Essential Gym Equipment Checklist

Have you been thinking about starting a home gym in that formal dining room you never use? Are you tired of schlepping to the gym at zero dark thirty? Sick of trying to burn calories in the presence of other people? 

There are so many reasons having a home gym is a great thing for your physical and emotional health.  

You can spend more time with your family. Letting your kids see you exercise and make healthier lifestyle choices might help motivate them to be healthier and more active. You can wear whatever you want, and you can sweat, grunt, and shout as much as you want without strangers looking at you askance. And, perhaps the most important – you can customise your gym to have exactly the equipment you need to achieve your ultimate fitness goals. 

And that’s where we come in: Here are the tools, machines, and equipment you should have for the essential home gym. 

There has never been a better moment to think about adding a smart treadmill to your smart home gym setup. Bluetooth-enabled machines with huge LCD display panels, smartphone connections, and built-in training programs are common. 

A smart treadmill is your best option if you want a quality treadmill that will not only offer you strong cardio exercise but will also provide you with the closest thing to working with a personal trainer. A smart treadmill may be well worth the expenditure if you want to enhance your home fitness equipment or get rid of your old treadmill.

The Echelon Stride Auto-Fold Smart Treadmill is an amazing option for a smart treadmill in your home gym setup. It is designed with practicality in mind, featuring auto-fold technology that makes the treadmill only 10" deep for easy movement and storage when not in use. Your cardiovascular exercises have never been more accessible, with an impact-absorbing running deck for performance, a 12-level and 10% inclination range, and a metal safety bar to prevent things from being pulled beneath. Install the Echelon Fit app and use our world-class instructors to sprint your way to the top of the Leaderboard.

The NordicTrack Commercial X32i is a beginner-friendly option. This NordicTrack model comes with a 30-day iFit subscription, which gives users access to not just running sessions, but also yoga, strength training, and other cross-training activities. Most beginners will benefit from trainer courses, and while they will not be running every day, having strength choices will help them stay consistent.

Like treadmills, stationary bikes have been technologically augmented to make your workout more engaging and effective. There are smart bikes in a variety of price points for those who may not want to splurge for a Peloton.

If you have an outdoor bike, you can purchase a stand that transforms your bike into a stationary bike. There are even smart versions of this tool. The Tacx Flow Smart Trainer is an affordable entry into the smart bike market. With two clicks, your road bike is now safely attached to the smart trainer and you’re ready to work out in the comfort of your home gym. 

Tacx's unique indoor training software powers Flow Smart. Begin by utilizing properly planned training routines tailored to your fitness level to assist you in meeting your specific goals. Enjoy your time in the saddle even more with a collection of high-quality training videos that transport you to the Alps' steep hills or Milan's cobblestone streets. Race against real-world opponents and virtual training partners, connect your Strava account to ride on 3-D maps and even design your own sessions depending on slope, power, heart rate, or FTP. You may also use your bike trainer without using any software.

The Echelon EX5s Connect Bike is a great option for those who want the whole smart bike experience without all the costs. It features a sleek design, competitive aspects, and a new 22" spinning HD screen. Echelon's most versatile bike to date is the EX-5S Connect. Achieve your fitness goals in your own time, space, and style. Compete against other riders to reach the top of the virtual scoreboard on Echelon's top-of-the-line premium bike model, which is designed for maximum convenience and game-changing workouts.

For the most engaging and difficult workouts, the Echelon EX-5S connect bike includes a new, spinning 22" HD screen. The screen's crystal-clear image, computing capability, and Wi-Fi-enhancing capabilities allow you to easily immerse yourself in any lesson. Get access to thousands of live and on-demand sessions with world-class teachers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and ride your way to peak fitness.

If you have more money to spend, the Peloton Indoor Bike is one of the most popular options. It's a home gym staple with built-in entertainment, programming, and a strong online community to hold you responsible, making it ideal for anybody searching for an incentive to keep riding after the initial purchase euphoria wears off.

On each stroke, rowing machines, commonly known as ergometers or ergs, engage both your upper and lower body. As a result, your muscles can be strengthened and toned, and your endurance can improve.

The rowing stroke is composed of 65-75% leg labour and 25-35% upper body exertion. It will boost cardiovascular endurance and build main muscle groups in your arms, legs, and core. In summary, if you use the rowing machine on a regular basis, you will find that you will grow stronger and less out of breath. You will also develop lean muscle mass.

The Echelon Row is a wonderful option for people who are wishing to begin or expand their home gym. Get a total-body workout with the rower that challenges you in all the right ways. The Echelon Row has everything you need for an effective row workout, including a foldable design, sophisticated engineering, and a rotating console to hold your tablet or smartphone. The foldable design and built-in wheels make it easy to store and place in any room of your house. The Echelon smart rower comes with handlebar resistance controls that allow you to switch between 32 resistance levels, a rotating console for off-rower workouts, and a 1.7-degree rail angle for optimum body positioning allowing you to work your hardest.

When setting up your home or garage gym, you must have barbells. You can get a tremendous workout on every muscle part in your body with just a barbell and some weight plates, increasing strength, size, and power.

There are quite a few types of barbells. The types include:

• Standard Barbell: The standard barbell seen in practically every commercial gym on the planet measures seven feet, two inches long, and weighs approx 20kg. They're usually typically constructed of coated steel and have knurling, a rough surface meant to help you keep a firm hold.
• Squat Bar: There is also the squat bar, which allows you squat heavily and safely by spreading the weight around your upper body, thereby relieving some of the pressure on your shoulders and joints.
• Gorilla Bar: The SuperStrong Gorilla Bar is composed of extremely durable spring steel and is ideal for deadlifts, squats, bench press, and whatever else you can think of.
• Curl Barbell: The curl bar is smaller and has a cambered "W" form. Straight rods at each end of the cambered bar are where weight plates are put to improve resistance. The difference between the two bars is ultimately down to how the hands are positioned on the bars. Because a typical barbell is straight, you have the option of using an overhand or underhand grip. When utilising a regular barbell, your wrists are straight; however, when using a curl bar, your wrists are slightly rotated, resulting in somewhat inclined wrists.
• Cross Competition Bar: This outstanding barbell is intended for competition usage; it is incredibly sturdy and specifically engineered to withstand repeated falling with a weight. The length of the 20kg barbell is 220 cm. The grip is 131 cm in length, allowing for unfettered mobility of the hand across the neck. The maximum load is an incredible 680kg!
• Hex Barbell: The hex barbell features a skeleton steel frame with two parallel handles that make shrugs and deadlifts simpler. During training, the user may effortlessly change his grip position by turning the bar to the opposite side. Beginners can concentrate on their range of motion, allowing them to hone their performance safely.
• Tricep Bar: Because you can use two arms to move one weight with better control than each arm lifting its own weight, a tricep bar allows you to load the front rise heavier than a standard front raise with a dumbbell.

Bumper plates are weight plates constructed of high-density, long-lasting rubber. They fit on regular 5cm barbells and generally have a steel inner core, although some versions use brass. They are built to take a battering, making them suitable for both beginners and pros.

Weight plates are the foundation of any good training program and must be durable, dependable, highly safe, and simple to use. Investing in well-designed, high-comfort plates constructed of high-quality materials lets you concentrate on your training goals and ambitions. Our weight plates handle the 'technical' parts, leaving you to handle the rest. The SuperStrong Tri-Grip Olympic Rubber Weight Plates weight lifting sets are an economical option to add to your home gym, starting at just £19.99.

A free weight is any sort of weight training equipment that does not restrict your range of motion. These weights are beneficial for increasing strength, speed, flexibility, balance, and muscular development.

Free weights are both flexible and affordable. They also enhance whole-body stability by simulating real-life lifting circumstances. When used correctly, free weights are typically safe to use. However, it may take some time to become acclimated to lifting free weights, and appropriate technique is crucial.

There are several types of free weights you ought to consider for your home gym setup.

Dumbbells are small bars with equal weights on both sides that fit in your hand. They might weigh as little as 2.5kg and as much as 40kg. One common style of dumbbell is Hex Dumbbells, which have hexagonal-shaped weights to keep the weight from rolling when you set it down. You can purchase a set of Hex Dumbbells with a handy rack to keep them organised and tucked away.

Another popular type of free weight is kettlebells. A kettlebell is a cast-iron or cast-steel ball with a handle connected to the top used in weight training. It may be used for a variety of workouts, including ballistic exercises that integrate aerobic, strength, and flexibility training. One of your home gym essentials

There are several different types of kettlebells, including cast iron or cast steel, competition-style kettlebells, and Ziva-style urethane competition kettlebells.

A squat rack is a piece of gym equipment that helps weight lifters conduct squat lifting workouts. The squat rack is a metal platform that holds a barbell and weights at various levels. The weight lifter is able to perform the squat lift by placing his shoulders beneath the barbell, standing up, then squatting down before ultimately rising and returning the weight to the squat rack. The squat rack is used to build and develop the muscles of the thigh, hamstring, and lower back.

Squats may be performed on a variety of weight-lifting apparatus. Many elite athletes and bodybuilders like to do this using a squat rack and free weights.

Squat racks are a versatile piece of equipment to add to your home gym. They can come wall-mounted, modular, or foldable. It’s best to purchase a multi-purpose squat rack because they can do multiple things such as support barbells or feature add-ons such as rigs, pulleys, dip stations, and spotter arms.

When you’re building the perfect home gym, it’s important to remember to protect yourself,  your equipment, and your home as best you can from damage. One of the ways you can do this is by installing padded gym flooring or mats on your floors to prevent damage from dropped weights or other impacts. A non-slip surface will also help prevent you from injury by helping to prevent falls.

Rubber flooring resists traction, lacerations, and large loads, making it excellent for fitness facilities since it can handle foot traffic as well as the weight of heavy equipment. It is strong and solid enough to ensure peak performance while remaining soft enough to minimize accidents and injuries.

Rubber is the preferred material for gym floors, and it comes in convenient formats including tiles, rolls, loose-laid or butted together.

If you are building an outdoor gym there are different flooring options. What you need for the gym floor in outdoor gym is tiles with drainage channels or feet so any water runoff can dissipate easily.

More than any other piece of equipment we’ve mentioned so far, the weight bench is the focal point of any home or commercial gym. You can use a weight bench for way more than just bench presses, though those are also important exercises.

You can use a basic weight bench for at least 10 different techniques, strengthening different parts of your body, according to Men’s Health. These include sit-ups, burpees, planks, and a variety of weightlifting exercises.

Plyometric training is a type of explosive exercise that is used to develop speed and power. They entail applying a lot of effort to your muscles in a short period of time and can range from jumping squats to jumping push-ups.

They are more about conditioning than muscular growth. However, completing this type of workout can assist supplement your heavier lifts and is extremely beneficial to your overall fitness levels. Plyometric workouts also serve to condition your nervous system, boost endurance, and raise your heart rate significantly.

One of the essential tools for plyometric training is a Plyo box. Your basic Plyo box is wooden and can be used for a huge number of these types of exercises. You can also use your Plyo box to modify your training bench. There are also Plyo boxes with soft covers for those who prefer a softer surface.

For someone who is turning a part of their home into a gym, storage will be key to allowing the room to be safe, tidy, and possibly used for other purposes. You don’t want barbells or bumper plates underfoot; if you think stepping on a Lego is torture, try stubbing your toe on a hex dumbbell in the middle of the night!

You might consider a barbell shelf to keep your barbells organised and tucked away, or a Wall and floor-mounted bumper storage to keep your weight plates or bumper plates in neat. If you have several different sizes of free weights, a dumbbell rack might be a wise investment.

Now that we’ve covered the big items, like weights, cardio machines, and storage, let’s take a look at some valuable exercise accessories.

Resistance bands are used to strengthen and/or stretch your muscles for aesthetic purposes, sporting performance, or physical rehabilitation.

Handled Resistance Bands - These tube bands are generally used for working out and increasing muscular strength and growth. The handles give a secure grasp and enable a range of workouts similar to those performed in the gym with free weights or machines. Stackable resistance bands employ carabiners to allow the user to combine bands to enhance or decrease resistance as desired.

Therapy Flat Resistance Bands - These are common in treatment settings such as physical therapists or sports therapists' offices. They are wide and flat, making it simple to wrap them around your hand and change the length.

A medicine ball is a heavy ball that may be used for a variety of exercise activities. Medicine balls, including stability balls and exercise balls, are a wonderful method to train every area of your body. They can be used for strength training, balancing exercises, or rehab activities.

Medicine balls have progressed significantly and are now available in a range of weights and textures. Some have handles, while others have not, and some bounce while others do not. By bringing you through all planes of motion, using a medicine ball adds a whole new dimension to your workout (unlike traditional weight training). This form of training is applicable to how we move in the actual world.

There's a reason why the modest skipping rope - or 'jump rope' - is favoured by boxers, professional runners, and 'functional fitness' devotees. It's a value-for-money piece of equipment that can test practically any fitness level, from home exercise newcomers to cardio-skipping squat rack regulars to indivduals trying to stay fit on the go.

As you are aware, half-decent equipment is essential for any successful workout, and skipping is no exception. The greatest skipping ropes are made of sturdy materials, have ergonomic grips, and can be modified with extra weight to strengthen your arms. Some even keep track of your training by recording each rope whip and calorie expended.

While it may be an investment, creating a home gym tailored to your fitness goals will be a worthwhile one, as you’ll have your fitness equipment at your fingertips whenever you feel the urge to work out.

You may also be interested in:-

Best Dumbbell Exercises for Health & Fitness 

Barbell Storage 101

Must-Have Kit for Home Gyms

The Best Gym Equipment for Outdoor Fitness