My List of “go to” home equipment to make gainz on a budget.
No gym? No weights? No Problem!
With pandemic restrictions in place in various parts around the world, many people are missing out on their normal daily movements. Some might now feel hopeless to achieve their fitness goals because the gyms and other activities are closed.
The good news is you can achieve great results at home with little to no investment or space! While bodyweight alone is a great way to train(and the cheapest option), I recommend a few additional pieces of equipment for your home which will allow more movement variety an options to progress or regress movements to best suit your fitness level.
Powerbands - these are affordable, take up virtually no space, and can be adapted for a full body workout. I suggest this style of resistance band because they are durable and are strong enough to be able to assist with chin ups.
Lacrosse Ball for trigger point massage work. Without access to a massage therapist, and with new posture patterns being formed in the body from staying at home more, trigger points are likely to creep up and create some restrictions, aches and pains. A lacrosse ball is the perfect tool too be able to apply a firm enough pressure to really kneed out the knots. Foam rolling is great too but I find the lacrosse ball does a better job at directly addressing individual trigger points. NOTE: Please do look up some techniques before you begin as there are some important considerations I am not going to outline here. (I'll probably post another blog on this topic in the near future)
Yoga Mat - pretty self explanatory. Not 100% essential but if you have hard flooring you will probably want something to perform floor work on to make it more comfortable.
Some other considerations:
If you want to do something with weight and you have nothing available, many movements can utilize a sturdy fabric bag (or even a towel) loaded up with objects that add some weight. One example, a 2L soda bottle filled with water weighs 4.4 lbs or 2 kg. You won’t be powerlifting but you can keep yourself strong and moving well.
Bodyweight Rows and some other movements can be done using a sturdy towel or bedsheet with a knot tied at one end. You then place the towel over a door and close the door with the knot holding it in place. From there you grab the corners of your sheet, lean back and perform your body weight row.
I hope this post serves you well and helps you adapt your workout no matter where you find yourself.
It's not about where you train, it's about how much effort you put in!
P.S. these links are not affiliate links or endorsements for the specific product, just examples so you can see what I’m talking about and so you get a sense of the cost of the items.
link list: