Building a home gym was the best thing I ever did. Was it easy? No. Was it expensive? Not as bad as you think, especially when you consider the money you save on gym fees and the time you save waiting for equipment at a gym. No crowds, no lines, no weird dudes standing way too close to you. A home gym is your personalized piece of heaven and should reflect your workout goals. I like gear that is tough and that can be used for multiple purposes. I also like gear that can fit in my designated workout area. The key takeaway from this list is multi-use gear that can be easily stored at home, or stored outside the home without risking ruining it.
Jump Rope
A classic cardio and coordination tool the jump rope is compact and affordable. Obviously, you don’t want a kids toy, but a quality jump rope with some weight to it. Outside of cardio and coordination, a jump rope is an invaluable tool for a dynamic warm up. You can easily control the speed of your workout and slowly accelerate as you feel fit. Jump ropes are a staple of any home gym and for good reason.
Onnit Mace
A sledgehammer is great for working out, but it’s about half as versatile as a Mace. The Onnit Maces are available in weights from 7 to 25 pounds and are dynamic and versatile. Like a sledgehammer you can use it to do slam exercises. The round head is also safer and less like to glance and slip. However, it doesn’t end there. The Mace has it’s weight evenly spread across the top of the system. This results in the weight being more balanced for a multitude of exercises. With the Onnit mace, you can work your back, shoulders, arms, legs, abs, and more. The Onnit mace can be used to work a wide variety of body parts and incorporates a wide range of motion.
Ply Box
Who ever knew just jumping would be such a killer workout? Hitting a Ply box hard will have your heart racing, your blood pumping, and leave your legs sore and your mind was blown. A ply box is another cheap and easy to find piece of gear. Heck, they are even easy to build. Stackable ply boxes are the best when bought in a set for easier storage and the ability to increase the height as you starting jumping like Jordan.
TRX System
TRX training systems are suspension systems that use a series of straps and your body weight to workout with. The TRX system is super compact and very to store and put out of the way when not in use. You can rig up to nothing more than a door frame and call it a day. I love the TRX system since my first deployment to Afghanistan. We had no traditional gym equipment but one of our guys had a TRX system and it was perfect. We could attach it to an MRAP, a humvee, a brick wall, or whatever else we had. It was perfect for our limited space and our intensive workouts.
A Big Tire
A good tractor or big truck tire can be a great workout tool. This was another we learned in Afghanistan could be a body destroyer. (But in a good way.) This one requires you to be able to store some equipment outside. A big tire, however, is great for shoulders, back, and legs for flipping. You can slam your Onnit mace into it, and get a great cardio and arm workout. You can climb inside and work your abs hardcore by breaking the 90 degrees plain and getting low. You can even use it as a ply box if it’s tall enough. Big tires are actually pretty cheap too, a good one is only about 60 bucks.
Resistance Bands
I, unfortunately, took a nasty spill during my second deployment and got a wicked slap tear in my left rotator cuff. What nursed me back to health was physical therapy with resistance bands. After I got back in the game I was sort of in love with resistance bands. I bought a few different sets and different weights and quickly discovered I had a very compact, barracks room friendly full gym. With just a little creativity I figured out I could really amp up the difficulty of bodyweight workouts. Be it squats, crunches, leg lifts, bicep curls, or even shadow boxing.
Kettlebell
You can get an entire full body workout with a single kettlebell. The kettlebell itself is an old school piece of gear that was revived in the last decade. These days you can’t go to a gym without accidentally tripping on an ill-placed kettlebell. Kettlebells are small little balls of pain that really encourage full body dynamic movements. Kettlebells also stress both cardio and strength at the same time. For the punch, they pack they are surprisingly small, easy to store, and superbly common. If the choice is between one dumbbell or one kettlebell I’d chose the kettlebell every time.
A Pair of Balls
A poor joke sure, but a medicine ball and a slam ball are an important feature of a home gym. They are often confused for each other but are quite different. A medicine ball is designed to be used for movements. The movements can dynamic and replicate realistic movements you’d make in your everyday life. A medicine ball is great for replacing free weights for some exercises. Their shape and nature make them more effective and safer to use in some movements. This includes twisting and rising movements, overhead lifts, and can amplify squats and deadlifts.
Slam balls are used for slamming! Their exterior shell is often harder than a medicine ball and they are designed to be slammed, thrown and beaten up. A slam ball mixes both cardio and strength training with full body movement. Just tossing a slam ball back and forth with a partner, or throwing it in the air and catching it, is an exhaustive workout.
One thing to remember is a slam ball and medicine ball are not always interchangeable. Medicine balls generally need to be heavier to really take advantage of them. The fact slam balls are being thrown means they need to be light enough to throw. If the ball is light enough to throw, it probably won’t act as a challenging medicine ball.
Sandbags
Another one of my favorite deployment workout pieces of equipment. We made our own out of necessity and because as infantrymen we had a surplus of sandbags. They worked but broke often. These days I own a professionally made sandbag from Rogue. A sandbag is another cardio/strength piece of equipment. Because the sand shifts and moves it is a constant challenge that causes you to really use stabilizing muscles. Sandbags can be used for some truly crazy workouts that can replace traditional Olympic bars and weights for some exercises. Implement sandbag drags during a pushup for a real killer workout.
Battle Rope
Sometimes you need to drop the barbell and just really loosen up a bit. Battle Ropes are kind of an ingenious idea. Take some heavy ropes and get outside. Waving, whipping, and slamming these ropes will target your entire upper body. What’s great is you can get a great workout with minimal impact to your body. Bad knees and ankles are spared as you work the ropes. When I discovered battle ropes I was dying after day one so bad I didn’t want to put the ropes away. Because they are fluid they be rolled up, and put away. My gym used the rolling tools to hold water hoses to easily store these ropes.
Being Flexible
Being flexible is pretty important to being in good health and shape, but your workout gear should be flexible too. Whenever you are considering a piece of gear to outfit your home ask yourself how it can be used, and can it be used for multiple purposes? When you are building a home gym you are likely working with limited room. The more tasks one piece of gear can accomplish the more efficient it will be in your home gym. Overall building a home gym is a bit of an adventure, and it’s one worth taking.
