The Only Fitness Equipment You Need to Get a Total-Body Workout at Home
There’s a new gym that takes less than a minute to get to, is never crowded, always plays your favorite songs, and is stocked with the best strength training equipment out there. The gym in question? Your home.
Yep, you heard that right. With the right equipment and workout apps, it’s totally possible to get an effective strength training workout at home. And to help you choose the right fitness tools, we consulted some of the top trainers to share their favorite exercise gear.
Check out this list and get expert tips on how to use these strength training tools to get the most out of your at-home workout.
[Looking to start cross training but don’t know where to start? The Beginner’s Guide to Strength Training will teach you all the fundamentals to get the most out of your weight session, priming you for stronger miles in the saddle.]
Home workout essential: A thick yoga mat
Try: Backslash Fit self-rolling yoga mat
Pushing your muscles to their max means strength training can (and should!) be a little uncomfortable. However if your knees start to hurt because you’re kneeling on the ground, or your low back starts aching because you’re doing crunches on an old yoga mat, there’s a good chance you’ll end your workout early, says Kelly Borowiec, a San Francisco-based personal trainer.
“I recommend using an extra-thick yoga mat if your home gym is tight on space or you need something portable,” says Borowiec. The Backslash Fit self-rolling yoga mat has a thick and smooth top layer that provides extra support for your knees, elbows, and other sensitive joints when you’re doing high-impact exercises. Plus, it pairs with the Women's Health Amazon Alexa app that walks you through the yoga flow of the day.
Try this core yoga flow at home:
Home workout essential: Kettlebells
Try: Tone Fitness kettlebells
Kettlebells are a must-have tool for at-home workouts because you can do a variety of strength training exercises, including rows, bicep curls, squats, deadlifts, and snatches. Unlike dumbbells, kettlebells also challenge your balance and force you to recruit multiple muscles at once. We like this kettlebell set from Tone Fitness because they have a colorful vinyl coating that makes it easy to carry them and avoid hand calluses and blisters. This set comes in 5-, 10-, and 15-pound weights, so you can progress as you get stronger.
Home workout essential: Adjustable dumbbells
Try: Bowflex Select Tech dumbbells
From compound exercises to isolation moves, dumbbells are excellent for a variety of strength exercises. Lunges, tricep kickbacks, shoulder presses-you can use dumbbells to challenge your ranges of motion. Charlee Atkins, master SoulCycle instructor and creator of Le Sweat, swears by this pair from Bowflex.
“I cannot express enough how amazing the Bowflex Select Tech Dumbbells are. This is the one piece of equipment that is going to make me cancel my gym membership,” she says. Using a unique dial system, you can make your dumbbells lighter or heavier in 2.5-pound increments, starting at 5 to 52.5 pounds.
Home workout essential: Resistance bands
Try: Synergee resistance bands
If you have a small space and don’t have enough room for a pair of dumbbells, resistance band exercises are a perfect alternative. But don’t be fooled by their small size-resistance bands can tighten and tone small and large muscle groups. Not to mention, they also make a great recovery tool with stretches.
Atkins likes this five-pack of Synergee resistance bands, which vary in size and level of resistance. Use them to do glute bridges, lateral leg raises, squats, tricep presses, and much more.
“Most at-home workouts are designed to be low-impact. By having these bands laying around the house, you can bump up the intensity of any workout,” Atkins says. They’re also lightweight and travel-friendly, so you can easily pack it in your carry-on suitcase for a hotel room workout.
Home workout essential: A stability ball
Try: Black Mountain stability ball
Julian Chua, a master trainer at CruBox, a boxing studio in Los Angles, California, says, “Workouts with a stability ball are important for a good fundamental base in fitness. If your stability muscles are weak, you’re much more prone to injury.”
Using a stability or fitness ball instead of a bench to perform core and strength-training exercises can help to boost your calorie burn by challenging your balance. Multiple muscle groups are at work to help your body stay steady, which means you're getting more out of each rep.
Try these stability ball exercises to strengthen your glutes, quads, core, and arms. This Black Mountain stability ball holds up to 200 pounds and includes a pump if you need to re-inflate it.
Home workout essential: A suspension training system
Try: TRX
The TRX suspension system isn’t just for the gym-you can easily install this training system in your home basement to do a variety of strength moves. “Suspension training is great because just by changing your body position, you can increase and decrease the difficulty of exercises. Also, you can do a variety of core exercises that you can’t do with dumbbells,” Chua explains. Think: push-up to pike and suspended knee tucks.
Home workout essential: A lacrosse ball
Try: Champion Sports lacrosse ball
Got low-back pain or tight calves? The lacrosse ball comes in handy for a variety of recovery exercises and stretches. “Sometimes a foam roller is too big and all you need is a little ball to do the trick. The lacrosse ball is the only tool I use in my Le Stretch classes, which are guided stretch classes you can do anywhere,” Atkins says.
This lacrosse ball from Champion Sports is perfect for relieving everything from plantar fasciitis to shoulder pain.
Home workout essential: A jump rope
Try: King Athletic jump rope
Jumping rope is a terrific cardio exercise that also boosts stability and strength. And unlike biking or rowing, you don’t need a pricey piece of equipment to do it. Infuse lunges, oblique crunches, and tricep kickbacks to your jump rope routine for some strength work. This King Athletic jump rope has an adjustable length, whether you're 5’4” or 6’4”.
Home workout essential: Yoga blocks
Try: Reehut yoga blocks
Yoga blocks aren’t just for essential for making adjustments to your at-home flow and restorative poses-they can also be used to build strength. “Yoga blocks also add elevation or imbalance to your workout, creating the ability to to manipulate the intensity of your workouts,” Atkins says.
These Reehut yoga blocks are made with a lightweight, study foam to deepen your poses, while the beveled edges make it easy to grip them.
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