Maybe it is difficult for you to go to the gym. There are many reasons why it could be difficult. You may be a mom and it is hard to find a babysitter; maybe where you live the closest gym is 20 miles away; it could be because you are taking care of a elderly person or you simply want to do exercise at home.
If you have limited space and you are thinking that the only way to tone your body is by having all the machines that you can find in a gym, let me tell you that you are incorrect and that I am here to help you to save money and space in your house.
You should know how to create a whole body weight lifting program or hire a personal trainer to teach you the basics…
Once you know what exercises you need to perform, you will understand that you don’t need a lot of equipment to tone your body. If you already know about muscle groups and exercises, you are a step ahead.
Gym equipment you need...
Let me just teach you the basics, or reaffirms what you know, of a weight lifting program, so you have an idea why you would only need minimum gym equipment.
You need to work all big muscle groups such as the chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, hamstrings, quadriceps, calf, gluteus, abs and lower back. To work your chest you need to push with your arms (push ups), to work your back you need to pull with your arms, (pull ups). To work your biceps you need to bend your elbow against gravity (curls). To work your triceps you need to extend your elbows against gravity (skull crushers). To work your shoulders you need to laterally raise your arms (lateral raises). To work your quadriceps you need to extend your knees against gravity or flex your hips against gravity (squats). To work your hamstrings you need to flex your knees against gravity or extend your hips against gravity (Leg curls or RDL). You can work your gluteus with many movements, but keep in mind when you are working your quadriceps and hamstrings, you are also working your gluteus and to work your abs you have an idea how to do that.
So here is a whole body workout for you...
Squats, Romanian Deadlift, Dumbbells chest press, Bent Over Rows, Military Press, Biceps Curls, Skull Crushers, Leg Raises and jump rope.
If you noticed, the only things you need for this program are dumbbells and a bench, a squatting rack and plate weights and a jump rope.
You can use this program for months and even a year which will deliver great results, but if you are one of those people who get bored with the same program after a week, you can change the exercises for many others available. You just need to know what muscle you are working to replace the right exercise.
Many gyms have extra equipment that is just taking space and not really helping people to get results. Many of the gym equipment is just for people to feel that they have variety, but you don’t need 70% of the equipment in a gym.
For example, you have the cable machines that take a lot of space. The only plus of the machine is that you don’t have to be carrying your weights. You just move a pin and you change your weight. The fixed machines also are big and take a lot of space. Those machines isolate the muscle which is not the best workout. You can get a lot more from a pushup that works your core and chest than from a chest fixed machine that would only work your chest. These machines I believe are only for lazy people.
What is left of gym equipment..?
Dumbbells, racks and cardio machines. For cardio I recommend you go out and bike, hike or run. However, if you want to do it at home you have the option to get a small treadmill or a stationary bike.
Now we can talk about what you really need for you to tone your body at home. It all depends on the variety of exercises you want to perform. If you don’t care about the variety, then you only need dumbbells, a squatting rack (with plate weights) and a bench. However, here are more options that you may add to get more variety and won’t take a lot of space- step up raises, bar curls, stability ball, monster bands (with handles) and TRX bands (I use chains).
Let me list them for you:
Dumbbell set
Squatting rack with plates
Stability ball
Step up raises
Bar curls
Monster bands with handles
TRX
That is all you need and would take a smaller area of your basement or your garage. If you want to see how we use these equipment, take a look at our yearly program.