Starting your home gym setup is extremely exciting. You can create an environment tailored to your needs to achieve your fitness goals. As a beginner, you don't need to invest in everything at once. You can build your collection gradually, specifically investing in more versatile pieces. 

Well, you are in great hands, because Exersci offers high-quality, beginner-friendly equipment designed by experienced manufacturers and guided by qualified Sport Scientists. This blog will guide you through 'What essentials should a beginner home gym have?', discussing the basic strength and endurance equipment and your functional training options.

Strength Training Essentials for Beginner Home Gyms

Strength training offers multiple benefits to athletic performance (Source) and injury prevention (Source), as well as improving quality of life (Source) and reducing the risk of all-cause mortality (Source). This makes strength training the foundation of most training programmes. 

Key equipment to start with

Dumbbells are our most recommended strength training equipment that you should invest in. This is because of the versatility that comes with dumbbells. You can integrate them into all kinds of training modalities. Importantly, you can use dumbbells to progressively overload and maximise your training gains. We also offer multiple styles of dumbbells, such as the Hex dumbbells, steel dumbbells and Olympic dumbbell bars. However, our most recommended dumbbells are the adjustable dumbbell sets. We recommend these as you can progressively overload, without having to purchase additional dumbbells, making them perfect for a beginner home gym. 

Check out our previous blog, where we provide more detail on why dumbbells are essential, how to structure a dumbbell workout and provide example exercises - "How Do I Get The Best Out of My Dumbbell Set?"

An adjustable bench is a great way to open the avenue to more variations of exercises. You can pair the bench with the dumbbells to perform bench press, incline press and shoulder press. Additionally, you can perform body weight (or weighted with dumbbells) to complete split squats, preacher curls, tricep dips and much more.

Resistance bands are portable and can be used alone or with other equipment. Due to there being multiple thickness levels, you are also able to accommodate for different exercises that you may be stronger at and can be used to progressively overload. They are also extremely useful for rehabilitation. - "Can I Build Muscle With Resistance Bands?"

Functional Training Must-Haves in Your Home Gym 

Functional training involves engaging multiple muscle groups at once. The idea is to make everyday movements easier by improving strength, balance, mobility and coordination. The great thing about functional training is that it doesn't rely on large machines. In fact, the equipment used within functional training is often versatile, thus able to be used for multiple movements to maximise the engagement of core, upper and lower body musculature. A functional training set-up in your home gym keeps your workouts fun by allowing you to incorporate variety. Additionally, due to typically being completed at lower loads/weights, there is less injury risk with functional training.

Functional training equipment includes items such as: 

• Kettlebells - Great for explosive movements, can be used to hit cardio and strength.
• Medicine/Slam Balls - Increases power, especially when used during throws or slams. Also great for hitting the core.
• Power bags - Full-body strength or endurance focused - adding variety to your workout. 

Example Exercises: 

Conditioning & Cardio Home Gym Equipment

According to the Mayo Clinic, physical inactivity is one of the greatest threats to health in the 21st century. This review goes on to report that low levels of endurance training cause a significantly heightened risk for cardiovascular disease, and that completing aerobic/endurance training aids in preventing: obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, prostate enlargement, respiratory disease, cancer, and disability. Therefore, incorporating endurance equipment into your home gym is highly recommended. 

The Air Bike, Rowing machine and Ski Erg are our more traditional cardio machines. These are great for including large portions of the body, especially the air bike and rowing machine, engaging the full body. However, we understand that these may be on the more expensive side for those starting to kit out their home gym. 

Our more affordable options include equipment such as the skipping rope. Skipping not only offers great cardiovascular benefits but also improves coordination and balance whilst adding variety to your training routine. 

Furthermore, including a weighted vest is becoming increasingly popular. They are versatile and can be used for endurance and strength training, making them budget-efficient, whilst also increasing calorie burn and improving bone health due to the added mechanical stimuli.

Supportive Extras for Safety & Comfort

Lastly, make sure not to overlook the smaller but essential items for your home gym. 

Storage

Storage will help keep your space clutter-free and make your home gym more efficient. By including dumbbells storage, kettlebell racks or medicine ball towers, you are able to maximise your space and fit more equipment into your space without it seeming too full. This will allow you to have more space to perform functional training, stretching, etc. So definitely check out our storage options on our website.

Gym Flooring

Gym flooring is essential to keep your equipment intact and keep you safe. It is extremely common to have to drop weights; if you were to do this on concrete (or any hard surface), you could easily damage your equipment. If you want to get the best value for money and keep your equipment functioning, gym flooring, especially the heavy-duty rubber flooring, is essential. This will also help protect the flooring underneath the mats.

Conclusion

Starting your home gym doesn't have to be super expensive or require excessive amounts of equipment. You can build an efficient environment by focusing on versatile pieces that you are able to perform multiple movements and progressively overload. You should focus on a few versatile pieces where you are able to perform strength, functional and endurance training.  

If you are ready to dive into the world of home gymming, check out our entry-level equipment.