Now everyone is having to do more training from home, the home fitness equipment market has gone bananas. Seriously - once the lockdown was announced, suppliers of home gym kit thought Christmas had come early.
Everywhere had sold out of multi gyms, treadmills, exercise bikes, dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells and the like.
Not needed….
The fitness industry had never seen anything like it.
Even the suppliers who typically only sell to the trade had sold out of stock. People were so desperate to get hold of kit that they were buying commercial grade equipment for home, which means there are people all over the country who spent thousands of pounds on exercise kit in a moment of desperation, only to realise they don’t really know how to use it or have anywhere to store it!
Gym owners all over the country will be keeping their eyes peeled for bargain equipment when the lockdown is over!
As I’ve just mentioned, if you don’t know what you’re buying you can waste a lot of money on home fitness equipment that you just don’t really use. Even if you don’t buy commercial grade, you can spend a lot of money on kit that will never be as good as what we have at AdMac Fitness (or your own local gym).
So here’s the official AdMac Home Gym Recommended Kit List…
This list has been put together with a few criteria in mind. Each bit of kit on the list has to tick these boxes…
It has to be inexpensive. Not everyone has thousands to blow on an amazing home gym.
It can’t take up much space. There’s no point having a huge squat rack if you live in a studio flat!
It has to be versatile. Single use kit is too indulgent for a home gym.
So straight away you can start to discount a lot of what people think of when they go for a home gym. A treadmill costs hundreds or thousands of pounds (if you want a decent one), plus it’s massive and it’s only single-use. You can also go for a run outside, so count that out.
Olympic barbells and bumper plates are out. Again, they cost a lot but they take up lots of room, plus if you live in an apartment with neighbours below you, they probably won’t appreciate you dropping heavy deadlifts onto your living room floor.
So what should you buy for a home gym? The reality is you’ll be able to head back into real gyms very soon, so you only need to buy kit that will keep you ticking over for the short term. With that in mind (and the criteria above), here’s what I think you need to put together a decent home set up…
A TRX (or other suspension trainer) is probably the most versatile and best value bit of kit you can have. They can fit to doors, be hung over goal posts, park equipment or even tree branches. They are light weight as well so can be put in your suitcase for a holiday workouts, or hotel room workouts if you’re travelling for business.
In terms of exercise variety, there’s a huge range of exercises you can perform using a suspension trainer. Just make sure you buy one with a door anchor, which will make the home use much, much easier and safer.
You can use a suspension trainer to do rows, pull ups, bicep curls, ab workouts, lunges, squats, hamstring curls and hundreds of other exercises.
I’ll start by saying this - some of the prices for adjustable dumbbell sets are RIDICULOUS at the moment, so bear that in mind. I’ve linked to the kind of thing to look for in the title, but don’t want to suggest you buy any of those in particular. Try not to spend more than £80 if possible - less ideally.
When it comes to adjustable dumbbells, you want to buy the heaviest you can afford because as you get stronger, you’ll outgrow them. You may start off struggling to shoulder press 5kg, but that won’t be forever, so buy them with your strongest exercise in mind.
Dumbbells are great for squats, lunges, floor presses, shoulder presses, curls, lat raises, ab work etc. They’re also really easy to store so are a better addition to a small home gym than a barbell.
These are ideal for more advanced users in the same way that suspension trainers are - they’re great quality, don’t cost much and are REALLY easy to store. If you’re advanced enough you can use rings to do gymnastic movements and calisthenics, but even if you’re not up to the more advanced bodyweight exercises just yet, you can still use them for rows, pull ups, dips and push ups.
It’s a lot of versatility from a relatively cheap bit of kit. It’s another one that’s easy to transport with you as well, so you can take an exercise option with you when you travel anywhere.
Bands and Glute Loops
These are a couple of super versatile and and really inexpensive bits of kit. They weigh next to nothing (great for travelling with again) and can be used to supplement hundreds of exercises. The bands can be used to make exercises such as push ups and bodyweight squats and more difficult, or they can be used to perform exercises in their own right such as lat raises and face pulls. If you buy the long loops, you can make pull ups easier too, which is great if you have a home pull up bar or something to hang it off.
The glute loop is great for making squats more difficult, as well as making lateral bands walks possible. Glute bridges are made tougher with a glute loop too, so it gives you extra home workout variety.
Home Gym Kit: Concluded
If you’re joining in on the AdMac Zoom Classes (just email me if you want to - you can join from anywhere in the world!) buying some of the kit here can give you a whole load of extra workout variety without breaking the bank!
Just don’t go buying kit you won’t need in a few weeks. These home gym equipment suggestions give you plenty of workout variety at home, keeping you fit and healthy without costing you a fortune or forcing you to move all of your furniture around to accommodate your new gear!