What Basic Equipment Do You Need to Practice at Home?
If you’re building a home gym, we’ve got suggestions for where to start and what to buy next . But what if you don’t need a ton of equipment, just the bare minimum for a decent workout at home? First, find out if there is a specific type of workout you would like to do. Kettlebells are often recommended for minimalist home gyms, but they are also best used with exercise programs in which you vary sets and reps, as you cannot gradually increase the weight. On the other hand, dumbbells give you more flexibility for strength training, but you need to buy several pairs of different sizes to get started, or use an expensive adjustable set.
So let’s get down to the basics so you have a few options for each.
You need a way to do cardio
As much as I love strength training, cardio is probably more important, so that’s the first thing you should figure out. We should all get at least 150 minutes of cardio a week , even if it’s just a brisk walk every morning.
You have to make sure that the cardio regimen you choose doesn’t make you hate it. Which of these can you imagine doing, say, 30 minutes a few times a week?
- Walking or running: You’ll need at least a pair of suitable shoes , as well as whatever clothing you’ll be comfortable in.
- Dance or aerobics video: a pair of comfortable shoes and space for the video.
- Cycling: spin bike or aero bike.
- Rowing: rower.
If you have another favorite cardio machine, like an elliptical or ski erg, you get the idea. Whatever you choose, make sure you can try it before committing. Many cheap, space-saving cardio machines are flimsy and don’t offer much range of motion.
How to do push-up exercises
Push-ups are a classic push-up exercise and you can do them at home with no equipment. Big! Do variations like diamond pushups or leg raise pushups to make the exercise harder as you get better at it. For another type of bodyweight training, consider a place where you can do push-ups. You can buy bars (they usually take up a lot of space) or a pair of rings.
But you can also develop pushing power in other ways, like doing overhead or incline presses. Scales really help here. A set of dumbbells will allow you to perform bench press, overhead press and more. You can handle the vertical push by progressing to barbell push-ups and handstands, but many people prefer the convenience of pressing a nice heavy kettlebell or a pair of dumbbells.
In general, when buying weights, you want something that you can lift anywhere between 3 and 10 reps . As you get stronger you should be able to lift the same weight for 12 or 15 reps, but if you need to go beyond that to feel like you’re working hard, it’s time to move on.
Method of performing traction exercises
While you can do deadlifts with dumbbells or kettlebells, some of the best deadlifting exercises at home are those that use your body as the weight. Pull-ups are a classic, and if you’re not ready to do full pull-ups yet, you can do them with your foot on a chair for help. Band pull-ups are another option, although I prefer chair pull-ups.
For pull-ups, you will need a horizontal bar. There are removable rods that can be inserted into the doorway, but I highly recommend the ones that are bolted to the door frame. (Yes, even in an apartment, just patch up the holes before you move out.)
Another option if you don’t like pull-ups is a suspension machine like the TRX set . They are great for a variety of deadlift exercises, including deadlifts, which are a great alternative to pull-ups. You can use the TRX in a door jamb or hang it from a crossbar. Gymnastics rings can also be hung from a bar, although you may want to find a place for them outside so you have more room than the door frame will allow.
Way to work your legs
It’s difficult because you have strong legs. Air squats won’t make you work long hours, and single leg squats tend to put a lot of strain on your knees. (Maybe it’s just me, but I would n’t want to build a pistol or shrimp squat routine.)
Heavy weights help a lot here. You can goblet squat with a large dumbbell or kettlebell, or you can use a lighter weight for unilateral exercises such as the Bulgarian split squat (the one where your foot is on the bench behind you), lunges, or the one-legged Romanian deadlift or in the rack. The leg exercises from our hotel gym workouts come in handy as substitutes for squats and deadlifts.
The biggest mistake people make when buying home exercise equipment, in my opinion, is being too light. A pair of 10-pound or even 25-pound dumbbells may be fine for upper body training at first, but you’ll have to work significantly harder to train your legs. So consider saving up for 50-pound dumbbells or more, or their kettlebell equivalents. A 24 kg (53 lb) kettlebell can give you tons of options. 32 kg (72 lb) might even be better.
Another great option, if you can swing it around, is a sandbag. Not everyone needs a big old bag that can leak sand in the corner of the apartment, but consider getting one if you have a place to put it (and/or buy a quality, airtight bag). You can pick up a bag, carry a bag, even crouch while hugging a bag.
Accessories
Everything else is optional, but can be helpful.
Elastic bands are great for band breeches, a pulling exercise that shouldn’t be your only option, but great for some extra upper back work. Similarly, bands shouldn’t be the centerpiece of a lower body workout, but they’re great for band walking (when you step sideways or zigzag with band around your legs) as a warm-up or extra movement.
The bench is useful for Bulgarian split squats, leg-supported pull-ups and dumbbell bench presses. However, in a pinch, you can replace the first two chairs with a regular chair and do bench presses on the floor.
A yoga mat can be a nice addition to your exercise nook. If you have a space dedicated to exercise all the time, consider getting rubber or foam mats to provide comfortable support and keep the dumbbells from rattling and rolling on the floor every time you lower them.
If you’re really into jumping rope, jump rope can complement your cardio options. If you want to challenge yourself with a core workout, an ab wheel might be for you. And if you do a lot of yoga or stretching, you’ll love blocks, straps, and a good yoga mat.