Valentin Bosioc
A lot of people are dissatisfied with the way they look or with their overall stamina level, however, the very idea of going to the gym simply terrifies them. They might be ashamed of starting with low-weights or simply fear that they will get mocked by all the ‘Olympians’ around them. While this fear is mostly unjustified, the easiest solution to it is to work out at home for the time being. Still, this isn’t a simple matter either. You might lack the necessary equipment or have too many distractions to withstand such a difficult training. However, with just a few items on your side, you just might triumph where others have failed.
First Things First: Prepare the Room
Before you even start equipping your household gym, you need to prepare the room you are going to exercise in. First of all, you need enough space, seeing as how some of the exercises you are going to try might require a lot of motion. Next, you want to provide enough airflow, so you can either open up the windows (not an ideal solution all-year-round) or contact someone from Climacool Airconditioning to inquire about suitable AC units for this task. Personally, they did a great job for me and having an AC unit in the exercise place can really help with breathing, especially if the room is small. So let’s now list all the items we might need for a basic workout:
Exercise Mat
Prior to listing all the dumbbells and workout machines, you are going to buy, you might start with some basic bodyweight training to help you out. Squats, push-ups and sit-ups are just some basic exercises you should start with. This is why the first item that needs to be on your to-buy list is an exercise mat.
READ: How to Create a Home Gym
Pull-up bar
While we are still on the topic of bodyweight exercises, you might also want to think about installing a pull-up bar. There are a plethora of exercises you can do with this simple training accessory and the cost of the entire installation is incredibly low. We are talking about chin-ups, hanging knee-raisings and many other interesting exercises for different parts of your body.
Jump rope
Another inexpensive item to add to your workout arsenal is a simple jump-rope. According to some surveys, jumping rope for just 10 minutes is cardio equivalent for running over 5 miles. As you can see, this is great for those who want to make their cardio training as time- and space-efficient as possible.
SEE: How to Jump Rope Like a Pro
Dumbbells
While some of the above-listed bodyweight exercises strengthen your arms on their own, for those who want to take this one step further, getting some dumbbells is vital. Those who want to make their household gym a bit more frugal, could basically get a single dumbbell and then switch hands. This is particularly handy advice if you want to get several different weights so that you can scale your trainings more efficiently.
Medicine ball
Another inexpensive item your gym desperately needs is a nice medicine ball. This particular item can help you strengthen your arms, your back and your core, depending on how you use it. Moreover, you can further strengthen your body as a whole by performing different activities like throwing, catching or shifting this ball from one hand to another.
Playback Device
Finally, in order to keep your motivation high, you might want to introduce some music to your home-made gym. In order to do so, all you need is a simple MP3 player, some powerful speakers and of course the right workout soundtrack. Eye of the Tiger, The Final Countdown and Remember the Name are just some of the classics, but you can feel free to customize your own playlist in any way you see fit.
Be as Professional as You Can
One last thing you need to know is that working out at home has some serious drawbacks, as well. First of all, it usually means that you are working out alone, which is definitely a bad thing. Think about it, there is no one to tell you if you are doing something wrong, which in time might cause a serious problem. Therefore, it might be a good idea to invest a bit in mirrors (like in the real gym) or simply record first few of your training sessions and try to compare them against videos of professional trainers on YouTube.
