Recently a friend asked for my recommendations for home gym equipment as they wanted to start building out theirs. Little do they know I’ve spent way too many hours thinking about this. My home gym is nothing special but it keeps me healthy, out of commercial gyms, and never leaves me wishing I had more equipment. I like to think that’s due to making the right choices on how to fill it.
An effective home gym setup allows me to work all of the major compound lifts safely while also providing me with a range of exercises for accessory, cardio, and flexibility work.
First off, build yourself an olympic lifting platform. I made mine from this guide and anchored my squat rack to it.
As large of a space you can get should be covered in rubber stall mats. These need to be cleaned and aired out before you cover your floor in them. Once that’s done, lay them everywhere to give you the perfect working area for accessory lifts, stretching, and your cardio of choice. Stall mats also mop up well for easy cleaning.
Once you’ve laid your flooring and made your platform, get a good squat rack. This is the centerpiece of my gym and most of my workouts revolve around it. I’m partial to Rogue racks - they’re built well and are easy to find parts for. I personally have the RML-3, which I find to be perfect for my garage. The attached weight storage and pull-up bars up top are very convenient.
Getting quality home gym equipment is important. You’re trusting your health and safety to the build quality of this equipment, do your best to not penny pinch when it comes to safety. For my home gym, basically everything is Rogue, Titan, or REP.
If you’re thinking you’ll buy a lot of attachments for your rack, check this power rack attachments guide to make sure you buy a rack that has the attachments you want.
Get more weights than you think you need. Think about the highest weight you’ll lift for a while and make sure you can accommodate that (whether that’s 4-8 plates on the barbell). I personally don’t do a bunch of Olympic lifts and prefer deadlifts, so I (at the weight range I target) would aim for a set of ~8 competition bumper plates if I was doing it all over again. The only reason I say this is because the Rogue HG Bumper Plates I have are 3.75" wide (for 45 lbs) compared to the 2.1" of the same weight comp plates. This didn’t bother me at first, but with the HGs I’m consistently maxing out the amount of weight I can put on my bar just due to plate thickness. I’ll eventually upgrade.
The HGs and High Temps I bought in early 2020 when home gym equipment was near impossible to find have served me well, I’d still recommend them to people. They’re a great blend of budget and quality. For change plates (small denominations) and “extra” weights, hit up Facebook Marketplace or get a set like this and sell the bar.
Get some adjustable dumbbells. Snode or Powerblock are some clear winners here.
Depending on what lifts you want to focus on, you’ll need a range of barbells. I do a 5/3/1 split with huge focus on deadlifts and squats, so I have the following:
- Rogue’s The Ohio Bar. This is my general, all-purpose bar.
- Rogue’s Ohio Deadlift Bar. I deadlift with this.
- Titan Fitness’ Safety Squat Bar.
- Titan Fitness’ Hex Bar. Another deadlift bar. This and the SS bar have saved my back.
- Titan Fitness’ EZ Curl Bar. I don’t use this as much but it’s nice for accessory lifts.
Definitely get a weight tree and consider a barbell holder if you have more than one bar. This portable weight plate and barbell tree from Titan looks interesting but I’ve never used it. Get some weight clips, anything will work. I use something like these weight clips from RitFit.
Read the Belt Bible, then decide if you want a lifting belt. I use one from Rogue when I’m doing higher weight squats or deadlifts.
Oh, and get a foam roller. Everyone should own one of these.
Next, get a good bench. The adjustable benches from REP are fantastic products, they do both incline and decline and some models have an adjustable leg roller which makes it even more versatile. I prefer adjustable benches rather than flat/utility benches because I have the space and like the selection of lifting angles.
If you have the space, consider getting a cable tower. I like Titan’s Wall Mounted Pulley Tower. I was getting tired of only having barbells and dumbbells for accessory lifts; this has allowed me to change up my workouts quite a bit and work time under tension.
As a desk-bound techie, I’ve loved having a back hyperextension machine in my home gym. It lets me stretch and work my lower back, something I had issues with for many years while playing college rugby. This one also folds up to store away easily.
Cardio… about that. I’ve always had a hard time getting myself to do cardio but the Concept2 RowErg is actually pretty fun. I tried a DIY-Peloton for a bit with an Echelon bike but didn’t like spin classes. Outside of the Concept2, my go-to is a simple jumprope.
There are a few things that I’m looking at in my gym here that didn’t quite make the cut for the must-haves, but I’ll list them now.
Ab wheel – This Rogue one is overpriced as hell, mine is some Amazon brand. I like it, I feel the burn.
Magnetic kitchen timer – I stick this to my rack while I workout to track time between sets or for my jumprope sessions.
Weight straps – These have been a lifesaver ever since my tendonitis kicked in. I’ve always liked them for heavy lifts where I don’t care about testing grip strength. Weightlifting shoes – No link here because I’m still wearing my Adipowers from 2013. They get your heels elevated to help you squat deep and stable. Don’t squat in mushy soles if you care about your joints.
That’s about it. Hopefully this helps you reach your fitness goals.