Have you ever thought of building your own home gym? Perhaps you’ve given up on the dream thinking it would be too expensive or maybe you weren’t sure what equipment you actually needed?
I love being able to work out anywhere, anyhow, with whatever equipment is available and hopefully inspiring others to as well.
This is why I have compiled a list of what I would consider to be essential pieces of equipment for building an effective home gym on a budget.
1) Adjustable Dumbbells
Dumbbells are a great tool which provide multiple uses. They are especially useful when you can change the weight on them which enables you to attack a wide variety of workouts and for different purposes.
Recommended Exercises
You can use them specifically for overhead pressing, various curls and you can add them to squats, lunges, and dead lift with them. You can also set them up as a substitute kettlebell, allowing you to swing, snatch, turkish get up, clean, jerk and many other exercises.
Price
Because of all this, they are the Number 1 piece of essential equipment. You can pick up a decent set for between £30-60.
2) Skipping Rope
The humble skipping rope (jump rope if you’re American) is a must have for a home gym set up. This is probably the cheapest piece of cardio equipment available and it has been shown to burn a crazy amount of calories (as much as 490 calories in 30 minutes for someone weighing 180 lbs).
Recommended Exercises
Single Unders, Crossovers, Double or Triple Unders.
Other benefits are: it doesn’t take much storage room, it can be added as a supplement between other exercises, you can travel with it and it is less disgusting than burpees and more exciting than star jumps.
Price
A quality skipping rope can be found for as little as £5 on Ebay, Amazon, Wish or Ali Express.
3) Latex Bands
Latex bands are another must have in a home gym. They’re cheap, versatile and require virtually no storage space. They’re great for warming up your hips, shoulders, glutes, quads, rotator cuff muscles and much more. Depending on the strength of the band you use and exercises selected, you can get a good resistance workout in. They’re also extremely useful for correcting muscular imbalances and rehabilitation.
Recommended Exercises
Squats, Donkey Kicks, Scissors, Hip Bridge Raises, Side Steps, Supinated Clam Shell, Side Leg Raises.
Price
You can get a good set for last little as £5 online.
4) Sandbag
A sandbag is an incredibly versatile piece of strength and conditioning equipment. It also happens to be incredibly good value. The added benefit of a sandbag is the core stability it induces due to the shifting weight within it. You can fill up the bag to make it an appropriate weight to suit your level of strength and your particular workout.
Recommended Exercises
Carries, Deadlifts, Overhead presses, Squats, Lunges, Cleans and many others.
Price
An empty sandbag can cost as little as £15 from eBay or other online sellers. If you want a rock hard core you’ll want to add the simple sandbag to your home arsenal of equipment.
5) TRX / Gymnastic Rings
In order add balance and to get some solid “pulling” movements into your home workout you will want to invest in something like Gymnastic Rings or a TRX. Both of these pieces of equipment can provide a wide range of options. The TRX can be hung from a tree, behind a door or off any other stable fixing.
Recommended Exercises
TRX -Inverted rows, Push ups, Chest press, Low row, One armed row, Pike push ups, Lunges, Squats, Glute Bridge.
Gymnastic Rings -Ring rows, Dips, Push ups, Muscle ups, L sit, One arm row, Pull ups, Planche.
Price
A solid TRX is available for as little as £15 online and Gymnastic Rings come in around £13-15 on eBay.
6) Slam Ball
Slam Ball’s are another fantastic low cost addition to any home gym. You can do so much with so little and they don’t require much room to store them. A 6kg and a 9kg should be enough to get you started.
Recommended Exercises
Ball slams, Bear crawl, Russian twists, Wall balls, Thrusters, Squats, Overhead press, Toe taps, Carries, Plank push through.
Price
You can pick up a decent 6kg ball for around £8 online.
7) Battle Ropes
Battle Ropes are a good but bad addition. They’re good because of the intense metabolic effect they give. They’re bad because of the terrible, terrible after effect. They burn your lungs like few other exercises but are quite possibly the king of upper body cardio exercises.
Recommended Exercises
Double wave, alternating wave, Shoulder circles, Snakes on the floor, power slam, Alternating wave jump lunge, Alternating wave jump squat, Lateral shuffle with alternating wave.
Price
Depending on how much space you have to play in and how strong you are the price of decent battling ropes can range from £20 up to about £60.
8) Aerobic Stepper
If you’re after a cheap cardio workout at a low cost, that doesn’t require much space, look no further than the Aerobic Stepper. This is a great way to elevate your heart rate as well as building transferable agility, speed, and sharpness.
Recommended Exercises
Offset Push up crossover, Squat pop over, Bulgarian split squat, Decline mountain climbers, Front elevated lunges, Step ups, Toe taps.
Price
They aren’t the most technical pieces of equipment and so £10 should pick you up a basic yet useful one.
So there you have it – No more procrastinating or excuses. You can build a very effective Home gym for around £150 or less. You don’t necessarily need expensive treadmills, rowing machine, racks, barbells or other expensive gym equipment to get fit and ripped. Use your own body weight, a few simple tools and train smart.