With quarantine still in effect in the UK, many are buying and using whatever equipment they can to continue to work towards their training goals.
Unless you already have a home gym, I’m sure many of you are searching the internet to find some cheap dumbbells… kettlebells…. Barbells…. whatever you can get your hands on for a reasonable price.
The question is… what are the best kit purchases you can make?
The issue with many common pieces of gym equipment, such as fixed dumbbells, fixed barbells or kettlebells is that they aren’t very versatile.
When you take into consideration the amount of exercises you can do with that single piece of equipment… then think about what exercises you can do with the weight of that specific piece of equipment… and you’re probably only left with a few exercises that will actually be worth your time.
Space, cost and availability are also factors to consider.
With that being said, the equipment I have been recommending to my current clients and what are would also recommend to you are:
- RESISTANCE BANDS (A full set with doorway and handle attachments)
Resistance bands are a number one purchase for me for a number of reasons. They are low cost, they take up very little to no space, have adjustable tensions/weights and they are incredibly versatile when it comes to exercise selection.
Not many pieces of equipment have such a wide range of training resistances and exercise options as resistance bands do.
- A PULLUP BAR
The pullup is a very good compound movement for the upper body. Pullups and its variations will have you sorted for strength work for the lat, inner back, bicep and forearms.
The pullup is a great option due to its difficulty… not many can perform 3 sets of 20 repetitions (debatably the top end of the hypertrophy spectrum) of unbroken and controlled repetitions and therefore provides a challenge and room for progression.
Any further progress can be provided by loading a backpack with weights or heavy objects (Books etc.).
A pullup bar can be purchased in many forms, however, the most accessible would be a doorframe pullup bar. A door frame bar is cheap (£10-20) and does not take up too much space.
- SUSPENSION TRAINING (TRX etc.)
Suspension training is another great bodyweight option that provides a variety of exercises and variable training loads.
Suspension training can provide a full body workout; however, you may need to experiment with some new exercises and take advantage of what suspension training has to offer.
Due to the nature of suspension training, the user’s bodyweight contributes to the overall load used for each exercise. This can be varied depending on the exercise and how the user positions themselves, meaning there is plenty of room for progression with many exercises.
Similar to the doorframe pullup bar, suspension training is cheap, takes up very little space and also has the extra advantage of having variable resistances to better suit your current strength level.
- SLIDERS (Sliding disks… or recreate with some socks and a hard floor)
Sliders are my last option for home equipment, again, due to their affordability and that they do not take up space.
The sliders themselves will most likely not give you everything you would want from a resistance training session (mainly due to lack of load of specific movements), however, they can open the door for a different variety of movements and muscle groups.
Hamstrings, pecs and abs are muscle groups that can get great stimulation from sliders with exercises such as hamstring curls, pec flys, sliding pushups, slider rollouts and many more!
If you have a small selection of equipment available to you but do not know what you can do with it to help bring your closer to reaching your goal, please enquire for coaching at:https://thesandcpt.wufoo.com/forms/z14qxxod0zqdmlo/
