One of the biggest reasons people don’t exercise is due to lack of time. I used to complete most of my workouts at a gym, but as a mom, home workouts save me time and money.
You don’t need a ton of equipment, space, or even a big budget to have an effective workout at home. This week I’m sharing a few of my favorite home-gym pieces of equipment for those looking to build their own home gym.
To kick it off, mini-bands are key pieces of equipment especially when it comes to prenatal & postpartum training and strengthening our glutes. They are inexpensive, easy to take on trips and they take up minimal space. I have the Panathletic set at home which gives me a variety of resistance to use with any exercise.
While I love barbells and kettlebells and use them regularly at the LJW Studio, I find a few sets of dumbbells are effective for strength training and can be used for a variety of exercises, especially if you’re new to exercise, pregnant, or postpartum. I typically suggest clients purchase a lighter and heavier set of dumbbells and add on as needed. I’ll even help clients pick the weights that fit their needs best! Some people prefer variable free weights where you can select the weight. I choose to stick with single weight dumbbells as they are less bulky. If you don’t want to invest in a set of weights, I bet you have a few friends and family members who have a few extra weights on hand that they would be willing to donate or lend.
If I had a dollar for every client who told me they need to purchase a set of long resistance bands after using them in one of their sessions, I’d be able to give bands out for free! The third item on my favorite home-gym pieces of equipment includes long resistance bands. Similar to the mini band, the long bands travel well, take up little space, and can be used to work the entire body. Keep tension in the band on both ends of the move for a solid workout. Long resistance bands come in a variety of forms including looped, non-removable or removable handles, ones with protective sleeves, ones with a listed weight, and even bands that tie well. While a set is nice for variety, you can always start with a single band and grow your collection from there.
Coming at number 4 (in no particular order) on my favorite home-gym equipment list is the foam roller. If you’ve been hanging out with me for a while you know I talk about recovery as a key component to your overall wellness. I like to use the foam roller to reduce pain or any muscle soreness, improve mobility and flexibility, and to aid in the overall recovery process. As with the previous items, the foam roller takes up minimal space and you can even toss it in the car for road trips for mid-trip muscle relief. During pregnancy and postpartum, my foam roller was key for relieving tightness in my back muscles.
Finally, a bench is a good buy for rounding out your home gym. If you’re pregnant or postpartum, I prefer one that has an incline so you can easily modify exercises. This power systems bench is great for step-ups to incline presses, modified (or even advanced) push-ups, glute bridges, hip thrusts and more. While this bench takes up more room than the rest of the equipment I mentioned earlier this week, it still takes up minimal space and gets the job done!
Need support getting motivated to do your workouts? Let’s chat!
