What Basic Equipment Do you Need for your Home Gym?

Working out at home has a great number of advantages. For one, nothing is more convenient. No need to primp, pack, drive or find a babysitter. Just go to that special room and start sweating. Cut down on your time commitment by eliminating travel time to the gym and packing towels, hairdryer, makeup, etc.

So what do you need? Well, you wouldn’t have clicked the link if you knew already, would you. So we’ll get right at it.

You can get by with just a few of the items below, but the better equipped you are, the more you can do and the more interest you’ll have in staying on your program.  The list below will make your home gym pro quality so you can realize savings from not having to pay a monthly gym membership.

1. Dumbells – They’re simple and allow you to do multiple resistance training exercises. You can buy a set of dumbbells that allow you to add and remove plates to change the weight of each. We recommend buying several pairs within the weight range that you require to ensure that your workouts are fluid, fast and fun.

2. Exercise ball – Exercise balls are great for all body parts. You can use it as a base for dumbbell exercises, stretching, core exercises, and others. Plus, it’s light and easy to move around.

3. Jump rope – No need for large and heavy cardio equipment when you have a rope. Even if you don’t do cardio at home, you’ll need something to warm up before you do any kind of exercise and it doesn’t get any more convenient than this.

4. Exercise mat – For any activity you do on the floor, whether it’s an exercise or stretching, you’re going to want to have a mat to keep you from sliding and to reduce any pain it may cause if you have a harder floor surface.

5. Exercise step – Once again, this piece of equipment will help with your cardio, you’re stretching and your strength training. An exercise will allow you a number of options in what you can do in your home gym to reach your fitness goals.

Bonus recommendation

6. Bench – It’s like the exercise step, but way better. Add an incline capability to it and your menu of exercises has multiplied. You can get by without it, but once you have it, you’ll wonder how you did your workouts without it.