Fitness at Home: The (surprisingly) Small Amount of Equipment Needed to Equip a Home Gym

While gyms and fitness centers will never be replaced, limited club hours do not always sync well with peoples' busy schedules. Sometimes it is simply not convenient or even possible to get to the gym; with a limited amount of equipment, however, you can supplement or even replace your gym-workouts with those performed at home. While a home-gym can be as complex and large as you care to make it, a surprisingly small amount of equipment is needed to have a fully functional in-home fitness center. The following list of things will be needed:

1. Resistance: The most fundamental aspect of a home-gym, you will need resistance to contract your muscles against in order to train them.

• adjustable weight set consisting of to dumbbell handles, a barbell, and weights. There are many commercially available adjustable dumbbell sets in a range of weights. Fixed dumbbells are also available but often more are needed in addition to more space to store them. Choose weights appropriate for your strength level.
  
• elastic bands: elastic bands are an excellent way to train a body part from a different angle than free weight resistance would allow. Elastic bands come with a variety of resistance; choose the bands most appropriate for your strength level

2. Swiss-Ball: the swiss ball is the most versatile tool in the gym, whether you work out at home or in a large commercial gym. A fantastic substitute for a cumbersome exercise bench, almost any exercise that could be performed on a conventional bench can be performed on a swiss ball. Swiss balls additionally have the advantage that the exercise is performed in a less-stable environment. We are only as strong as we are stable, so swiss balls can be great for increasing strength and overall muscle activation during an exercise. Swiss balls are also an indispensable tool for training the abdominals; if used properly for his purpose they are far better than the $2000.00 machines you will find in a commercial health club or gym.

3. Exercise Step: this simple piece of equipments is extremely compact and great for doing cardiovascular exercise or lower body exercises such as step-ups or lunges.

While many home gyms are far more sophisticated which is great for people who have the space and financial means to have a commercial-type gym at home, you can get an equally good workout with the limited amount of equipment above. You are only limited by your imagination in terms of what can be done; I've had many personal fitness training clients get in the best shape of their life with a few dumbbells, an exercise-step, and a swiss ball.