Starting a Home Gym

Mobility Tool

The BOSU Balance Trainer is a must-have for starting a home gym, and one of the best pieces of equipment you can invest in. With this tool you can build core strength, functional strength, cardiovascular strength, muscle endurance, muscle strength, increase your balance and increase flexibility. You can use it on either side, and you can use multiple BOSUs at the same time. Perhaps the best thing about this tool is the fact that it's so mobile and you don't need a lot of room to use it.

Rubberized

There are a lot of different rubber tubes and bands on the market that are must-haves for home gyms. Rubber tubing comes with handles, and they have a whole slew of weight classifications that are oriented by a color-coding system. You can easily work the whole body with these tubes and they can easily fit into a drawer, closet or even be hung or draped over something. They are versatile enough that you can literally get a workout anywhere from the kitchen to the bathroom to the basement. So they won't cramp your new home gym.

Bands are another product made of a high-strength rubber material. These resemble giant rubber bands. They go around your ankles or legs to do exercises such as side steps. They can also be placed on the arms around the wrist area to work the shoulders. They are also color coded by their weight and take up little space. When they are folded up, they take up about the same amount of space as a pack of matches.

Glide Away the Calories

There are also some various cardio machines that fit well into the home gym. Treadmills are always a good option, but they take up a lot of space and are pretty much permanent to their location. However, there are some other cardio machines that are lighter, portable and can actually be folded and stored under a bed or in a closet. These are called glider machines. Ellipticals and rowers are two popular kinds. They have a gliding motion that works the upper and lower body at the same time while still giving you a cardio workout.

Form With Function

There are also some good functional training tools that are good for starting a home gym. These are medicine balls, exercise balls and jump ropes. Medicine balls can be used for swings, chops and throws in multiple planes of motion. Exercise balls can be used to do ab training, stability training and can also be incorporated with the BOSU. Jump ropes are a great tool to develop agility, cardiovascular endurance and balance. They come in various weights. The heavier jump ropes put more emphasis on the shoulders, core, back and arms.