It’s safe to say that many of us have now wiped the dust off of those old dumbbells in the garage or resurrected that Bowflex machine in the basement. Others of us have no equipment at all and are reliant on body weight specific exercises only. While you can make do with whatever you have available, it does seem like there has never been a better time to consider purchasing some at-home equipment.
We decided to throw together some of our favorite at-home- appropriate equipment, that takes up little to no space in your house. If you’ve ever looked at buying weights or cardio equipment, you know that exercise equipment is usually pretty expensive, heavy, and hard to move. Therefore, here are three of the best “big-bang-for-your-buck” items. Our list will provide you with plenty of variety and ability to train the whole body.
Obviously the more tools you have for your exercise toolbox the better, however, purchasing any combination of the three below can be better than nothing. All three can be used to make one great, effective, efficient “at home” workout/gym. Most, if not all, of these items will come with exercise tutorials. There is no shortage of exercise content on our social media pages and even more broadly, Youtube, with ideas and examples on how to use them.
TRX Straps (~$185): These straps were created by a US military soldier looking to get a workout in while stationed in the middle east with no access to a gym. The straps can easily be hung to the side of a military Humvee, a tree, or any beam in your house. The amount of movements you can do with these straps is pretty endless making it our first recommendation on the list. Most fully equipped gyms have them and many offer full classes just using these straps. See here —> https://store.trxtraining.com/products/trx-home-gym/
Resistance Bands (~ $35): Resistance bands are great because they are inexpensive, easy to store and take up virtually zero space. They’re also super great to travel with when needed. They obviously provide a variable amount of resistance but allow for you to perform plenty of movements that you can’t do with 8 or 10lb dumbells like most people have lying around. Our favorite brand for these are EliteFTS. Most people can get away with one of each of the orange, red and green bands. They are made well and last a long time. see —> https://www.elitefts.com/shop/bars-weights/bands.html
Weighted Vest (~$60): A weight vest is always a great tool to have a home. It makes even the most basic body weight exercises much more difficult. We incorporate weighted vests into our routines regularly. With the weather getting better, throwing on the weighted vest for a walk is a great way to increase the intensity, metabolic demand and calorie burn. The vest we recommend is the same one we have at our facility. It’s one of the more economical, more comfortable, ones available. It comes with a few choices for weight but we recommend the 40lb one. The weights bars can be removed to lower if need be and always you to work up to heavier weight. See —> https://www.amazon.com/RUNmax-RUNFast-RM_20-Weighted-Vest/dp/B015EUKKJ6/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=weighted%2Bvest&qid=1584562399&sr=8-6&swrs=5811B11C6754D10B58C798E09A060426&th=1&psc=1
While we have high hopes that we will be back into our normal gym routines sooner rather than later, in the meantime keep moving as much as you can and reach out to us as a resource for whatever remote couching you feel like you might need. Stay safe!