I’ll go over some home gym ideas, as well as in the video below, but what is the best home gym equipment you need to get started? The short answer: not much. The long answer depends on answering a few questions for yourself.

1. What results are you looking for?
2. What’s your budget?
3. What do you already have around the house?

The fact is, over two-thirds of gym memberships go unused. The why often has to do with time and distance, or, at least, using those as an excuse. There is now a huge movement to put some workout options in our homes. Because you are reading this, I’m guessing you are part of that movement. I’ve been using my home as a gym for almost 7 years, and I have some answers that may help.

You are going to need a set of either resistance bands or dumbbells (or both), a pull-up bar, and a solid yoga or workout mat. I also highly recommend a few medicine balls, a balance ball, and a portable bench. Not sure where to get these? Do your homework on the best home gym equipment and look through the reviews. This post only has some home gym ideas, if you want help deciding which to use, just contact me and we’ll go over options.

Home Gym Ideas for Resistance

You may think dumbbells are necessary. While they are a great fundamental for a home gym, there are other options and priorities to consider. Resistance bands, while not as good as dumbells for providing consistent resistance, are much more affordable and get the job done. A good set of resistance bands, like the B-Lines from Beachbody, along with a door hook, allow you to do all the moves you need and still get the results you want.

But if you have the budget, get dumbbells. Dumbbells provide consistent resistance throughout a full range of motion, producing better results, faster. Nothing beats a good set of dumbbells, like the Bowflex Selectech or Powerblock brands for ease of use and ability to fit in a small home gym area. Both of these sets of weights are compact, taking up a fraction of the space of a full hex dumbbell set you find at a professional gym. However, the best home gym ideas include the DIY kind. Try 5-gallon buckets filled with water or sand.

However, it doesn’t end there. The standby of any good resistance routine, the pull-up, can be done with bands as well. However, a very inexpensive and durable solution is the P90X Chin-Up Bar. Want to work on form and isolate muscles even more? Add in a solid workout bench like the Powerblock bench.

Home Gym Ideas for Core and Cardio

You just need you for this. Go for a run, do 500 jumping jacks. The point is, for cardio, you need a good pair of shoes (do NOT skimp on these) and the willpower to see it through. Get out there and sweat.

If you want to do it at home with a little help, get a couple of items. Medicine balls are perfect for adding a little weight to your core and cardio workouts. You’ll be amazed at the difference just a few pounds in your hands does for the heart rate. Also, adding in a balance ball will give you more options for core work, stretching, and can even be used instead of a bench for some exercises.

Ultimately, the best home gym equipment is you, a good pair of shoes, and the willpower to push through the sweat and pain to get the results you want. If you need a little help getting started, just contact me, and I’ll show you what I did and help you find the equipment and programs, like P90X and Hammer and Chisel, or whatever works for you.

If you need some accountability and coaching and would like some more information about my monthly 21 Day health/fitness/nutrition accountability groups, just fill out the form and I will get back to you with some more information on how we can get you started and enjoy the FREE workout video after you fill out the form.