Top 10 Pieces for Your at Home Gym

You don’t need a large garage or dedicated open room to have an at home gym. All you need is a space to keep your stuff and room to move a little bit.

When putting together a gym that will work great in your home, you might consider a corner of the garage to be the place where you want to put your gear. Another great place is near the rear door, where you can do your workouts on your patio when it’s nice outside. Regardless of where you have your stuff, these are ten items that can make your gym right for you.

A Heart Rate Monitor Helps Track Your Progress

You might not notice the five pounds you lose this month, but you will notice the thousands of calories you burn if you have a heart rate monitor. This handy device can help you maintain the heart rate you’re aiming for while working out by showing you what your heart rate is at any given moment. With this device, you can reach the training levels you desire and track your progress simultaneously.

A Good Set of Dumbbells is Essential

Your at home gym needs to be versatile, and dumbbells are some of the most versatile items you’ll find in any gym. You can take one of these with you for a workout at the park, you can adjust the weight of some of them, and there are many amazing exercises that can be done with dumbbells. Find a set that allows you to adjust the weight with just a turn or a click, and you’ve got a complete weight lifting set just waiting for you to put it to good use.

A Yoga Mat is Great for More Than Just Yoga

If you love to stretch and feel your body becoming more flexible, a Yoga mat is a must-have item. Of course, these mats are great for other types of exercises as well. When you’ve created a gym in your home, you need to consider the floors you have. If you’ve got hard floors, you’ll want a little padding when you get into a plank position or do some sit-ups, and a Yoga mat is perfect.

Challenge Yourself with an Ab Wheel

An ab roller or ab wheel, could be one of the toughest but most rewarding items you put in your at home gym. This item is a wheel with a handle on each side to help you develop those solid abs you’ve always wanted. Many of these rollers come with various workouts that you can download. This item is a wonderful addition to your gym because it’s lightweight, compact, and easy to carry.

A Doorway Chin-Up Bar Can Help Build that Upper Body

Pull-ups aren’t many people’s favorite exercise, and if you’re not at a weight that you can handle pulling up above the bar, this item can wait a little while. Once you reach that point where you can do a chin-up, it’s time for the bar. This is a fantastic device to develop your upper body and help you control your body weight with strength. These items don’t take up a lot of space, and some are easy to put up only when you need to use them, which means you don’t have to keep them in the doorway all the time.

A Foam Roller Helps you Recover After a Workout

When you’ve given 110% during your workout, you know, you’ll be sore the next day. One of the best items to have in your at home gym is a foam roller. This is a rolling pad that has bumps and divots in it to mimic the feeling you might get when being massaged. Using a foam roller will relieve the stiffness and soreness you feel in your muscles so you can do your next workout.

A Speed Ladder Offers a Great Backyard Workout

Sports teams use speed ladders to work on footwork and help their athletes develop fast feet. You can do the same. This is a great device that’s only limited in its use to your imagination. Some people work on footspeed, others work on jumping from one square to another, and still, others try to build up their hand speed with these ladders. This is a great tool and something you want to have in your home gym package.

A Pair of Push-Up Stands Will Give You Some Great Workouts

A pair of push-up stands allow you to work on your upper body strength and develop the toned look you want. With these stands, you’re elevated off the floor more than a normal push-up, which allows you to go deeper into the movement. There are many variations of these stands you can buy and use. Your at home gym won’t feel complete unless you’ve got a pair of push-up stands to give you the extra oomph you need.

The Right Running Shoes are a Must

Some form of your exercise should be cardio. Because we’re talking about a gym in your home, we’ll assume most people don’t have a swimming pool in their backyard to do laps. This means you need to have a good pair of running shoes for running, biking, walking, hiking, or even for fitness videos you might watch. You need to protect your feet, ankles, and knees, and the right pair of running shoes can do that for you.

Add a Jump Rope to the Mix

One of the most invigorating exercises you can perform is jumping rope. Unless you have joint or weight issues and can’t jump rope without risking injury, this is a great item to have in your at home gym. There are various ways you can jump rope, and it’s a fantastic cardiovascular exercise that can be done almost anywhere. If you don’t want to stay inside because the weather is nice and you want to take your workout to the outdoors, a jump rope is one of the easiest pieces of equipment you can take with you.

What else do you think should go in your at home gym? As you can see, most of what we’ve chosen are small, lightweight, and compact items that fit in the corner of your garage or living room with ease.