Cheap Home Gym

If you do not have access to a gym, then you can put together a home gym that gets the job done for a reasonable price. As long as you stick with the proven equipment list, and stay away from the newest, greatest fad machine then you can’t go wrong.

The following are my 8 home gym must-haves:

For More Cheap Home Gym Ideas Go Here

1.) Dumbbells

One of the main pieces of equipment that you will need is dumbbells. They are absolutely essential for the home fitness gym as you will be able to a variety of different workouts with them. A few examples are presses, variant arm exercises, lunges, squats and a few core exercises. There are tons of dumbbells out there; they can get pretty expensive so I would recommend searching your local paper or craigslist as a start.

Dumbbells can be categorized into two types: Fixed weight or handles only. Handle dumbbells are the kind where you have a “mini” barbell and you have to have plates to load on each end. If you do go with plate handle dumbbells you will want coordinate the plates so they will fit on your barbell as well as your dumbbell. One other type of dumbbell you can try is adjustable power blocks, this type of dumbbell will allow you to go from five to forty-five pounds in a flash. I like these because they don’t take up too much space at all.

2.) Barbells

As with dumbbells you will want a good barbell. Just like dumbbells they come in two sizes “Standard” and “Olympic”. Whichever you choose make sure that your weights will fit your barbell and dumbbells properly. The general difference between the two is that the Standard is smaller in diameter than the Olympic version. Also the Olympic version can take a much heavier load, e.g. a seven foot Olympic barbell can have a weight capacity of over one-thousand pounds. A good thing to remember while purchasing a barbell is to make sure that it actually fits your bench, as some Olympic bars will not fit on a standard bench. A standard barbell set includes a 20 pound bar, 2 dumbbell handles (with collars) and 85 pounds of plates. A unit like this will run about $100. This isn’t a lot of weight, so you’ll probably want to buy more before too long.

3.) Bench

In a truly cheap home gym, you can use any old bench for presses and one-arm rows. Make sure that it’s 2 to 3 feet wide and solid. A piano bench could work if it’s heavy enough. Otherwise, a picnic bench also works well. While it would be optimal to have a workout bench the key thing is to make sure that whatever you use can hold you and the weights that you plan to lift.

4.) Chin Up Bar

You can make your own chin up bar if you would like, just remember that it must be able to support your weight. You should be able to find a chin up bar for about ten to forty dollars.

5.) Pilate’s Ball

Having a Pilate’s ball around your house is a great alternative to using the weights. You can do a variety of different exercises with them and they will kick your butt when you are strengthening your core muscles. You should be able to find one for twenty dollars at most.

6.) Jump Rope

Jump rope for cardio: $5. Simple.

7.) Stairs

If you have a few stairs in your house, you can add a couple outstanding exercises. These include the lunge and the step-up. Since they elevate heart rate, both are good if you’re performing circuit training. If you happen to live in an apartment building with several flights of stairs then you have a free stair climber.

8.) Yard

If you have a big enough backyard, you can try doing variant basketball style conditioning drills, such as sweet 16’s, lines etc. Make sure to build up your joints and tendons first with slower, more deliberate strength training to avoid injury.

Now that you’ve built it, don’t forget to use it.