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How to Buy the Right Home Gym Without Wasting Money

We all know that we need to go to the gym, but oftentimes we don’t want to spend the money or spend the extra time going. A good solution is to create a home gym. You can take the money that you would use on a gym membership, and put it towards equipment that you can work out with at home. This saves you money and time. You will save time by not having to drive to the gym, find parking, and all those other things that you have to do. You can work out from home anytime you like. We would suggest that you set up a workout schedule and treat it as if you were going to drive to the gym for real. As working out is very important to your health and you should treat it seriously. It’s not very difficult to create a good home gym though, you just have to do a bit of planning. Here are some of the things that we suggest.

What is your focus? 

Before you start creating your home gym, you need to know what your focus is. A lot of equipment can be used for many different things, but if you have any special needs, then that must be taken into account. Are you going to be focusing mostly on cardiovascular, increasing muscle mass, or preparing for some sports-related activity? Once you know this, it can guide you in how you spend the money.

Budget 

Decide how much you’re going to spend. Look at how much you would spend on the gym, and start with that number. In all reality, you can probably make a home gym with things you already have in the house. But buying the right equipment does make it easier to work out. The easier it is to work out the more likely you are to use it and do it.

Avoid fads 

Don’t fall into the trap of watching late night TV for miracle exercise equipment. They only exist to take your money. There is no shortcut. Many of the late night exercise fad equipment they sell is not really doing anything. A lot of it is to make you think you’re exercising without putting too much effort out. They know you’re not going to keep using it so it really doesn’t matter. So keep it simple.

Weights

This is the important part. We suggest you get a simple workout bench. You do not need one, but it will make working out easier, and give you something to revolve your workout around. A good dumbbell set is a core to your workout. You need to get ones that you can change the weights on from a lighter weight to a heavier one. 5lbs to 30lbs is a good range. You can buy heavier weights later to add to it as you progress. A barbell set is a good addition as well. Most all exercises can be done with these 3 items. Adding a stability ball (looks like a large beach ball) is also a good idea, as there are many exercises that you can do with it, and the cost is minimal. A good place to shop for weights is online at places like craigslist, or at garage sales. The going rate for weight plates is about $1 a pound, so with a bit of shopping, you can get it for less than that, or in the case of a garage sale, almost nothing.

Cardio 

Although you get a good cardio workout with weights, you still need to do some long-term cardiovascular exercise. This is easy though as it requires almost no equipment. You can go for a run or a jog, or you can get a piece of rope and do skip rope. Whatever you do just maintain a good heart rate for about 30 minutes. You can often pick up an exercise cycle at a garage sale for almost nothing. In fact, if you really want to try one of those late night miracle exercise machines, the odds are you can pick one up at a garage sale for less than a dollar. That’s how much value they have.

Starting a home gym does not have to cost a lot of money. For a few hundred dollars you can have equipment that can rival any gym. You don’t need special machines; in fact, most serious bodybuilders don’t even use them and just use free weights. You can find many good workout routines online. If you’re new and just starting to work out, just remember to only work out for two or three days a week, and make sure you have a good rest day in between each workout. Working out more than 3 days a week will actually be counterproductive. In other words, sometimes the more you do, the less results you get.

We hope this has inspired you to start at working out at home, and we look forward to seeing the results.

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