With many gyms and fitness studios still shut down during the pandemic, it’s important to find the best at-home workout equipment for your given space, ones that can help you move and exercise at home without losing momentum on your fitness goals.
for so many people presently, their living rooms (or bedrooms, basements, or tiny square of free space in their apartments) have become their temporary workout spots and home gyms. If this describes your situation, chances are pretty good that you don’t have a ton of room to play around with.
So we tapped trainers from across the country to share their picks for the best workout equipment for home use. From free weights to spin bikes, these at home workout equipment picks will help you get set up.
If you’re space-constrained, dumbbells are an effective tool you can use to work your arms, back, and abs. An Hex dumbbell is favored for both home and gym use. The weights for an Hex dumbbell can be between four(4) and twenty(20) kg, so you can crank up the intensity of your workout over time.
Also, the 20kg or 50kg set dumbbells are also very favored too. They can be used individually, or connected to one another with a 46-inch connecting rod to use them as a bar bell. The dumbbells are made out of a mixture of iron powder and cement, cement, and covered in polyurethane. Their rods are coated in rubber, which makes them easier to hold when your palms are sweaty.
Doing yoga on a hard floor can hurt your back, and a towel or carpet may slide under you while you’re doing complex poses, so it pays to have a yoga mat.
The TPE Yoga Mat is the right fix, it is long and wide, so it should accommodate most people. It’s half an inch thick, which the company says can comfortably cushion your spine, hips, knees, and elbows while you’re practicing yoga.
The mat is made out of a double-sided, non-slip surface to help you avoid falling, and a moisture-resistant technology that makes it easy to clean. We also like that the yoga mat comes with a strap, which keeps it bundled when you’re not using it.
“Jumping rope is a great form of cardio especially when you’re stuck indoors,” says Sportsworld Nigeria. “Just 10 minutes of jumping rope has been found to be similar to 30 minutes of jogging.”
Fitness Master Smart Jump Rope is digital, so it can keep track of how many calories you’ve burned, how many times you’ve jumped, and how long you’ve been working out. It’s made out of PVC coated steel wire that’s durable but flexible. The rope comes with a nine and a half foot cable, which can be adjusted using four velcro binders, so it’ll be comfortable to use for most adults.
“If you want to ramp up the intensity [of your workout] you could mix in the rope with some burnouts of other exercises,” Sportsworld Nigeria suggests. “Try two minutes jumping rope with burnout of squats, two minutes jumping rope with burnout of pushups, two minutes jumping rope with burnout of bicycle kicks, etc.”
Spin classes have become very popular lately, but studios have been shut down due to coronavirus concerns. Our solution: pick up any of the Fitness Master’s well-reviewed stationary bike, which lets you get the same workout at home.
Stationary bikes work your arms and legs by replicating a bicycle ride at different levels of resistance. These bikes have resistance settings, handlebar positions, and height options. Fitness Master says these bikes seat adjustments make it a good fit for people between 5.1 ft and 6.5 ft.
These bikes have upto 36-pound wheel and uses a belt-drive system that Fitness Master says is smoother and more quiet than traditional chain-based systems. The bike has a built-in LCD screen to show your speed, distance, calories burned, and how long you’ve worked out. It also has a holder for a tablet, so you can watch videos to distract yourself while you work out.
While this bike cannot be folded up, it does have wheels on the front, so you can tilt it forward and move it more easily. It’s a steal for the price too, at just over $300 — or about the price of 10 spin classes at a name-brand studio.
If you want to get a full run in while you’re indoors, you’re going to need a treadmill. We’re recommending this one from Sportsworld Nigeria because it’s full of smart features designed to help alleviate some pain points you may encounter on an indoor run.
The Flash 6068FM treadmill has several settings to help scale your run’s intensity. It can be adjusted to move up to 10 miles per hour at up to a 10% incline. Its speed controls are located on the front of the bike, along with an LCD screen showing your speed, the duration of your run, your current incline, how many calories you’ve burned, and the time.
The Iron Master Balance Board is a circular-shaped platform. It helps you exercise by requiring you to make small adjustments to your posture to keep your balance.
SPORTSWORLD NIGERIA, the company behind Fitness Master Balance Board, did enough research when designing the board to optimize its effectiveness. We tried the board at different gym outlets and were impressed by its effectiveness.
It’s harder than you think and really forces you to work on stabilizing your legs and core. Because of its circular-like shape, it’s easy to chalk it up to a “toy,” but it’s definitely become an essential part of our stay-at-home workout. It’s small enough to tuck under your bed or desk.
Holding a medicine ball while you exercise can help work your arms and core, whether you’re twisting, lifting, or balancing on it to augment your pushups. Tunturi’s medicine ball is made out of textured rubber, which makes it easier to hold when you’re sweaty, and more comfortable too.
Sportsworld Nigeria says they use a medicine ball for a “solid full body burner.” Their instructions: “Start with your feet a little wider than shoulder width apart, then hold the ball under your chin. Perform a squat and on the way up, press the ball overhead. If you want to ramp it up, toss the ball into the air and as you catch it, slowly come back down into the squat.”
This medicine ball is available in multiple weight classes, but Sportsworld Nigeria is recommending the two(2)kg option for beginners. If you exercise regularly, the five(5)kg option might be a better pick.
A good post-workout routine can help you from overworking your muscles, and overcome soreness. This foam roller from Sportsworld Nigeria gives you enough of surface area to roll out your joints, and can be used on everything from your legs and quads, to your stomach and back.
A good foam roller can help increase blood flow and ease tension after a workout, or just a particularly stressful day of work.
As gyms remain closed or open at reduced capacity, now is the perfect time to finally put this tool to use. Gym/Exercise ball can be used to support your lower back and help increase the range of movement while you do wall squats.
Gym/Exercise balls are so simple in design and function, yet they can be used for all kinds of home and gym exercises, like; find neutral spine position, learn proper posture, increasing lumbar (low back) mobility etc.
Sportsworld Nigeria recommends first step on the exercise ball is to find a neutral (lordotic) lumbar spine position; Slouch slightly on the exercise ball, rounding the lower and upper back, begin bouncing lightly on the exercise ball, allow the body to automatically find the straightened posture, which promotes staying balanced while continuing to bounce on the exercise ball.
If you are wondering why you should add an ab roller to your fitness routine, We have some of its benefits here for you; Besides working on abs, an ab roller also helps focuses on lower body muscles including your hip and thigh muscles. Thus, it is a good tool for the abdominal and lower-body workout. Since you have to stretch your body while working out through an ab roller, it gives a good exercise to your back muscles.
AB Carver Pro is one of the most popular ab rollers available in the market. This ab exerciser will help you in taking your routine to the next level and help you in getting 6-pack abs faster.