Home gym necessities and nice-to-haves to get the most out of your home workouts
If you’re planning to train from home, you may have found yourself wondering, “What do I even need?” While we all may have been able to get through a global pandemic with bodyweight workouts or one dusty old pair of dumbbells, you likely need some more equipment to make serious gains from home for the long haul. That said, I know fitness equipment is an investment. So what is worth investing in and adding to your home gym setup? Let’s discuss.
First, I would suggest either an adjustable set of dumbbells (that go up to 40-50lbs each) or a light, medium, and heavy set of dumbbells. The adjustable dumbbells are typically more of an investment and can be a little clunky to work with, but they take up less space than multiple sets of dumbbells, which might be ideal depending on your living situation. If purchasing multiple sets of dumbbells, I would suggest a light pair that you can use for accessory work like bicep curls, lateral raises, reverse flies, etc., a medium pair that you can use for upper body movements like rows, bench press, and overhead pressing, and a heavy pair that you can use for lower body movements like squats, lunges, and deadlifts.
Another thing I would highly suggest would be at least 2-3 kettlebells. Same idea as above here—ideally, a light, medium, and heavy (like, really heavy) bell. A good way to judge bells is choosing one you can press overhead, one you can use for rows, swings, etc., and one heavy bell that you can deadlift. Kettlebells are compact and efficient and can be used to train a ton of different exercises and training modalities (kettlebell swing cardio session, anyone?!). You don’t have to be a pro at training with bells to use them for many of the same exercises you’d use dumbbells for. They’re simply a different tool. (But learning to use them like a pro will make you feel pretty badass … just saying.)
There are two more items I would suggest as at-home necessities: an adjustable bench and a set of resistance bands. A bench will give you the opportunity to do things like bench presses, supported rows, hip thrusts, rear foot elevated split squats, and more. While you’re at it, choose an adjustable bench so you can work on an incline or in a seated upright position. This will just give you way more options to add some variety to your training. As for bands, I would suggest a set of a light, medium, and heavy resistance bands with handles and a door attachment. You can get creative and use these bands for vertical pulling exercises, which are typically difficult to replicate from home without a cable machine or pull-up bar.
Now that we’ve covered what I would consider the necessities for at-home training, let’s talk about some nice-to-haves. A barbell and squat rack are definitely nice to have. Sure, they’re an investment, but if you have the space, you can add so much to your training with a barbell and a rack (bonus points if it’s a rack with a pull-up bar attached!). An ab wheel is a tool that you can get for around $5, and while it’s only really used for one thing, it’s killer. And while they aren’t totally necessary, you can also do a lot with a medicine ball and a pair of sliders.
Training from home often means getting a little more creative with your training since you don’t have infinite options of weights and pieces of equipment like you might find at a gym, but you can still make plenty of progress from home with the right program and a solid assortment of weights to work with.
