You want to avoid expensive gym memberships, but are now wondering if it'll actually be any cheaper to build your own home gym. After looking at some gym equipment options, you can see that many don't quite fit into your budget.
But not to worry. It's perfectly possible to build a home gym on almost any budget, so you do not have to sacrifice your fitness just because you don't want to spend a fortune.
Let's go over the main pieces of equipment to get into place if you want to build your home gym on a budget.
An Exercise Ball
The first thing to get into place is an exercise ball. These are great for not only working your core, but you can also perform other exercises on them such as chest presses, shoulder presses, lateral raises, and so forth, which will make your muscles contract that much harder as you aim to stay balanced.
For the ultimate challenge, try performing a push-up on the exercise ball. This will work not only the entire upper body, but your core as well.
Some Resistance Bands
Moving along, you might also want to consider picking up some resistance bands to begin your strength work with. The nice thing about these is that they can tuck right into a drawer so they're easy to put away after you finish with them. For those exercising in a very small space, they will be ideal.
The drawback to these however is that they won't provide as much resistance as you get stronger, so you might find yourself feeling unchallenged. At that point, you'll need to move into external weight options.
Dumbbells
Which brings us to the next point - dumbbells. Picking up a few sets of rubber hex dumbbells are perfect for performing a very wide range of different exercises with to challenge each muscle in the body.
The nice thing about hex dumbbells is because they are rubber, they won't harm any floor so you can use them with confidence.
Be sure that you do pick up a few different weight levels so that you can easily progress as you get stronger.
With this, you may also want top pick up a dumbbell rack as well to store your dumbbells on.
Kettlebells
Another alternative option that you may wish to consider is kettlebells. Kettlebells are one of the hottest new trends in fitness and will challenge you in a similar way a dumbbell will only allow for a different range of exercises.
Performing exercises such as the kettlebell swing or the clean and press will have you working your entire body, giving you a very strong metabolic boosting workout. You would not be able to perform similar exercises with dumbbells, so this is why having some kettlebells is nice as well.
Just like with dumbbells, kettlebells come in a variety of different weight levels, so pick up a few so that you can easily progress over time with them.
An Ab Wheel
If getting a firm flat core is an important goal of yours, along with getting the exercise ball, you'll also want to consider picking up an ab wheel as well. This is one of the most challenging ab exercises you could perform and will also work the shoulders and lower back while you're at it.
Be sure that you position yourself on carpet or on a mat when using this in order to avoid experiencing knee pain.
A Barbell With Plate Weight
For those who are ready to step up their game, picking up a barbell along with some plate weight will be the next move to make. These will be a little pricier, however will allow you to perform additional exercises such as the barbell deadlift, barbell curls, barbell shoulder press, and barbell walking lunges.
The nice thing about the barbell with plate weight as well is that once the barbell is purchased, you can just keep buying more plate weight as you get stronger to advance your workout program.
This makes things more cost-effective long term.
An Aerobics Step
Finally, another smart thing to pick up is an aerobics step. This can be used for two purposes. First, you can actually perform at-home aerobics videos while using it to get your cardio workout in, or you can use it as a bench to perform exercises such as decline or incline push-ups or tricep dips off of.
If you aren't purchasing a standard weight bench, the step can be substituted for it in some cases. Just be sure that you purchase a few additional risers in order to get it to the height level that's appropriate for your needs.
So there you have some of the main pieces to consider as you form your own home gym. Remember that you definitely do not need all of these and what you do decide to pick up will likely vary depending on your own space, your skill level, as well as your budget.
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