Having a home gym is a great idea for several reasons. First, it helps you save money on gym membership fees. Sure, you have to make an initial investment, yet, after a while, you’ll start saving an insane amount of money (you can return it all in little over 2 years). Second, it’s accessible at any time of day and night and, due to the fact that it’s just a couple of room away, you have no excuse not to train. Finally, you don’t have to feel pressured by others watching or feel inadequate by people who have been training and committing to this for years and years.
The basics
The first thing you have to understand is the fact that machines are A) expensive and B) often not efficient for small home gyms. The way in which these machines are built is to isolate a single muscle group and help it grow somewhat quicker. However, working with free weights includes more muscles into the group, thus providing you with a full body workout.
As for the gear necessary, the very basic is a gym mat (for sit-ups and similar exercises), a bar for pull-ups and chin-ups, a barbell and some weights. Additional items like weight racks, adjustable benches and similar can be found with online retailers like Cyberfit. This is also frugal, seeing as how you can purchase more weights as you progress and grow stronger. This, alongside with calisthenics, can help you work the majority of your muscle groups.
Cardio
The next issue you need to address is the one of whether you’ll do cardio at home. Even if you do decide to do so, you need to understand that you don’t have to buy a treadmill (which is an expensive machine), when you have so many cheap and free alternatives. For instance, you can get just as good cardio with a $2 jump rope, as you would with an expensive treadmill. Other than this, HIIT and cardio exercises such as jumping jacks, burpees and squat jumps are just as great of an idea.
Other than this, it’s also a good idea to get a boxing bag and install it somewhere inside your home gym. This will provide you with an opportunity for some great cardio and conditioning training, as well as give you an opportunity to relieve some stress. With a boxing timer app, on your phone, you can set training intervals to 3 minutes of workout and 1 minute of a break, thus emulating a real boxing training.
Additional gear
The last thing you need to understand is the fact that there’s more to a gym than just the workout equipment. For instance, people trying to get toned and lose some weight might want to invest in a scale, so that they can track their progress. Aside from this, you need at least one mirror, both for motivation and in order to see if you’re doing all the exercises properly. A bad posture during a lifting exercise can be particularly dangerous. Speaking of motivation, a Wi-Fi speaker or an audio system can help keep you on the edge during an exercise. This, alongside the right training soundtrack, can make a huge difference.
In conclusion
The last thing you need to understand is the fact that it all comes down to your will. If you’re determined enough, you could get fit on your own, even without a home gym. Nonetheless, the effort invested in this area of your home might serve as one more motivator, as well as help make these training sessions somewhat more convenient.
What do you think?
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