In this post I include products I think are useful for you. If you buy through links on this page, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost for you.
With so many exercises and workout equipment available, understanding which of them are the best options for your home gym can be a little overwhelming. To help prevent you from choosing the wrong equipment, this guide will help you to choose the right workout equipment based on 6 very easy steps:
- Your Workout Goals and Style
- Your fitness level
- Your budget
- You space at home
- Consumer ratings and reviews
- Maintenance and warranty
In this guide you will also be able to take part in workout equipment that is ranked based on different spaces at home and different workout styles (strength, cardio or a mix).
Let’s get started.
1. Your Workout Goals and Style
Workout goals
Think about what your workout goals are and what type of workouts (strength, cardio or a combination) you are planning to do and how often you are planning to do it. If you’re interested in a free workout planner click here.
Workout style
- Cardio workouts can be anything from running, biking, elliptical biking, rowing, burpees or HIIT.
- Strength workouts can be anything from dumbbells, barbells with weight plates, resistance bands, pushups or a full body workout machine.
By identifying your workout goals and the workouts you are planning to do, understanding what workout equipment you need will be much easier.
Example of workout goals + workout equipment
Workout goal: Do HIIT workouts from home 3 times/week.
Solution:
- Buy a workout mirror
- Join a fitness program that allows you to workout from home. When doing so, you might need to invest in workout equipment such as an exercise mat, resistance bands and/or dumbbells – it all depends on the workout program you choose to join.
Workout goal: Do strength workouts from home 4 times/week
Solution:
- Full body workout machine
- Barbell + plate weights
- Dumbbells
- Kettlebells
- Resistance bands
- Exercise mat
Factors like space, budget and fitness level will of course have an effect on what workout equipment you choose to go with. If you don’t know what your workout goal is or how to set workout goals, click here to get guidance on how to get started with your workout goals.
2. Your fitness level
Start small
It can be tempting to buy as much workout equipment as possible in the beginning when you’re highly motivated to get started with your workout routine and reach your workout goals. Even though this intention is great and fantastic, I recommend you to start off small.
Why? To allow yourself to understand how much you will be able to workout consistently, and if you are a newbie you might want to test your path forward to identify what workout style and equipment you enjoy the most. Everyone does not love to run, so everyone does not have to have a treadmill in their home gym. You get the point.
Advance with time
When you find yourself using your workout equipment consistently and you are getting closer to your workout goal, or perhaps you have reached it, it can be time to invest in some new workout equipment, such as heavier dumbbells, a workout machine, new weight plates to your barbell – or whatever workout equipment you are using and wants to advance in.
3. Your Budget
Small budget
If you have a small budget, you want to start off with basic workout equipment like an exercise mat, resistance bands and perhaps a pair of dumbbells. You can always add more equipment with time. There is no need to rush the process.
Medium/big budget
If you have a medium/big budget, you can consider investing in high standard workout equipment like a workout mirror, full body workout machine, a treadmill and so on (but remember to keep your workout goals and workout style in mind).
4. You space at home
No matter what space you have available at home, remember to keep your workout goals and fitness level in mind when choosing workout equipment for your home.
Small homes
If you are short on space, you will want to choose smaller workout equipment such as an exercise mat, resistance bands, dumbbells, a workout mirror or agility ladder that you can easily fold.
Big homes
If you have a lot of space, you can invest in bigger workout equipment such as a treadmill, full body workout machine, a stationary bike, an elliptical machine and so on.
5. Consumer ratings and reviews
Before investing in any workout equipment, make sure to read consumer ratings and reviews for the equipment you have an interest in. This will give you a good idea of what you can expect from the workout equipment and if it seems like a good fit for you and your workout goals.
What to think about:
- Pros and cons with the workout equipment
- Take multiple reviews into account (depending on one review only can be risky).
6. Maintenance and warranty
Buying workout equipment can be a big investment and therefore you want to consider the maintenance and warranty for your given workout equipment before making a purchase. Most workout equipment comes with a warranty, but to be on the safe-side, always check this out. Some brands have a warranty for several years, while others only have it for 1 year for example.
What to think about:
- Duration of warranty
- Warranty duration for different parts (for full body workout machines, the warranty for different parts of the equipment can differ for example).
Workout equipment options (based on your space at home and your workout style)
Workout basics (not expensive and suited for all homes)
Weights (suited for all homes)
- Suspension trainer (suited for all homes)
- Resistance band (suited for all homes)
- Dumbbells (suited for all homes)
- Medicine ball (suited for all homes)
- Kettlebell (suited for all homes)
- Barbell (suited for all homes)
- Weight plates (suited for all homes)
- Weighted west (suited for all homes)
- Your own body weight (pushups, lunges, squats, dips, situps and so on) (suited for all homes)
Cardio (suited for small, medium and big homes)
- Treadmill (medium/big homes)
- Stationary bike (medium/big homes)
- Elliptical (medium/big homes)
- Rower (medium/big homes)
- Skierg (medium/big homes)
- Assault bike (medium/big homes)
- Stair climber (medium/big homes)
- Agility ladder (suited for all homes)
- Plyo box (suited for all homes)
- Jump rope (suited for all homes)
- Your body weight (burpees, mountain climbers, jumping jacks, high knees and so on.) (suited for all homes)
Fullbody workout machines – strength (suited for small, medium and big homes)
- Bowflex PR1000 (suited for all homes)
- Bowflex PR3000 homegym (suited for medium and big homes)
- Life fitness G7 home gym (suited for medium and big homes)
- Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE (suited for medium and big homes)
Fullbody workout machines – cardio (suited for medium and big homes)
- NordicTrack Vault (suited for all homes)
- Mirror (suited for all homes)
- Tonal (suited for all homes)
- NordicTrack Fusion CST (suited for medium and big homes)
- Tempo studio (suited for medium and big homes)
Read a full review about the best workout machines to have at home here.
Wrap up
If you before this guide did not know where to start, you now have all the tools to choose the best workout equipment for you based on your workout goals, your space at home and your workout style.
Overall, I recommend you to go through the 6 steps before making any purchase decision to make sure you get the best workout equipment for you and your needs. So before investing in any workout equipment, let’s recap all the 6 steps:
- Your Workout Goals and Style
- Your workout level
- Your budget
- You space at home
- Consumer ratings and reviews
- Maintenance and warranty
What workout equipment are you planning to purchase? Let me know in the comments below.
In this post I include products I think are useful for you. If you buy through links on this page, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost for you.