A gym membership can offer a sense of professionalism and a far greater variety of equipment, but it also sacrifices convenience and solitude. Unless you are a professional bodybuilder or absolutely must have the most efficient workout, a home setup is a great way to build muscles. Your routine should be spread out across a few days every week, just like at the gym, and it is a good idea to focus on one or two muscle groups each day, but the exact composition of a routine is dependent upon your personal goals. The home arrangement is simply designed to help get you there.
Common Exercises
A number of high-intensity exercises can be accomplished with common household items. The bench dip, which utilizes an elevated surface to lift your body off the ground, only requires a bench or two chairs. Crunches can be done on the floor or, for greater intensity, an inclined surface, and a pull-up bar can be found around the house or assembled out of common items. You can also do flutter kicks, push-ups and lunges, though you will get the most out of lunges if you do them with dumbbells in your hands.
Free Weights
It's difficult to make large strength gains without some form of specialized equipment, so you may need to buy free weights. These include barbells, dumbbells and additional weights that can be added as you grow stronger. Free weights allow for a huge range of exercises such as the bench press, arm curls, tricep extensions and squats. Squats or a bench press will require an additional rack, as it is incredibly dangerous to lift without one, and a lot of space. Therefore, a home gym should be established in the garage, basement or a separate room with a carpet or mat underneath to cushion weights. According to bodybuilder John DeFendis, you also should buy fitness equipment that you trust and have used before.
Weight Machines
Weight machines can be expensive, but a multi-faceted pulley-based machine that can work multiple muscle groups is a good supplement to free weights. However, it is difficult for a home gym to offer the same array of weight machines that an actual gym can, and an identical range of motion day after day can lead to stagnation. But if you are committed to a home gym, then equipment from Weider, Stamina, Valor Fitness or many others is a good investment. Many of these machines will allow you to do leg presses, chest flies and chest presses. Cheaper machines only perform one or two of these functions. Other machines, which are incredibly useful but more expensive, can perform a variety of functions. Weight can usually be modulated, allowing you to increase your intensity.
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