Build Your Home Gym On A Budget With This Equipment
A home gym is a luxury you don’t know you need. While your budget and space might limit you from having all the training equipment, you can make good with only a few gears and a strong will to get after your goals.
Think of a home gym as a convenience tool and design it around compound exercises. A preacher bench and chest press machine are great equipment but covering your floor space with machines you’ll be using one a week is not a good idea.
Best Equipment for a Home Gym
Incline Bench
Instead of getting a flat bench or a flat bench press, you should buy an incline bench which is a little high off the floor. Such an incline bench can be used as an incline, flat and even a decline bench.
While building your own home gym, look for multi-purpose equipment. Don’t buy machines which are for a single exercise. Unlike a shoulder press machine, an incline bench can help in training almost every muscle group.
Squat Rack
A squat rack is one of the best equipment you can get for your home gym. If you can’t get the full-fledged squat rack with guard rails, opt for the minimalist parallel bars as they can be used as a squat, bench press, and shrug rack.
Most minimalistic squat racks will give you the option to attach safety rails so you can lift in the absence of a spotter. A squat rack with pull-up handles on the top are a great addition to have which can help you in training your back and abs.
Barbells and Weight Plates
You should have at least one Olympic barbell for compound movements and a small barbell for exercises like bicep curls, tricep skullcrushers, etc. You can buy other specialty barbells like the EZ, trap, elephant bar, etc. as you add more equipment to your gym.
If you’re a beginner, get one set of the full range of weight plates. As you get stronger and are able to lift heavier weights, get more weight plates. You should opt for the rubber coated plated instead of the iron plates as they can be more durable and won’t do a lot of damage to your tiles if you don’t have a gym flooring.
Dumbbells
One set of dumbbells of the full range of weights is enough for a home gym. Get high-quality dumbbells as you’ll be using them every day. Cheaper dumbbells might be pocket-friendly but are more prone to falling apart.
You might also need to buy a dumbbell rack. Having the dumbbells scattered on the gym floor can cause a lot of obstruction and there is always the risk of tripping over and banging your face into something.
Treadmill / Cardio Machine
Having a treadmill or any cardio equipment in your home gym can be a blessing. Many people don’t like hitting the gym on a Sunday or doing their cardio in the open. A cardio machine in your home can help to keep you active on your rest days.
If you’re looking to lose weight, cardio on an empty stomach can be one of the most effective things. Other cardio machines you can choose from are a stair master, elliptical, rowing machines and a spinning bike.
Header image courtesy of Envato Elements
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