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Creating A Home Gym

Have you ever wondered what type of exercise equipment to purchase for your home gym?  There are a ton of choices and a wide range of prices out there.  How do you know what is the best for you and the space you have in your house?  The sales people all give you a different answer and leave you feeling like you are back at square one. 

Here is some advice from a Personal Trainer on purchasing a home gym that you will never get bored with.  This is because you can use the same pieces of equipment whether you are a novice or an advanced athlete.  The equipment takes up very little space where you could purchase it even if you lived in an efficiency or loft style apartment. 

Your first purchase should include the following: dumbbells- get 5 sets of different weights to start.  Example: 3lbs, 5lbs, 8lbs, 10lbs, 12lbs.  This will cost you around $58. 

As you keep building up your strength you can go out and buy the next set of weights.  Dumbbells are great because they are versatile and can be used to strengthen your entire body from head to toe.  There are numerous exercises you can do with dumbbells so you will always be challenged and will never get bored of doing the same thing.

Second, go out and purchase a stability ball.  This will cost you anywhere from $16-$37 depending on what size ball you get.  Remember to purchase your ball based on your height.  The stability ball is great for conditioning your core, working on balance, increasing your flexibility, etc.  It can take the place of a bench or a chair to use with your dumbbells.  An important feature to look for when purchasing a stability ball is that it is burst resistant.  This is a safety factor so that your ball does not burst while you are on it doing exercises with weights.

The third purchase should be a Bosu Balance Trainer. A new Bosu will cost you around $120.  It can be used for cardio, strength, yoga, Pilates, balance, core conditioning, etc.  It is extremely versatile just like the dumbbells and stability ball.  You will never get bored because the exercises are endless.

Your final purchase for the ultimate home gym should be a personal training session with a qualified trainer.  The cost will vary depending on where you live and whether you purchase and in-home training session or go through an online personal trainer.  If you have never used the above pieces of equipment I would highly recommend hiring a Personal Trainer to come into your home to design you a program and teach you the correct technique.  If you have used the above pieces of equipment, than either option would work.  Remember to look for a Personal Trainer that has a bachelor or masters degree in exercise science/kinesiology and is certified. 

The total purchase price for your home gym (minus the personal training) will be around $200.  Add in the personal training and you are looking at another $35-$100.  Now think about what a universal machine cost and you just saved yourself a ton of money, not to mention you will have equipment that you can use forever while getting results.  If you saved enough money for that universal machine, put the extra money toward personal training sessions to get you motivated toward achieving your goals.