What Home Gym Equipment Should You Buy
Table of Contents
Looking to Start a Home Gym?
Not a fan of global or commercial gyms? Need some privacy? Do you have a garage that gets no love? Well... owning a garage gym might be in your foreseeable future.
Home gyms have been the latest fitness craze. Many people have completely gutted their garages and flipped them into fully decked out gyms to the point where commercial gyms can’t even compare. When looking at all these amazing gyms on the internet, you may be asking yourself how did they go about getting this equipment? What accessories will I require? What flooring should I put in so my partner doesn’t set my gym on fire when I’m not home.
List of The Best Home Gym Equipment
Resistance Bands
Booty Bands
Squat Rack/Power Rack
Squat racks/power rack are by far one of the most versatile pieces of equipment a home gym owner can invest in. With a power rack, you can perform rack pulls, squats, overhead presses, floor press/bench press, rows, and pullups. Having this piece of equipment alone would allow you to get a full-body workout in, assuming you have purchased a barbell.
Hex Bar/Barbell
Having both bars is by far the most important addition to your home gym and definitely is a must-have with the power rack. Investing in a barbell will allow you to perform functional exercises including the Big 3 lifts (Squat, Bench, Deadlift), as well as other great movements like the overhead press, snatch, clean, and jerk, as well as bent-over rows, and the list goes on.
Weightlifting Plates
When you have your own gym, loading up that weight and obnoxiously grunting is a must. Buying a good starter set of good-quality plates is a must. The last thing you want is to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a set of metal plates and have them slowly chip away, rust or even break! For this reason, you will need to ensure that you are buying good-quality plates that will also be worth your dollar. Long story short, be sure to shop around and do some homework.
Dumbbells
There will come the time when you want to get in a session of unilateral work that will include pushing or pulling routines where a barbell just won't make the cut. This is when dumbbells can be useful, especially if you are pressed for time and just want to get in a quick and light session, instead of spending time loading and unloading plates onto a barbell. Assuming you don’t have a lot of space in your gym, our best suggestions is to purchase adjustable dumbbells to ensure you’re maximizing every inch of your home gym.
Adjustable Bench
Depending on what you need from your bench will vary at a given moment. Sometimes you may need it to be flat, require a slight incline, vertical axis, or decline. For these reasons, an adjustable bench makes the most sense, as it will meet your every need in the gym. Investing in a single piece of equipment that can do it all and be space-efficient is very important when picking your home gym winner.
Cardio Equipment
Yes, you still need to do your cardio when nobody is watching you. Cardio should never be avoided completely in any training program. There are so many pieces of cardio equipment that can meet your needs, a simple foldable treadmill may suffice. When designing your home gym you may wish to do something more on the fun side, something challenging but also maneuverable so you can do it under the sun when the weather is nice. A piece of cardio equipment we highly recommend, drum roll please... an AirDyne Bike!
Yoga Matt
No matter what age we are, we all should be doing some mobility work before and static stretches after our workouts. Eventually, the years of not stretching will take a toll on our bodies. Trust us, do it now and you won’t regret it later. To ensure you’re more inclined to getting those stretches in, purchase a good quality mat that will be soft on your knees and have a good amount of grip so you can perform your stretches safely.
Additional Accessories for Home Gym
Why is having gym accessories so important? Well...let’s explore this. Having a variety of accessory items can be a great way to progress or regress an exercise based on your fitness level and will assist you in your exercise journey.
List of Accessories We Recommend
Wrist Wraps
Laso Wraps
Weight Lifting Belt
Pull Up Belt
Ab Roller
Medicine Balls
Step or Box
TRX or Suspension Trainer
All of these accessories aren’t required but will make great additions to your home gym and will most likely be needed at some point in your fitness journey. Just so you’re aware, all of these items ship relatively quickly and good quality ones can be found on Amazon.
Final Thoughts on Building Your Home Gym
Remember when building your home gym, different brands and specific products might suit your needs better depending on your space, budget, and fitness goals. So take the time to search the web for good deals and good quality equipment because there is a dime a dozen options out there. Do not rush this. You need to be strategic and realistic with your search if you should decide to build the gym of your dreams.
