty gymnastics mat. This can be used to perform many powerful core exercises such as the plank, push-ups, hamstring and quadriceps stretches – and the majority of medicine ball exercises, which we will cover in a moment.
In fact, you can take your gymnastics mats just about anywhere. So, you can easily pack your trusty mat in your bag or car and work those core muscles on the fly.
Dumbells
A set of dumbbell weights is one of the most versatile fitness apparatuses available and can be used to sculpt your shoulders, chest, biceps and triceps. Most of these exercises are carried out using a pair of dumbbells of equal weight.
As your strength and ability increase, so will the weight of dumbbells with which you can comfortably complete these exercises. If you’re a relative beginner, we would recommend investing in a small dumbbell tower, with several pairs of dumbbells in varying lightweights. As and when your strength increases, you can invest in a set of heavier dumbbells.
Medicine Ball
A medicine ball (also referred to as an exercise or fitness ball) is a weighted ball that can be used for a whole host of exercises. A few classics that you can attempt with a medicine ball, include twists on mountain climbers (a powerful full-body workout), push-ups … and if you’re feeling strong, alternating single-arm press-ups!
Weights Bench
Add a weights bench to your home gym and you can add a slew of chest, bicep and back exercises to your fitness repertoire. With dumbbells and a weights bench, you can attempt the chest press and flys, dumbbell row, seated dumbbell curl – and many other classic strength-building exercises. You can also build up strength in your legs by using the bench to perform bench ‘step-ups’!
Weight Plates/Barbell
With the addition of weighted plates (and a barbell), you now have a home ‘bench press’ at your disposal. This is an excellent tool for building your upper body strength. Try the barbell bench press and you should soon notice your strength increasing. For an even greater challenge, you can set your bench to an incline – good luck!
Your weight plates can also be used for standalone exercises, such as plate push-ups, lateral raises and squat presses. Weight plates can provide a good level of challenge at any level.
Kettlebell
Many fitness influencers and blogs have feted the power of the kettlebell. Invest in a solitary kettlebell (or a set of varying weights, if you have a slightly larger budget). Now, you can tackle a range of powerful exercises, such as the single or double-armed kettlebell swing, squats, deadlifts and presses!
Boxing Gloves and Pads
This next apparatus requires a trainer (or training partner). One partner holds the pads, whilst the other dons the gloves and hits them. There are few better exercises to build your speed and agility. The pad-holding partner may be static (or mobile to keep the other on their toes). The boxing pads can also be used to hone your kickboxing skills!
Punching Bag
A punching bag will allow you to practise many of the aforementioned moves without a partner. It provides an explosive workout and is great for perfecting your power, coordination and overall boxing technique!
Thanks for Reading – Get Ready to Reach Your Personal Best!
We hope you found our article helpful and now have plenty of ideas for your brand new home workout space. Remember, in your home gym, you truly are the master of your domain. You’ll have complete control over the time you start your workout, your routine – and best of all, your motivational playlist!
No matter what you decide on, we wish you the very best of luck with your new home gym and your fitness goals.
