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Summary
On episode 291 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan runs through the 11 pieces of equipment he’d recommend for building a home gym, listed in roughly the order he’d suggest buying them.
He frames the list around three questions to answer first: what your actual fitness goal is, how much space you have, and what your budget is, since the right equipment for building and maintaining muscle isn’t automatically the right equipment for every goal.
The list moves from near-free basics up through serious strength equipment, and Allan owns every item on it in his own home gym.
Links
- https://40plusfitness.com
Key Takeaways
- Start with your goal, space, and budget before buying anything. Allan’s list is built around building and maintaining muscle; if your main goal is something like running, a different first purchase (a treadmill, for example) may make more sense.
- Used equipment is a legitimate way to outfit a home gym on a budget. Allan points out that most people who buy home gym equipment stop using it quickly, which means secondhand gear from individuals or resale shops is often nearly new and considerably cheaper.
- Resistance bands are the first purchase. A quality set costs under $30, packs into a suitcase, and can cover most full-body exercises by anchoring to a door frame or post.
- A jump rope and yoga mat round out the sub-$100 starter kit. The jump rope builds cardiovascular endurance and works for HIIT, while the mat makes floor work comfortable enough that people actually do it, which Allan ties directly to maintaining the mobility to get up and down off the ground.
- Buy fixed-weight dumbbells, not adjustable ones. Allan says he’s never found a set of adjustable dumbbells that worked well in practice; buying a small set matched to your current strength, then adding weight over time, works better even though new dumbbells run about a dollar per pound.
- A foam roller, lacrosse ball, and adjustable bench complete a fully serviceable home gym. The roller and ball address tight fascia and mobility, and the bench multiplies what’s possible with dumbbells alone, together putting you past what most hotel gyms offer.
- Barbell, plates, and a power rack are the step up to serious lifting. The barbell allows heavier compound lifts like deadlifts than dumbbells safely allow, and a power rack lets you load and lift near max weight on squats and bench press without a spotter.
- Adjustable kettlebells and TRX straps add variety and stability work. Unlike dumbbells, Allan found adjustable kettlebells work well in practice, and TRX straps anchored to a rack add balance and stabilizer-muscle training through pushing and pulling movements at different angles.
- A tablet belongs in the gym as a training tool. Allan uses his to pull up workouts, watch or film form videos, and log sets and reps, calling it out as the one item on the list that isn’t fitness equipment itself but still earns its place.