As someone who was once a lazy overweight lass, I couldn’t help but feel panic stricken when I lost my job as a fitness instructor and my Crossfit gym shut down. First world problems I know… But as a person who has spent the last decade trying to implement healthy habits, I didn’t want to undo all of my hard work. I knew I had to invest in some fitness equipment to help keep my fitness level up.
Below is a list of my fave fitness equipment that I have used to create my at Home Gym (yes in my tiny NYC apartment…)
I find all of these to be essential when it comes to working up a great sweat! I have tried to give you some guidance on the splurge level so you can add to your at home gym over time. And of course I’ll be sharing more tips and workouts on how to use everything listed below soon!
- A yoga mat. Even if you’re like me and you suck at yoga, stretching is so important. And not only as a recovery post-workout tactic! As we get older, we stop doing movements that we once would never have thought twice about. We begin to lose ranges of motion. Before we know it we can’t reach down and touch our toes anymore! How do we prevent this from happening? By stretching and moving!
My fave Yoga Mat- It’s only a splurge if you want to get all fancy schmancy!
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- A towel. Ok so you may just want to use an old one from the airing cupboard to mop up your sweat, but a yoga mat towel is designed to create a little more friction underneath those tootsies. You can even roll it up and use for extra cushioning for the palms of your hands when holding a plank if you usually experience any pain during this exercise. I love my towel- it’s so cute as well as practical!
My Fave Towel- It’s a steal!
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- ‘Light’ dumbbells. As someone who loves nothing more than lifting ‘heavy’, I have to stress the importance of owning some light dumbbells. Whether they are 2 pounders or 10 pounders, you can reap amazing cardiovascular benefits by high rep volume and moving at a faster pace in a safer manner. With high repetitions and the right exercises you’ll be sure to feel the ‘burn’. My Bingo Wings burner is infamous amongst the New Yorkers! Video coming soon!
My fave ‘light’ dumbbells – The lighter the cheaper!
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- At least one ‘Heavy’ Dumbbell or Kettlebell. It’s ok to do less, go slow and to feel uncomfortable when working out with what is a challenging weight for you. What can you do with only one dumbbell? ALOT! Three sets of 5 squats (being sure to break parallel) will give you the Kardashian booty. And once this amount of squats becomes easy, increase volume! Or try a different position for holding the dumbbell and you can even try lunges! I’ll be sharing my Fit Dolly Workouts soon!
Go Heavy or Go Home with some big dumbbells. It won’t break the bank- but maybe a floorboard if you drop it!
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- Resistance Bands. I LOOOOOOOOVE working out with resistance bands. You can work muscles you don’t even know the names of! And get an entire body workout as they are incredibly versatile. I love my bands because they travel well and are ideal for when I pop back to the UK at Christmas time so I can eat more mince pies!
Try these Resistance Bands- An absolute steal!
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- A Balance Board. Balancing is really freaking hard for a lot of people. Having a balance board at your disposal means you can really work your glutes, core and your feet! Just stand on one leg, channeling your inner flamingo and watch The Real Housewives. You’ll be amazed how this will improve your other physical activities.Â
Balance Board. It’s worth the work/life balance…
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- Yoga Blocks. As mentioned above, I’m not a devoted yogi so I don’t own these because I’m working on my crow pose. Yoga blocks can be a great way to make a stretch easier (like straddle stretch) or even to support your head during a simple lie down moment. There are many things you can do with these babies!
Yoga Blocks – Bargain baby!
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- Foam Roller. Foam rolling is an amazing way to help relieve tight muscles if perhaps stretching is challenging for you. If you are a Bendy-Wendy and stretching is your thing, you can still use a foam roller for your benefit by working tired muscles in a different way. I personally love to use the foam roller for targeting my quads as I can never seem to find a deep enough stretch position. So get yourself one of these and roll all over Beethoven.
Foam Roller – So worth it, buy two!
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- Lacrosse Ball. You can use a lacrosse ball to ease muscle tension in a similar way to the foam roller. The difference is, as it’s smaller you can really get into specific small areas that need some post workout TLC. You can even roll under your feet for a self induced foot massage! This is my fave way to relieve muscle tension and I’ll be sure to share more on that in another post.
Lacrosse Balls, my saving grace – Only your pocket money from 1995...
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- Jump Rope. You may not be able to jump in your apartment if yours is like mine, but when the weather is nice you can get an excellent workout outside. Remember to try to land as softly as possible to protect yourself from injury!
Jump Rope- This one depends on your skill level.
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- Pull Up Bar. Ok this may not be for everybody but at around $20 you should just get one. Do be sure to fix it firmly however. I have seen a nasty bump on a friend’s head from a pull ‘down’.
Pull Up Bar. Just a genius product, so who cares?
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- A Spin Bike. So depending on which route you take here you could be making a pricey investment. I personally love the Echelon. Tip– Order from Amazon (see below), it can come as soon as the next day so none of this two to three month wait period. The main reason I love this bike is because it’s a magnetic bike. The cheaper bikes you’ll find for sale work on a chain mechanism and these require weekly maintenance. They will work for a month but then the chain will start making a racket. If you opt for a super cheap one like I did once, be aware that there is a chance the bike may not work at all. I purchased a $200 bike a year ago and my pedal snapped off (not unscrewed)… So be warned. The Echelon is more or less the same as the Peloton but less than half the price. I absolutely love it.
The Spin Bike- What’s a splurge once in a while…
So that’s it! That’s everything you need to set up your own Home Gym and you really don’t need much space (see below lol). All the fitness equipment above will help you achieve your cardio and strength goals as well as serving up some very important rest and recovery.
I hope you have found this post useful. Be kind enough to share it. And please be sure to subscribe THE BIL’s list for more helpful fitness tips. I’ll be posting lots of workouts and how to optimize all of the equipment in this blog soon. Feel free to leave a comment below and let me know about your fitness journeys.
As always,
Live with Love,
The Bimbo in Limbo xxxx
Header Photo Credit: Pexels-Burst