Must-Have Home Gym Equipment

If you are building a new home gym, you may be trying to decide what equipment you should have in your gym if you want to be able to get a full-body workout. Most people already have at least one piece of fitness equipment in their home, and now due to the pandemic even more are looking to expand their home gyms. 

A good place to start is determining what is and isn’t essential when it comes to home gym equipment. With gym equipment, essential doesn’t mean fun or even useful, it means equipment that will help you create a fully functional gym. It means that you can’t train effectively without it. 

Here’s our round-up of must-have home gym equipment:

The Olympic Barbell

It may come as a surprise, but a barbell is one of the most important pieces of equipment for a home gym. The reason for this is because it is the cornerstone for completing the majority of strength training exercises you should be doing. This includes squats, bench presses, deadlifts, curls, power cleans, and more. 

A Squat Rack or Power Rack

A squat or power rack will be one of the biggest investments on this list, but also one of the most important pieces of equipment you’ll add to your gym. There are multiple benefits to using a power rack as they allow users to get a safe free-weight workout by eliminating dangers such as falling weights, failure, or accidents due to the bar catches on the side pegs. They also enable the lifter to handle more weight than they normally would be able to lift when using full-range equipment.

Weight Plates

Weight plates are a vital piece of gym equipment because they will impact every other lift you will perform. Think of it this way – without a barbell your squat rack is useless; but without your weight plates, your barbell and squat rack both are useless.

When selecting weight plates focus on Olympic size weight plates. Not only will this ensure they fit the barbells, but they are easier to use and tend to be sturdier. 

A Weight Bench

While a weight bench may not be the most essential piece of home gym equipment, you will likely use it a lot. A weight bench can be used to perform a large number of exercises in both a sitting and laying down position. Workouts can focus on shoulder or tricep work, curls, rows, leg work, ab exercises, and much more.  

When it comes to purchasing a weight bench for your squat rack, you have the option to choose from a flat bench or an adjustable bench. The flat bench is the standard for most home gyms and heavy powerlifters. It tends to be sturdier, has a more comfortable pad and can often hold more weight than an adjustable bench. It is also typically more affordable. 

The biggest advantage of an adjustable bench is that it is versatile. Adjustable benches offer a great variety of exercises and numerous incline and decline positions that often range from 90 degrees to a decline of -20. Keep in mind that it should not be used for powerlifting.

Dumbbells & Kettlebells

Dumbbells are another vital piece of equipment for your home gym. Dumbbells can bring a ton of versatility into your workouts. You can choose to get a set of fixed dumbbells, which typically range in weight by 5-pound intervals from 10-50 pounds. If you want heavier dumbbells you can get supplemental sets to increase the weight increments. 

Kettlebells are ideal for home gyms because they provide great supplemental movements and exercises to your fitness program. You can choose from a traditional cast iron kettlebell to a competition-style kettlebell set or an adjustable competition-style kettlebell.

Conditioning Equipment

There’s a lot of options available when it comes to conditioning equipment. One of our favorites is the Torque All Purpose Push Sled. These sleds provide a full-body workout and will work both upper and lower body muscles. 

That’s our round-up for must-have home gym equipment! If you are looking to build or expand your home gym contact us today and one of our Gym Consultants can assist you with your purchase.