Which fitness equipment is best for home?
With COVID-19 at full swing as we move into flu season, it's best that we try to train at home as much as possible. (Probably also the cheapest gym membership you'll ever have)
There are a whole range of fitness equipment that can keep you on your fitness goals without sacrificing workout quality. Although if you're limited to budget, space or just want to know which to focus on, here is our breakdown.
Dumbbells
Lifting weights is the most basic form of training. We all know it, we all see it in every commercial gym. Dumbbell training at home is probably is as close of a gym experience you can get. The only problem is that they are a bit heavy to move around, and can be a bit pricey - especially during these unprecedented times.
Free weights create stability and strength in your muscles, not to mention the satisfying feeling that iron when you're pumping a dumbbell arm workout! It's also ideal for exercises such as the chest press, dumbbell deadlift which require a stronger load (compared to the other two pieces of equipment I'll talk about later)
Dumbbells can come in two different forms, either at a fixed weight or with an adjustable bar which you can weight plates to. For home training, unless you have a lot of space and money, I'd highly suggest buying the adjustable dumbbell set. But if you do prefer fixed weights (as you can quickly switch between weights), see if you can find any 7.5kg, 10kg, 20kg and 25kg dumbbells for sale.
Resistance Bands
Resistance band sets are often very underrated when it comes to training. Personally I think that if you know how to use these, it's a mobile and light piece of tool to give you flexible training wherever you go.
As long as you ensure a full contraction and range of motion, resistance bands will help to engage your mind to muscle like no other. If you're just starting your fitness journey, you'll also be able to learn the technique properly with very low chance of getting injured.
Resistance bands usually come as a set of 5. Each colour represents a difference resistance level. You can also combine the different strengths to progressively overload incrementally (key for building more muscle)
Some exercises that work best with resistance bands include resistance band squats, shoulder press, rows and press ups. If you stick to these four exercises, you'll be sure to get a good full body workout!
Olympic rings
Have you ever seen a gymnast's body? Impressive right? The only piece of tool they use all day is the Olympic gym rings (also know as gym rings, or fitness rings).
Like the resistance bands, it's light and mobile so you can be really flexible with your training. Hang them off any bar, banister or tree that you can find around your home! You can also find a decent pair of Olympic gymnastic rings for sale for about £40 - or cheaper if you buy from Fitnesshaus.
Gymnastic rings can come in either plastic or wood, but the wooden ones are definitely better quality as it gives better grip.
You can do all kinds of callisthenics training with this piece of equipment, including rows, pullups, dips, front and back levers (for your core strength). Sometimes you can even combine these all together such as muscle ups to hit the full upper body in one movement.
To conclude
So there you have it, depending on your preference you can choose one to have that perfect training at home! If you manage to get all three, I honestly don't see what a commercial gym can provide that you can't get from home training.
