With the price of gym memberships rising and hesitancy to sign long-term membership contracts, many people have begun to create their own home gyms for fitness training. Despite the long-term savings involved, the initial expenditures involved in purchasing equipment can be high.
Choosing the right equipment is critical to maximize cost benefits and ensure safety. Fortunately, choosing what weight lifting equipment to buy is pretty simple, as long as you stick to a sound weight lifting program for your fitness training.
Step 1
Choose an Olympic style barbell. With its 2-inch diameter ends for holding plates, and a 7 foot long steel bar, Olympic-style weightlifting bars are the only type of barbell used by serious weightlifters. They are stronger than cheaper types and safer. Additionally, they allow the athlete to develop greater strength because they can hold more weight.
Step 2
Select at least 300 pounds of plates varying in weight from 2.5 pounds each up to 45 pounds. This will allow you to make incremental increases in work load from one workout to the next. Check your local sporting goods store. Most offer a 300 pound weight set that meets this description.
Step 3
Get a power rack. Although more expensive than other options like the traditional bench press, these are more adaptable. This provides greater value for the money because you can perform more exercises. According to Mark Rippetoe's popular book, "Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training," the power rack is the centerpiece around which a home gym should be built.
Step 4
Choose a solidly built bench with a well-padded seat. Make sure it is adjustable so that you can perform incline exercises as well as flat-bench exercises. Select a bench that allows you to comfortably rest the entire width of your shoulders on it, but is not so wide that it impedes your range of motion. Typically, this will mean a bench approximately 24 inches wide.
Step 5
Purchase some resistance bands. These brightly colored, elastic rubber bands can be attached to your barbell and the floor to offer additional resistance at various points through an exercise. This can allow you to gain strength in the difficult ranges of an exercise in order to "catch up" with the stronger ranges.
Step 6
Purchase rubber matting for the floor of your home gym. This will provide protection for the floor, as well as ensuring more secure footing while you are performing your exercises.
Step 7
Consider purchasing various weights of medicine balls. These heavy, weighted rubber or leather balls look like a basketball. They are ideal for performing ballistic exercises for sports-specific training. Use them to develop explosive strength through exercises like slamming them overhead against the wall or floor.
Tips and Warnings
- Using "abbreviated" training routines, like those described in "Starting Strength" or Stuart McRoberts' book, "Brawn," will allow you to complete a whole-body workout using just the equipment described above.
- Weight lifting can be a hazardous activity. Please seek competent, professional instruction prior to beginning a training program. Consult your personal physician prior to beginning a new fitness program.
References
- "Brawn;" Stuart McRoberts; 1990
- "Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training," 2d Ed; Mark Rippetoe, 2007
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