Home gyms are only increasing in popularity with the impacts the pandemic has had on our day to day lives. While you can go out for runs and the like, needing to wear a mask can make it a much more difficult task, so in order to stay in shape during this hard time, investing in your own home gym could be the best bet. There are various different sorts of gym equipment that you may want to have in your home gym, but if you’re unsure as to what gym equipment is essential to make a home gym great, this article will help you out.
Essential Equipment
While essentials can change depending on what your needs are, the most basic are relatively universal, but it’s important to keep what your goal is when purchasing gym equipment essentials.
A Good Barbell
If you’re looking to do a lot of strength training, a good quality barbell is important. While you don’t have to break your bank getting the most expensive one, try to avoid the cheaper barbells are they typically won’t last as long and will become unusable relatively quickly.
A Set of Weight Plates
A set of weight plates is an essential part of any home gym for strength training. With a large variety of different weight levels, weight plates are a great addition to your home gym as they’ll really help you see the effects of a good workout.
A Squat Rack
To finish off our essential gym equipment, a squat rack is a must to effectively utilise our first two recommendations. A squat rack is used to get your barbell in the proper position for most lifts, and it also acts as your spotter if you’re working out alone as it generally comes with built-in safety and spotting devices to decrease the risk of serious injury.
Unessential But Extremely Useful
As we mentioned earlier, depending on your exercise routine and goals, different gym equipment may or may not be essential. So here are some more gym equipment suggestions that are useful to have in your gym if you can afford to, or if the previous recommendations aren’t really what you’re focused on, these gym equipment recommendations could be more up your alley.
A Yoga or Jump Mat
A yoga or jump mat is a great addition to your home gym if you do a lot of yoga or floor-based strength training. A jump mat is a bit thicker than a yoga mat, making it a better choice if you do more intense exercise moves such as plyometrics or core work, it can also double as a yoga mat so it’s a good all-rounder. If you don’t do much floor work, you could skip this one for now.
Resistance Bands
Resistance bands are an extremely effective piece of gym equipment for apartments, as they don’t take up much space, are versatile in what they can be used for and are also quite cost-effective.
Bosu Ball or Stability Ball
While this shouldn’t necessarily be an either/or question since both have their strong and weak suits. However, if you can’t get both, do your research into which of them would enable you to do the workout you need. Keep your long term and short term goals in mind while making this decision.
Jump Rope
Once again a good choice for apartment home gyms, a jump rope is a great way to get in some cardio. Jump ropes are great for improving reaction time, agility and balance. If you’re looking to lose some weight, you can lose up to 200 to 300 calories from just 15 minutes of jump rope.
Adjustable Dumbbells
Dumbbells are essential for isolation movements, they’re also safer and a bit more versatile than barbells when it comes to some movement patterns. As barbells can be too heavy, dumbbells are a great option to incorporate into your workout as they can be a lot lighter if needed.
A home gym is a great way to keep yourself in shape not just during this difficult time, but also in general. While it is a bit of a financial investment, it’s also a priceless investment into your health and wellbeing. If you play any sports or are interested in getting into some, we also sell a variety of sports equipment, feel free to check out our online shop here. Or if you’re interested in talking to one of our friendly team members, you can contact us here.
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