Must-Have Equipment for Personal Trainers

Whether you’re a newly certified trainer, NASM trainer, or an experienced personal trainer who is considering opening your own business, you’ll need a few key pieces of fitness equipment to get started on your personal training journey.

While there are hundreds of body-weight exercises you can do with your clients, it’s a good idea to have some great pieces of exercise equipment to keep them engaged and challenged. 

First thing’s first, you want to make sure you have the necessary tools to assess your clients and to create and track their goals. 

Here is a checklist of helpful items to do this:

• Forms and questionnaires
• Non-elastic, flexible tape measure for circumference measurements
• Clipboard for training worksheets
• Timer and stopwatch
• Bioelectrical impedance scale or device for determining BMI and body-fat percentage

Now for our favorite pieces of fitness equipment for NASM and personal trainers. Some of these choices are portable and great for taking to a client’s home, while others are staple pieces for your personal gym if you have clients who come to you.

Dumbbells & Kettlebells

Dumbbells are a mainstay in the fitness world and especially for personal trainers. They’re cost-effective and just about every type of client you might have will benefit from using them.

Kettlebells are one of the most flexible pieces of equipment on this list, and essential for resistance training. A kettlebell provides the user with a dynamic workout with an almost unlimited range of movement options and can be used even in small areas. Kettlebells are available as adjustable models, or single weight cast iron.

Olympic Weights

A good Olympic bar is another pillar of any fitness program. Olympic lifting isn’t just for weightlifters, in fact, these exercises are great for clients that want to build strength, no matter their age or experience level. This equipment helps to form the foundation for the classic muscle building exercises like bench press, deadlifts, and squats.

Plyo Box

Plyo boxes come in varying heights depending on which side they’re stood on, are extremely portable and offer a highly effective workout.

Battle Ropes

Battle ropes offer a surprisingly flexible workout once you get past the traditional up-down, side-to-side movement options. They are even great to use for team training workouts or group fitness classes.

Squat Rack

Squat racks offer attachments for pull-ups, dips, battle ropes, TRX Suspension Trainers, etc. As a personal trainer having a single piece of equipment that allows for a variety of exercises is key. Not only does it ensure that each client gets the best training experience, but it saves you on needing to buy multiple pieces of equipment.

Functional Trainer 

Similar to a squat rack, a functional trainer is a versatile, space-efficient machine perfect for your personal training studio. This dual purpose machine offers exercise options for just about every muscle group. Additional accessories can also be added to allow for even more training stations. 

Cardio Exercise Equipment

Treadmills, elliptical trainers, water rowers, upright and recumbent bikes, stair climbers are all excellent options for a personal training gym. Not only do they enable you to work with your client directly while using these machines, but cardio machines are also ideal for solo-workouts, or for warmups.  

Flooring and Gym Mats

Last, but not least is gym flooring and mats. While flooring probably isn’t at the top of your equipment list, it’s an important piece of equipment for your gym.  Your clients will need a space where they can get on the floor to stretch comfortably or to perform floor workouts.