How to Build Your Own Home Gym on a Budget
How to Build a Home Gym Cheap
Setting up a home gym is one of the best things that you can do for your health. Learn how to build a home gym on a budget to eliminate all the excuses when it comes to working out!
**This post contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you. for items that I feel you will really love and benefit from. Please read full boring disclosure here.**
The Best Home Gym Equipment Ideas on the Cheap
With new years upon us, it is the perfect time to address what the best items to include in your home gym are.
Working out can be hard. The dedication and motivation required to exercise regularly can be hard to muster up. With busy work schedules, kids, and everything else life throws our way it is very easy to make excuses to avoid exercise.
RELATED: The Ultimate Guide: How to Exercise with Kids
One solid way to almost guarantee that you will be able to exercise regularly, is to build a home gym! I have been a personal fitness trainer for over a decade and have always worked outside of a gym. Building home gyms for clients and designing effective exercise routines in the comfort of your home or outdoors.
The best way to guarantee your fitness success is to build some semblance of a gym at home. It can contain as few as five of these items, up to as many as you’d like. The key to sustaining health and fitness lifestyle changes are to make it enjoyable and easy to access.
Everyone has a different budget for their home gym and a different amount of space available. With this list of the best affordable home gym equipment, you will be sure to be able to build a home gym on your budget for your alloted space.
RELATED: Full Body Bench Workout at Home
How to Guarantee Fitness motivation and Success in Your Budget Home Gym
Just because you build a gym in your garage doesn’t guarantee that you will reach your health and fitness goals. Motivation is key. While some can muster the motivation to workout daily on their own, the reality is most cannot.
A trainer, friend, or fitness program can be the motivating factor you need to make your home gym worth it’s while. Motivation and accountability are key to following through with home gym success.
As many have done over the past few years, I’ve taken my training online and become a Certified Online Health Coach. I now run monthly accountability programs loaded with guidance, comraderie, accountability, and health tips every single month.
Sound like the key you are missing to committing to finding success within your home gym? Check out my Virtual Fit Club and please reach out with ANY questions!
Tips for Building Your Own Home Gym on a Budget
This is a pretty extensive list for affordable home gym equipment you will find below. You by all means can omit many of the pieces when deciding how to build your very own home gym.
But I wanted to provide you an extensive list so that you can pick the right pieces for your space and budget.
Of course if you have more money to spend and space to fill you can always get some amazing machine like an exercise bike, teadmill, TRX machine, etc. But those are not the type of items you will find on the list below.
The items listed below for building your own home gym are space saving and highly effective budget home gym items.
You will find that some are spendier than others, but whether you are trying to build an amazing extensive home gym in your garage while staying under $1000 or possibly building a tiny portable home gym for your apartment under $100 I guarantee you will find the right pieces of gym equipment for you on the list below!
The Best Tricks for a Budget Home Gym
- If your budget is really tight aim for more resistance bands and less dummbells/kettlebells/barbells. They are affordable, effective, and space saving.
- Consider adjustable weights. The cost is higher for one, but much lower than purchasing a set. This applies for dummbells, kettlebells, etc. You will need various weights.
- Hone in on at least one recovery tool. Recovery is as important as your workout. While there are a few recovery tools on the list below you certainly don’t need them all. Find at least one that will work for you and add it into your home gym.
- You can always add more later. Your home gym doesn’t need to be built in a day. Get a solid base of equipment and you can always add more as time, finanaces, and space allow.
The Absolute Best Pieces to Build Your Own Home Gym on a Budget
1. Kettlebell
A kettlebell is a single weight that you can grasp in one or both hands and utilize in working out your entire body. When first beginning exercising with a kettlebell women should start off with a weight around 10 lbs. A common weight for your kettlebell to have in your home gym equipment is 20 lbs.
Another option that is pretty affordable for your home gym equipment and really allows for your gym to grow with you, is a set of adjustable kettlebells. You can change the weight from 10 -50 lbs to accommodate your strength gains. Imagine getting 6 different weights for the price of 2 kettlebells!
If you have a little bit more coin to spend, splurging for the adjustable kettlebells is your best bet for maximizing your physical fitness.
Sometimes the best way to save on your home gym overall price is to spend a bit more on adjustable weights. After purchasing 2 sets of dummbells for my home gym when shopping for a third as I gained strength I opted to spend a bit more and get an adjustable set instead to save in the long run.
2. Yoga Mat
Whether doing yoga, Pilates, or any other form of floor work, using a yoga mat is ideal. The cushion that a yoga mat provides alleviates a bit of strain on your joints. The stickiness of the mat increases stability and allows for exercise with or without a good pair of workout shoes.
Yoga mats vary quite a bit and there are many available from prices ranging from $15 to over $100! So that you can pick the best mat for your needs here are Amazon’s 100 best selling yoga mats to browse.
3. Resistance Bands
Resistance bands are my personal favorite piece of affordable home gym equipment. They are small and affordable. They are light enough to be carried anywhere and so versatile that you can exercise almost any muscle in the body with resistance bands.
By utilizing resistance, as opposed to gravity (as traditional weights do) to apply pressure on your muscles, resistance bands lower the strain on your joints when compared to most pieces of equipment. The way that resistance bands are designed to function also allows for more versatility of exercises that can be completed with them when compared to traditional free weights.
There are a couple types of resistance bands that are very cheap for your home gym. You should have a set of looped resistance bands and a set of resistance bands with handles for the most workout versatility.
You can pick up a very affordable set of resistance bands that come in varying “weights”
of resistance to mimic any dumbbell weight. Or you can just include one high quality resistance band in your home gym equipment. Even if you only have one band you can increase its level of resistance by either doubling the band or looping it around your hands or feet.
4. Yoga Block
Yoga blocks are extremely helpful for your yoga practice. By using a small yoga block you can increase your level of comfort while exercising by allowing you to reach proper postural alignment. It becomes a lot easier to stretch correctly with proper body mechanics when you have a yoga block as part of your home gym.
Yoga Blocks can also be used in your home gym for other types of stretching exercises, as well as balance training. A yoga block is a very versatile and affordable piece of equipment for your gym at home.
5. Dumbbells
One amazing nonnegotiable piece to have in your home gym is a set of dumbbells. Ideally you would like to have at least two to three sets for targeting different body parts and for increasing resistance as you gain muscle strength.
Dumbbells are ideal for body sculpting and can be used in and endless variety of ways. (Anywhere between 7 and 35 pounds is a typical weight range for dumbbells in your home gym.)
If you have just a little bit more to spend, the absolute best and most versatile set of dumbbells are adjustable dumbbells. With varying weights from 10 to 105 lbs you will have the ability to constantly vary your workout.
With frequent changing of sets, repetitions, and exercises you will constantly be growing and adapting your muscles. Adjustable dumbbells can vary in price from the cast iron dumbbells where you manually switch out the weight plates for about $200, to a fancy and simple all in one Bowflex adjustable weight set that typically retails about $400.
Whichever type of dumbbell you pick, it is mandatory to include it in your home gym!
6. Yoga Strap
Much like a yoga block, a yoga strap is extremely helpful for increasing your comfort by allowing you to properly align your body. A yoga strap is a great way to ease into difficult poses without causing strain or injury.
Your spinal alignment can be much more easily held into place as you advance your practice.
7. Barbell Bar
An easy piece of equipment to include in your home gym lineup is a barbell. Most people only think of arm strengthening when they envision a barbell bar. This piece of gym equipment is actually great for a lot more than arm workouts! It is easy to target legs and booty with your barbell by incorporating squats and deadlifts into your routine with the weight.
Extra bonus budget home gym tip. IF you are considering adding in adjustable dummbells as I mentioned above in #5 to spend more up front and save in the long run the cast iron set that I mentioned (which is the set I have at home) comes with a connector piece that turns your dummbells into a barbells as well! That literally saves you hundreds.
8. Bosu Balance Trainer
A Bosu ball is a multifaceted piece of exercise equipment that is great to include in your home gym. A BOSU ball is a balance trainer that consists of an inflated semi-circle.
A Bosu Balance Trainer can be used to increase the difficulty of almost any exercise by performing it on top of the unstable balance trainer. Balance training activates and strengthens fast twitch muscle fibers and is very important to continually stimulate as you age.
BOSU balance trainers can also be used in extension exercises. Such as extending the range of motion on crunches to further increase the intensity of the exercise.
9. Medicine Ball
A medicine ball is a weighted ball perfect for all sorts of exercises that you can complete at home. This weighted piece of equipment is great for a full-body workout.
There is a lot more that you can do with these weighted balls beyond throwing and catching to increase physical preparedness for athletes. You can clutch the Medicine Ball while doing a plethora of exercises to increase the intensity of your workout.
10. Speed Rope
A Speed Rope is a great and fun form of exercise at home. Feel like a kid again while you raise your heart rate in a fun way. To increase the intensity, try out a weighted jump rope.
It’s amazing how the things we did for fun every day as kids qualify and feel like an intense exercise as an adult. Who knew?
11. Foam Tile Mats
Foam tile mats are great for your home gym to line the floor with. A padded floor decreases the strain on your joints.
It is not only important to think about preserving your joints when creating a home gym, but also to consider preserving your floor. Adding heavy workout equipment and doing exercises such as power clings can terribly damage a floor. By including some nice Foam Tile Mats in your home gym, you will preserve your floors and your joints!
12. Chin Up Bar
A chin up bar is a compact and effective piece of exercise equipment. Pull ups, while very difficult at first, can dramatically improve your posture. Chin ups are also wonderful for functional strength.
A pull up quickly works your shoulders, arms, back, and core in one simple motion. Just be careful when beginning a pull up on a chin up bar that it is fully secure on the door frame when placing your weight on it. The first time I tried a Chin Up Bar, I flipped it off the door frame and went flying. Somehow I luckily landed on my feet!
13. Weighted Arm Bands
Weighted arm bands are a simple way to take exercises to a higher level of intensity. By strapping 5 lb arm weights on while completing your usual workout routine or run, you are challenging your muscles and will increase muscle gain and overall physical fitness.
These Weighted Bands can be strapped on either your ankles or wrists to increase the intensity of your workout.
14. Exercise Ball
Once again, another one of my favorite pieces of equipment. An exercise ball is extremely affordable and versatile.
An exercise ball or stability ball, can be used in your strength training routines utilizing your body weight or additional pieces of exercise equipment to enhance your fitness level.
A stability ball can also be used for balance training and for increasing range of motion on exercises. An Exercise Ball can be used to target any major muscle group extremely effectively at home. Check the size guide to pick the perfect size for you!
RELATED: Amazingly Effective Stability Ball Ab Routine
15. Core Sliders
Sliders are a fun and easy way to get in a phenomenal core workout. You can exercise your core and entire body extremely effectively by adding in this small affordable piece of exercise equipment into your garage gym.
Core Sliders make your workout more challenging by adding slippery disks to your hands and/or feet. Sliders challenge your balance and engage more muscles in your core more than you would otherwise. Your muscles do not get a break during each repetition when using sliders. Instead, your muscles are engaged the entire time to keep you balanced.
16. Workout Bench
A workout bench is a good solid piece of equipment to keep in your home gym. You can use a bench to lay on to do exercises, lean on, sit at, step up onto, the list is really endless.
You need to have a Workout Bench in your workout room, hands down.
17. Power Tower
A power tower a piece of workout equipment that is a bit more pricey than many of the other pieces of equipment on this list so it’s placed near the bottom of the list. However, it is extremely affordable considering how much a power tower can enhance your home gym.
For around $150 you can perform over 20 targeted muscle-building exercises perfect for body sculpting. The Power Tower doesn’t take up too much space and is the perfect piece of equipment to finish off a great home gym.
Recovery Equipment to Build Your Home Gym
Recovery after your workouts is as important as the workouts themselves to your health and fitness journey. You need rest and recovery days to increase your strength and continue to progress in your workouts.
Recovery equipment also helps you to push harder, sustain less inguries, and recover faster.
18 .Foam Roller
A foam roller is a powerful piece of affordable equipment to include in your home gym. When first thinking of what your home gym should include, a foam roller might not immediately come to mind.
However, a foam roller can drastically improve your fitness levels and exercise routine! Foam rollers aid in myofascial release. Myofascial release is the release of soft tissues. A foam roller is much more affordable than massage and other treatments.
Having a simple Foam Roller at home, you will be able to somewhat release your fascia; increase blood flow; and increase range of motion. Not only that, but you will also decrease recovery time and decrease risk of injury in the comfort of your own home.
If you do suffer from any muscle aches, joint pain, or injuries you might not want the generic foam rollers. Foam rollers come in different circumferenses and different textures to aid in different ailments. Find the perfect foam roller for you by browsing Amazon’s top 100 foam rollers. Personally I use a soft foam roller as it works better on fascia while a firm one is better for muscles.
.
19. Fascia Blaster
If you have heard of the Fasciablaster you may have heard of it’s amazing ability to eliminate cellulite. But that is really just an amazing side effect of the Fasciablaster.
It was originally created to release tight and mangled fascia, the root cause of much of the aches and muscle pain we suffer from when injured. The Fasciablaster is absolutely the most effective tool I’ve ever used to immediately release fascia and thus muscle spasms and is an irreplaceable piece of workout recovery equipment. There are many different sizes and models but the original FasciaBlaster is a great place to start.
20. Massage Gun
The most popular recovery tool to see on the sideline of sports games these days is a massage gun. These handy little tools really cut down on recovery time and are so soothing.
With multiple speeds and multiple massage heads, a nice recovery massage gun can help you keep pushing on your workouts each day.
21. Exercise Program
It may not be a piece of equipment per-say however, having an exercise program or fitness plan to follow is essential to your home gym success.
So to be sure your home gym is successful you may want to get your own Health Coach, join an accountability group, and find a workout plan that works for you! (Coaches help you with that too.) My favorite workout program is Beachbody for so many reasons, but namely they have EVERYTHING, over 1500 workouts. You can find almost any type of workout, for any length of time, and stream it easily across all your devices. Give Beachbody home workouts a try now, plus if you sign up through me you are automatically hiring me as your personal coach and getting a pass into my virtual fit club! So feel free to reach out directly at vigoritout@gmail.com before signing up if you want to see if there are any promos or deals I can score you.
Now for a freebie: My very own 3 week body sculpting fitness program. It is a very intense exercise series that can be completed at home utilizing mainly your body weight! A set of dumbbells is all you need to complete the entire 3 weeks. This workout is guided by photos and descriptions, as well as what your routine is each and every day. The workouts range from 15 to 45 minutes and comes straight to your inbox!
Wrapping Up How to Build Your Own Home Gym on a Budget
I hope this list gave you the perfect ideas to get your home gym started on a budget today. You don’t have to buy it all at once. You can start building a home gym with just a tiny amount of money if you need to. You are STILL improving your health and fitness by making a space that you can commit to working out in at home.
Only have $50 to spend? Pick up a yoga mat for a floor mat for now, invest in some resistance bands and loops, pick up a set of sliders, grab a foam roller for recovery, and indulge in one nice heavy piece like a set of dummbells or a kettlebell.
Got $100? Use that list above but add in another heavy piece, an exercise ball, a chin up bar, and a speed rope as well. You can have quite the home gym for only $100!
Spending $1000 would be great, but you definately don’t need that to start!
For me only thing you need for your home gym with low budget is resistance band set. You can do anything with them and its simple to use.