If you belong to a gym, you need only show up in the weight room dressed for success. Wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing that won't restrict your range of motion. Bring a towel to wipe your sweat off the equipment and something to drink like water, sports drink or a protein shake. However, some people prefer to lift weights in the privacy of their own home.
Free Weights
Several kinds of free weights are available. Dumbbells are hand-held weights that ensure that the right and left sides are doing equal amounts of work during upper body exercises. Barbells consist of a long bar with disk-shaped "plates" fastened on by a "collar." You need at least two of each sized plate, one for each side of the barbell. Kettlebells are Russian hand weights that look like cast-iron cannonballs with a handle attached. Kettlebells allow slightly more freedom of motion than dumbbells. Medicine balls are like weighted basketballs and help build strength in a number of dynamic movements. Elastic resistance bands, although not a weight themselves, provide resistance to build strength.
Accessorize
If you are lifting heavy weights, wear shoes designed specifically for weightlifting. Weightlifting shoes have hard soles that don't compress under heavy weights and have a slightly elevated heel to help the weightlifter maintain a more upright posture. Wear a weightlifting belt to protect your lower back. Many weightlifters also wear gloves to prevent sweaty hands from slipping on the bars.
Fixtures and Furniture
In addition to the weights themselves, you will also need a flat bench (for exercises like the bench press and tricep dips) and an incline bench (good for abdominal exercises). If you do squats and bench presses, you'll also need a squat rack and a bench-press rack hold the barbell between sets. You may also want to install a pull-up bar.
Machines
You don't need to be slinging medieval hunks of iron to get a great strength workout. Home gyms use cables and weight stacks to provide a resistance workout. When choosing a home gym, first consider the space that you have for the machine and how much you're willing to pay. A good home gym should provide options for working opposing muscle groups (e.g. if it has a chest exercise, it should also provide an exercise for your back). The disadvantage of a home gym is that you are restricted in the number of exercises you can do.
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