Best Gym Equipment You Need to Maximize Your Workouts at Home
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  • Writer's pictureJess D
    • 5 min read

Best Gym Equipment You Need to Maximize Your Workouts at Home

Getting a workout at home can be easy as getting some home gym equipment



If you subscribe to the #healthylifestyle scene, then chances are you’re making healthy meals, practicing self-care, and of course working out. The way that anyone works out can vary from your typical group fitness class (you know I love a good Zumba session), to something as exotic as pole dancing. But every good fitness regiment comes with a resistance training segment, most commonly, weightlifting.


If you have a gym membership, hitting weights are as easy as walking into your gym, picking up some dumbbells and pumping iron. But sometimes you don’t want to deal with salespeople, gym bros, and other distractors when it comes to the gym environment. So, working out at home might be the way to go.


Why Working Out at Home is the Best

There are quite a few reasons why working out at home and getting gym equipment for your house is the best including:

  • Not having to drive anywhere to work out

  • Saving money

  • Working out without the distraction of strangers

  • Dealing with your own cleanliness


These reasons and many others can help you start your fitness journey without worrying about going to the best gym or getting the best trainer.


My Home Workouts


Since I’ve been home and had a slight fear of Covid (just from living in China and the attitude around Covid). I was more than happy to start working out again. Since I was a personal trainer back in the day, I had some equipment and added a few other items and still need to add some more.


In addition, since coming back home from China, I wasn’t working right away so I needed to save money and work with what I got. Also, anything I didn’t have I just picked up on amazon for a reasonable price.


With a combo of weights, body weight exercises, and YouTube I get some of the best workouts I can at home, and you can too!



Here are my favorite and (IMO) the best gym equipment you need to maximize your workouts at home.


Best Equipment for Home Workouts

Here is a list of my favorite home exercise equipment:

· Bands

1. Pull-up Bar


Pull-ups are a great overall exercise. It does take a lot to get even one pull-up in but with some modifications, you can slowly build yourself up to increase the amount of pull-ups you're able. to do.. My pull-up bar just broke as I write this, but it did last me over 10 years. The pull-up bars below are some examples that resemble the one I had. They use the door frame to stay stable and can hold a lot of weight without destroying the door frame. Have a looksie below:




2. Kettlebells


Kettlebells are my favorite kind of exercise just because you can do dynamic and explosive exercises that are great for jiu-jitsu but also fun. The two kettlebells I’m suggesting gives you the option of getting one adjustable kettlebell and a set just in case you want one or two to work with


3. Dumbbells


Dumbbells are good and I use them sometimes, depending on my workouts. I think it’s never bad to have a couple of sets around. . Check out these examples below:


IF you’re looking to splurge: Bowflex SelectTech 552 Adjustable Dumbbell



4. Yoga Mat


No workout is complete without some kind of floor workout. Be it push-ups, leg workouts or just plain yoga, having a yoga mat is essential. Doing stuff directly on the floor is distracting and uncomfortable. Even if you have a rug or carpets, carpets make your skin feel itchy (or at least mine feels itchy). There are many types of mats you can use including a more padded one or not so padded one (the one I use isn’t so padded). There are some with funky designs which I’ll definitely buy for a yoga class, including some examples below:






5. Ab Roller

Ab exercises are grueling! Every time I do planks, I get flashbacks from my time on the swim team of doing plank competitions. If you’re anti-sit-ups or planks, an ab roller is an awesome addition to your home workout gym. Ab rollers are easy to use, and you just have to do a few reps per day to get the ab exercises you need. Here are some awesome ab rollers to consider:






6. Resistance Bands

Resistance bands are a multi-use piece of equipment you can consider for a number of reasons:

1) A set of bands can be used for strength/resistance training and for flexibility.


2) They are a bit cheaper than weights and still have tremendous benefits


3) If you travel a lot and are not sure if you’re going to have a gym at your travel destination, they fit right into your bag, and you can do exercise in any small space.


The bands that I own are mostly to add resistance to certain weight training exercises I do and for flexibility. Check out these band sets below:








7. Foam Roller


After you get all your training in and you need to bring things down, a foam roller is the best way to do so. Foam rolling is a great method of self-myofascial release and can really be done before or after a workout. Some of the benefits include relieving soreness and muscle tightness. I have a long and basic foam roller at home, but I have used some of these other versions you see below:







Best Cardio You Can Get at Home


I talked a lot about some of the equipment you can get for strength training, flexibility, and warm-up/recovery. But what about cardio? Luckily, cardio is easy to do with or without a machine.


Yes, getting a treadmill or a bike for your living room can be great. This of course gives you a machine to work out on at home. But if we’re being very honest, nine times out of ten those machines become a glorified place to put your clothes.


If you don’t want to buy a machine, you can jump rope, dance, shadow box, run, or power walk. These are easy things you can do in a space at home, big or small! Since I love to dance, I do Zumba videos to practice for my classes or do some YouTube videos. When I don’t feel like dancing, I’ll do some rounds of shadow boxing and jump roping to mix it up. The best cardio you can do is something that you like that you won't get bored doing.


Start Your Fitness Journey at Home

Sometimes we make excuses for ourselves to wait until we have enough money for a proper gym membership. But, it doesn't have to be that way. Get any of this basic gym equipment so you get yourself started on your workout journey today.


Question: Do you prefer to workout at home or at a gym? Why do you prefer what you prefer?

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