The Ultimate Home Gym to Fit Your Budget: Part II ($350, $500, $1000 Budget)
If you haven’t already, check out Part I of the Series so you can get caught up.
(From Part I to recap):
These days I lift at home 1-2 times each week since I work from home half the time and ideally I prefer training in the mornings anyways. And just like it is great to train in a well equipped facility, the same can be said for the convenience of not having to get in the car and drive to the gym.
Life Get’s in the Way
How many training sessions have you missed because you couldn’t find time to get to the gym in the last 6-months? 10%? Maybe 25%? Maybe you gave up all together? That is the other huge benefit of the home gym. It eliminates your ability to make excuses.
In this series I am going outline how to create the Ultimate Home Gym to Fit Your Budget. This means I am going to give you a few options in terms of pricing. Also for the final installment of the series I will provide you with a 30-day program that you can do in the comfort of your home while becoming more athletic and stronger than ever.
Now let’s continue on to Part II…
Budget: $350 (added in addition to the $100 Budget Package)
1. TRX Suspension Trainer ($189)
The TRX is the best suspension trainer out there due to it’s great durability and ease of use. There other setups out there like Blast Straps, but for the home I prefer the simplicity of the TRX. What do I use the TRX for? Primarily I will use it for:
- TRX Rows/1-Arm Rows
- Push Ups (hands in handles or feet in handles. more on that later)
- Leg Curls (unilateral/bilateral)
- Rear Foot Elevated Split Squats
- Planks/Bodysaws/Hand Walkouts/Rollouts/other core work
- Bicep Curls…Hey it’s core work too…
Needless to say, it has a great amount of versatility. Like I mentioned in part I, I prefer to anchor the TRX to the Iron Gym.
2. 20-40lb ZFO Weighted Vest ($39.99-59.99 shipped from eBay)
I stumbled across the ZFO guys a few years ago when I was looking for a vest. If you look at online stores that sell lifting equipment, expect to pay $150+ for one. They are well built and do what they are suppose to do, add weight.
For women I would go with the 20lb vest. For guys pick the 40lb. You can always pick up another in the future like I have.
Weight vest are great for helping you progress or increase the load on a lot of exercises that maybe have been just using your bodyweight before.
- Push ups
- Chin Ups
- Inverted Rows
- Lunges
- SLDL
- Planks
Every single time I train at home I find myself throwing on a vest for some exercises. Asymmetrical rear foot elevated split squats with a 40lb vest and a 28kg kettelbell on the same side as the trailing leg are nice and challenging.
Budget: $500 (in addition to everything that was previously listed)
1. Pair of Kettelbells ($120-200)
This category is hard to write up because adding just two KBs is like asking you to pick out two puppies from a lot of 50.  It really depends on what exactly you are going to use them for, but here is my advice. Start with two and go from there. For guys grab an 8kg and a 28kg. For the women I would grab a 4kg and a 20kg. Why these weights? One lighter KB for things like Turkish Getups, perhaps some bottoms up overhead presses, and mobility work. The heavier KB for things asymmetrical loading in movements like SLDLs, lunges, and rows. For bilateral movements you should consider KB swings (I say this only if you have been coached on them before, this is a very challenging movement), KB goblet/front squats, and KB deadlifts.
If you can, spring for a third in the middle or one of Perform Better’s, “Kettelbell Buddy”s to add an extra 2Kg.
Budget: $1000 (in addition to everything that was previously listed)
1. Airdyne Bike ($500-650 on Amazon. Keep a look out on Craigslist, these pop up all the time for $100-200!)
Have you ever done a 5-mile ride for time? How about a 10-miler? Or maybe some .5 mile sprints? If you have you know how hard you can train on an Airdyne. It will basically go as hard as you can, jacking your heart rate up like just about nothing else. Keep an eye out on Amazon as they tend to put these on sale, both the big and small wheel versions. What is the difference between the two? Nothing really, one is just more compact. This thing gets a ton of use from me. Even if I just need to get the blood flowing a little bit. Just jump on for a few minutes and then back to work.
* Bonus Option: Sled ($389)
If you have some cash left over and have a place to use this without your neighbors calling the cops, a sled is a great conditioning and strength tool. Just pickup some cheap old 45lb plates from Craigslist and you will be good to go.
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That is all for Part II of the series. Come back in a few days for a FREE 30-day program you can do in the comfort of your home while training your ass off.
