5 Essential Equipment For Your Home Gym

A good home gym should have the most versatile equipment because that means you can invest in high-quality equipment that allows you to do a lot of different exercises. Below we will look at 5 essential pieces of equipment that you should invest in FIRST when considering setting up your home gym.

1. Barbell & Weight Plates

   A good set of 1 barbell and plates will give you the most bang for your buck. At FitLabs, we have our own set of 1 barbell and weight plates that you can purchase at $630 (with 10% off your first purchase). A barbell and plates can give you enough resistance to progress up and allows you to do all the main compound movements, like your presses, your pulls, and your leg movements. You can use them for isolation exercises, you do different types of lifting like weightlifting, powerlifting, Crossfit, and many more. Barbells and plates are the foundation of almost every type of resistance workout.

2. Rack(Squat Rack, Half Rack, Power Rack,...)

   The next piece of equipment you need is a rack, any type is great. A rack is needed so you can put your barbell and plates on. This allows you to do your presses and your squats and lunges, especially when you start working with heavier and heavier weights. When working out in a home gym, it can get dangerous when working out alone. That's why a rack is essential. Most racks should come with a pair of spotter arms that can help hold the weights when we cannot lift or when we drop the weights. It can be life-saving.
   
   For the sturdiness of the rack, in the long term, you should look for 11-gauge steel (3mm thickness) since that is the most sturdy version you can get and it can hold as much weight as you can lift. A 2mm thick steel is less sturdy especially if you've been workout out for a long time and you are working with very heavy weights.

3. Bench (Preferably something adjustable)

   A bench is a very versatile piece of equipment. It also allows you to do heavy lift movements like the bench press and different types of seated or laying down exercises. If you're getting a good bench that is heavy and can hold a lot of weights, then you can use it for step-ups and other exercises that require a platform. Getting an adjustable bench also allows you to change the angles of the exercises which gives even more variations to the workouts.

4. Dumbbells (Preferable adjustable dumbbells)

   If you're planning on getting all the different weights of the dumbbells, that can get really expensive, we're talking a couple thousand for a whole range of different weight dumbells. Your best option is to choose an adjustable pair of dumbbells. Dumbbells are great for doing all the compound movements but also single-leg or single-arm movements. Dumbbells can add a lot of variations to the workout that can help keep your home gym workouts exciting.

5. Cardio Equipment

   When it comes to cardio, you can get something cheap like a jump rope, which can be a piece of great cardio equipment. You can always go for walks or runs outside for your cardio work. If you have more budget to spend, consider getting an air bike or a rower, which are very popular among Crossfit gyms. A curved treadmill will set you back a couple of thousand dollars but can be useful in training your running form or sprint training.

   Complimentary accessories for your home gym

   Once you have the equipment above, you can start to improve your home gym with these other accessories. You can grab yourself a yoga mat to do your body weight workouts, your core workouts, and your stretches. You can get yourself resistance bands so you can do band resistance workouts, add on to barbells for increased resistance, and use these bands for injury prevention purposes.
   
   You can check out FitLabs Home Gym Equipment to start setting up your dream gym at home.