Are you one of those people (like me) who would prefer to workout at home? If you are ready to take the steps to workout at home, there are a few necessities for a home gym.
First, let me suggest that, in my view, strength training should be the core of your fitness program.
Therefore, the most essential equipment for a home gym revolves around strength training.
Strength training is of particular importance for people over 50 due to the issue of sarcopenia.
To round out the basic equipment you should have in your home gym, you should have one piece of cardio equipment.
Necessities for a home gym
Here are the necessities for a home gym.
- Olympic weight set
- Dumbbells
- Adjustable weight bench
- One piece of cardio equipment (treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical, stepper or rowing machine)
Olympic weight set
The standard Olympic weight set comes with a 7 foot long barbell that weighs about 45 pounds, and 255 pounds of weight plates as follows:
- 2 45 pound plates
- 2 35 pound plates
- 2 25 pound plates
- 2 10 pound plates
- 4 5 pound plates
- 2 2.5 pound plates
The Olympic weight set should be the centerpiece of your home gym.
Even without a bench of any type, you can perform numerous exercises, including Olympic style lifts such as the snatch and clean and jerk, dead lift, squats, overhead presses, curls, bent over rows, etc.
The Olympic set that I use in my garage gym is the Fitness Gear Olympic Weight Set.
Dumbbells
If by chance you don’t have room for an Olympic weight set, a good set of dumbbells will take you a long way toward your fitness goals.
If you do have the Olympic weight set, a good set of dumbbells will really allow you to perform a complete strength training workout.
The number of exercises you can perform with dumbbells is limited only by your imagination. You can perform any exercise that you would with a barbell, and many more.
The ideal set of dumbbells will provide you with weights from 5 pounds to at least 50 pounds.
However, if you are going to buy a complete set of individual dumbbells, along with a storage rack, you will be spending over $1,000.
A really good substitute, and the set that I use, is the Bowflex SelectTech 552 Adjustable Dumbbells. I’ve now had my set for over ten years, and they are still going strong!
These dumbbells allow you to change the weight from 5 to 52.5 pounds at 2.5 pound increments from 5 to 25 pounds, then 5 pound increments from 30 to 50, and then 2.5 pounds for that top weight of 52.5 pounds.
Switching between weights as you are working out will only take a few seconds longer with these adjustable dumbbells, and you can buy them at a fraction of the cost of an entire set.
Adjustable weight bench
In order to get the most out of your barbells and dumbbells, you will definitely want an adjustable weight bench.
At the very least, you will want a bench that can change the seat back from a flat position, to a nearly vertical position, and positions in between.
However, to perform exercises such as the bench press, squat and overhead barbell press more easily, you will want a bench that comes with a rack.
You can also buy a bench with a leg developer attachment and even a preacher curl attachment (these usually look awkward so I would avoid).
The bench I recommend is the Marcy Olympic Bench. This bench comes with all the features you need to get a great, full body workout with your barbells and dumbbells.
Necessities for a home gym – cardio equipment
A solid piece of cardio equipment should round out your home gym.
Because I personally despise jogging, I have a Schwinn Recumbent Bike in my home gym. This allows me to do Zone 2 cardio more easily, since I can easily control my pace.
If you prefer running, you should definitely consider a treadmill. Elliptical machines, rowing machines and steppers are also great for cardio.
Other equipment
Of course there are tons of other equipment you can buy for your home gym. However, if you have limited space, at least get the dumbbells and a weight bench.
Strength training is of supreme importance to your fitness. And, you can even use this equipment to develop a cardio type workout if that is important to you as well.
If you do have the space, you should look into getting a decent power rack with a pulley system.
I have a pretty tight space, so I chose the Marcy Home Gym Cage System.
This is more of a half power rack, but it has allowed me to add quite a few exercises to my routines. Importantly, it also has safety pins just in case I can’t push up that last rep on the bench press!
Final thoughts
A few years ago, I lived in a fairly small apartment, and had no room for an Olympic weight set.
However, I still had my dumbbells and a basic weight bench. I also had just enough room to do some calisthenic exercises to get my cardio work in.
This equipment at least allowed me to maintain a level of strength until I had space for more equipment.
The dumbbells and weight bench will take you a long way. So, I would argue they are the most essential equipment for a home gym.
With that in mind, if you hate working out at a gym, but think it is too costly to build out a home gym, think again.
You can get started at about $600 when you consider the Bowflex dumbbells and a simple weight bench.
Now, get to work!
