Looking to build muscle at home? For some people, hitting the gym is simply not an option. Here’s the tools for a home gym you will need.
Whether it’s due to an ultra hectic lifestyle, young kids at home that you need to be with before and after work, or you simply don’t have a gym around you that you want to attend, you might be considering setting up a home gym instead.
The great news is that with the right pieces of equipment, it’s more than possible to build muscle mass right in the comfort of your own home. If you cannot afford equipment you can at least, do an in home workout.
Your overall budget range will of course, determine just how much you can purchase and how much total variety you have in the plan, but that said, even with minimal equipment you can still see success.
Let’s Go Over The Must Have Tools For A Home Gym…
A Skipping Rope
Let’s start with the cheapest first – a skipping rope. As cardio should be included in all gym workout routines– even those designed to help you build muscle mass fast, nothing gets better than this.
You can easily find a rope for around $10-15 and it will provide just as good of a cardio workout as running would. Skip on cardio days or simply add 30-60 seconds of skipping in between weight lifting sets if you want to keep the intensity up and focus on fast weight loss to show off your hard-earned muscle.
A Resistance Band
Next, you’ll also want to consider picking up a resistance band. This is a great option for those looking for a no equipment workout and who have only a very small space to workout in.
Since you can easily tuck these away in a drawer when not in use, they will provide that external resistance you need to really see good strength gains.
Since there isn’t that heavy weight load that you’re lifting, they also tend to be far easier on the joints as well, so anyone who suffers from joint pain may want to consider going this route.
Remember that you can purchase resistance bands of different strength levels, so make sure that you aim to find one that will fully challenge your muscle tissues.
A Set Of Changeable Dumbbells
Moving along, the next piece of home workout equipment that you should definitely get into place if you have the space is a set of changeable dumbbells. Now, you could go out and purchase a weighted dumbbells – 25’s, 30’s, 35’s, 40’s, and so on, this would get pricey and would require a lot of space to store them.
A better option for those on the budget is to get changeable dumbbells. This way, you can simply put on or take off plate weight as you do your workouts in order to best meet your requirements.
It takes far less storage and will also allow you to progress much easier as well. With traditional individual weighted dumbbells, you’ll typically have to up a minimum of 10 pounds when doing your movements (since each dumbbell will increase in 5-pound increments), which can take a very long time to accomplish.
Being able to add 2, 2.5-pound plate weights helps you increase in a smaller increment, making sooner progress possible.
An Exercise Ball
Moving along, also, consider getting yourself an exercise ball. This will be excellent for not only doing core exercises on, but also for doing some of your strength based dumbbell work as well.
For instance, you can lay on top of the ball while performing deltoids exercises, chest fly’s, and bicep curls, which will make not only those muscles work harder as you aim to stabilize yourself, but also in addition to that, work your core at the same time.
A bosu ball is also another great option – and would be an upgrade from an exercise ball, but provides similar benefits only now you can also stand on it to perform lower body movements as well.
A Barbell With Plate Weight
If you still have more room in your budget after that, the next piece of equipment to think about purchasing to help you build muscle mass is a barbell with plate weight.
Barbells will typically allow you to lift more weight total and work excellent when doing exercises such as the deadlift, barbell bicep curls, barbell bent over rows or inverted rows.
Picking up one of these will definitely help you take your progress up a notch if strength is your primary goal.
A Bench Press
With that barbell, it’s also very good if you can purchase a bench press. Since you won’t be able to hit chest effectively with just a barbell alone, the bench press will remedy this issue.
You can also sit in your bench press and perform shoulder presses as well, provided you do have an incline bench. Here are ten tips to increase your bench.
Since the chest muscle is one of the biggest muscles in the upper body and one where you likely do want to gain significant mass, it’s vital that you can you focus on the best chest exercises for mass.
While you can always do dumbbell bench press, dumbbell incline press, and dumbbell chest fly’s, it isn’t quite the same as doing the fully loaded barbell bench press.
If you like, you can also look into a bench workout that comes with a leg attachment, allowing you to perform leg extensions and hamstring curls as well. Be sure that you do try this attachment out in-store before you bring it home to make sure it is comfortable to use. As you typically can’t adjust these like you could a gym leg extension machine, you want to make sure that it’s suitable for your body size.
A Squat Rack
Taking that concept one step further, now you have the squat rack. This is the last major piece of fitness equipment that you should purchase for your home gym if you have the budget and space to do so.
The squat rack is going to be excellent for assisting with lower body development. Without it, you likely won’t fully challenge your quads as much as you could as you’ll never lift enough weight up to your shoulders with the barbell to do full on squats. Here are some leg workouts you can perform with your new squat rack.
If you get a cage squat rack, you’ll also have the option of doing shoulder presses, bench presses, and pull-ups as well so it’s a wise move to opt for this variety when shopping.
While it may cost slightly more, you will have the opportunity to do so many additional exercises by having it in place.
So there you have the main pieces of equipment to consider if you want to build your very own home gym to help you build muscle mass. While you definitely don’t need all of this, if you can pick it up, you can virtually build a workout program that is just as complete at home as what you would get if you were in the gym.
Conclusion
If hitting the gym is one of the biggest obstacles you face in sticking with a workout program – and your fitness means a significant amount to you – Tools For A Home Gym is the ideal way to go.
-Terry Asher
Terry
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I planning to create and maintain my own home gym. The list proved to be useful.