Home gym equipment should be affordable, robust, highly functional and space efficient. You should view your home gym as an investment and seek out equipment that is going to last, but is also very good value for money. Every piece of equipment should be considered an essential - no fluff!
Here is a list of home gym equipment that tick all of the boxes.
Power Bands
Power Bands are great home gym equipment. They're very, very versatile, they're cheap in comparison to other exercise equipment and they take up very little room. They are also fantastic for anyone who travels a lot and needs a gym in a suitcase.
Power Bands are great for:
- Adding resistance to bodyweight exercises such as squats and push ups.
- Assisting and building your capacity for bodyweight exercises such as chin ups and dips.
- All your staple pulling and pushing exercises such as rows and chest presses.
- Prehab/rehab exercises such as lateral band walks for glutes and rotator cuff exercises.
- Stretching and mobilisation (particularly good for the lower back).
Here are some ideas for how you can use your Power Bands in a home gym:
Power Vest
A weighted vest is one of the simplest and most useful pieces of home gym equipment you can get. For much less than the cost of a cheap exercise bike you can ramp up any of your cardio workouts, make bodyweight exercises far more challenging and effective, and really spice up plyometrics.
Here is just a small taste of what you can do with a Power Vest in a home gym:
Gymboss
The Gymboss is a pocket personal trainer; it will keep you on track and prevent stuffing around. You can set the intensity of your workouts with the Gymboss by aiming to do a certain number of reps in a given time, or working for a certain amount of time with a set rest interval. You can set two separate time intervals with the Gymboss and it keeps track of the number of rounds you've done.
The Gymboss is ideal for:
- Kettlebell training
- Boxing/MMA/Martial arts
- Crossfit
- Weightlifting
- Running/sprinting
- High intensity interval training
- Tabata workouts
32kg Adjustable Kettlebell
The 32kg adjustable kettlebell should feature in any home gym, especially ones short on space. The 32kg adjustable bell is the equivalent of 7 kettlebells; with the 4 plates and the case you can make 6.5, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, and 32kg kettlebells. Kettlebells in general are fantastic home gym equipment because they train so many different aspects of fitness (strength, endurance, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, joint mobility and coordination), but the adjustable goes one step further and packs a whole collection of bells into one small, neat and very affordable package.
Aquabags & Slosh Balls
These water filled implements are fun and deceptively challenging. You can adjust the weight and instability of the Aquabags and Sloshballs by having more or less water in them; more water means heavier but more stable, less water means lighter but more unstable. A fantastic addition to any home gym.
Try an overhead lunge with an Aquabag about half full and you'll feel every muscle in your body working overtime as the water pulls you from side to side. And shouldering with a Sloshball will make you feel like you're filled with water pretty quickly. These are also perfect for travel as they can be emptied and crushed down into very small, light packages and so long as you have access to water, you'll be right to train.
The Power Station
The Power Station is the ultimate in home gym equipment. In fact, it's a home gym in itself. And it's a great investment as it will last you a lifetime. This piece of equipment has too many uses to list completely, but here's a short rundown of what you can do with it:
All squatting moves - Front, Back, Zerchers, partials and more. The special J cups (with rolling bearings) will hold any weight you can throw at them (the engineer says they'll hold over a tonne!). Plus the band attachment pins allow for even more variety and applications
Benching - The strong and sturdy adjustable bench is versatile for fast set up. (or use your own bench)
Chin ups - Multiple hand positions and spacing options plus a fat bar make this unit a complete chinning station. And don't forget you can use bands for loading and deloading.
Dips - Another key upper body strength builder. The band pegs allow you to set your dersired width for optimum safety and performance. And like the chins, you can use the band attachments for greater variety.
Sled - Yep, the skis allow you to attach a harness and pull it - or you can turn around and push it - perhaps the toughest training of all.
Conan's Wheel Walk - This favourite pastime of strongmen is now readily available for you. But be aware - this is one tough exercise
Stepping - The adjustable step/seat can quickly and easily be set up for all types of stepping moves. Adjust the height for step ups, plyometrics, box squats and Bulgarian squats.
Atlas Stones - Yes sir. You can use the step to rest Atlas Stones - but we recommend you use our Slosh Balls (much safer in case you drop them)
Power Band Attachments - There's so many variations with Power Bands that you'd spend a lifetime trying to find them all.
Torsonator - Fry your core with the ability to attach multiple Torsonator sleeves in seconds. Set them at different heights to target different muscles and movement patterns. You can also rig them for use with Power Bands for extra pain.
Here's just a tiny snippet of what you could be doing in your home gym with the Power Station:
For more information and even more ideas for your home gym go to Australian Kettlebells.