Not everybody wants to workout at the gym! For some, the thought of going into a gym is intimidating and off-putting! A bunch of sweaty men and women throwing iron about and posing in the mirror! 

Who wants to go to a gym when you can workout in the comfort of your own home? 

If you’re in a position to workout from home, then why not? If you’ve got the space and can afford to buy some good quality gym gear, then go for it!

In this post, I’m going to share with you ‘5 essential pieces of equipment you need for a perfect home gym’ – so that you can get great results in the comfort of your home.

Warning

Before diving into my equipment recommendations, it’s important to touch upon a few KEY areas…

The first thing is not to cut corners on buying gym equipment; I don’t want you to invest your hard-earned cash into equipment that’s rubbish! For example, you can buy a treadmill for a couple of hundred pounds, BUT 3 months later it’s likely to be broken! 

Buying cheap is a false sense of economy. Go for quality over quantity. If that means only buying 2-3 pieces of kit, and then saving for some more, then that’s a wise move.

From my experience, you need at least 2-5k to kit out a decent home gym. 

The other thing to consider is your training goals. For example, is improving your cardio your number one focus? If so, you’d be best off buying cardio equipment like a cross trainer, treadmill, rowing machine, etc. 

If, however, your goal is to build muscle, then spend your money on weights, a squat rack, pull up station, etc.

Maybe, if you’re like most, it’s a combination of both cardio and resistance training? Therefore you need a mixture of both cardio machines and weight training gear. 

This post is targeted at the average day person who wants a bit of everything! 

5 essential pieces of equipment you need for a perfect home gym

#1 Elliptical Machine  

A MUST buy piece of kit for boosting your cardiovascular fitness. These machines are low impact, and most elliptical machines are perfect for people needing low impact exercise due to joint pain. Using an elliptical trainer is ideal if you want to take care of your joints and complete a highly effective workout to improve your fitness and overall leg endurance. 

#2 Ab Mat

Most ab mats are very affordable (typically between £5-20). You can do hundreds of exercises without the need for any equipment, all you need is your bodyweight! For example, ab mats are perfect for training your stomach. Make sure to buy a soft mat for comfort and to protect your spine while doing exercises such as crunches, sit-ups, bicycle crunches, Russian twists, etc. 

#3 Adjustable Dumbells 

You can buy 25kg adjustable dumbells that take up a small amount of space (literally just two dumbells!). These dumbells can be adjusted in seconds, allowing you to change the weight with little fuss. For example, with the click of a button and slight twist, you can go from 2.5kg dumbells… to 25kg dumbells! Most of these weights go up in increments of 2.5kg. So you effectively have a full rack of dumbells BUT condensed down into a small space. 

#4 Rowing Machine

A rowing machine is one of my favourite tools for boosting cardio fitness; it also builds up your muscular endurance in the legs, arms, and upper back. 

There are lots of workouts which you can do on a rowing machine, for example, you could go for distance i.e. 2,000m or more. 

Or you could do HIIT training, which stands for High-Intensity Interval Training – which involves short sprint work, followed by rest. For example, you could do a 200m sprint on the rowing machine, then rest for 60s, and then go again, completing 5-10 rounds. This style of training is excellent for fat loss and boosting fitness. 

Rowing machines also look super cool and complete the look of a proper home gym!

#5 Squat Rack & Olympic Barbell Set 

If you can afford a decent squat rack and have the space to have one, then I would 100% recommend picking one up for your home gym.

A squat rack combined with an Olympic Barbell set will allow you to strengthen all areas of your body: legs, back, arms, chest, core, you name it! 

You can do KEY exercises such as deadlifts, squats, bench press, military press, lunges, bent-over rows, and much more. 

Lots of squat racks also come with a pull-up station. Pull-ups are a great exercise to do to strengthen the arms and upper back, and they will transform your upper body strength. If you can’t do full pull-ups you could always use bands – which take off a percentage of your body weight, making it easier. Over time you’ll be able to lower the resistance used and eventually be able to do full pull-ups – how cool would that be? 

Do You Need Any More Help?

I hope this post has given you some clarity on the best home gym equipment to purchase. 

If you have any questions and want some specific advice i.e., what brands to trust and buy from then, please drop me a message at: nick@lepfitness.co.uk, and I’ll happily help you!

Thanks for reading,

Nick