We’ve always had a small home gym. When we lived in our tiny condo, we had several sets of weights, a couple kettlebells, ankle weights, a jumprope, and an exercise ball. It was really all we had room for, and since the complex had a decent gym, we were able to do most of our workouts with a simple walk down the hall….

When we moved into our home, and began to approach Camille’s due date, we knew that getting out to our favorite workout classes, or gym, would be a little more challenging. Given that, we decided to really start investing in home gym equipment. It’s an investment that has paid off, exponentially, over the months, and especially now, is something I’m really grateful for. It allows us to sneak in a simultaneous workout in the morning before the girls wake up, or during Camille’s morning nap, without one of us having to forgo our daily sweat session.

Given that we’ve taken some time to build up our home gym, I thought I’d share what equipment I felt was best for a small home gym… our “gym” is in half of our garage, so we don’t have entire room designated to it. Hope it helps in some way!

SMALL EQUIPMENT

DUMBBELLS: We have several dumbbells, of varying weight, and I think these are a great option if you were to only buy one item.

WORKOUT BANDS: I love using these (and also bring them along on our vacations). They come in varying resistance, and you can create so many different routines with them.

KETTLEBELLS: My favorite for leg days and when I want to get my heart-rate up in my strength routine. We have two, and are going to be adding a heavier one for TJ in the coming days.

YOGA MAT: You can take or leave this one, but I love a yoga mat for all my strength + stretching routines. Great padding + doesn’t slip.

MEDICINE BALL: These are great for core stability + strength… love doing wall squats on them, arm routines while sitting on it, and plank work on the ball.

JUMPROPE: Literally, the easiest way to quickly get your heart-rate up for any HIIT routines.

WORKOUT STEP: We’ve had one of these for a while… an easy way to mix up any routine… step ups, tiered lunges, etc….

SLIDERS: I love these for ab routines…

ANKLE WEIGHTS: Such an easy way to create extra resistance during a treadmill walk or strength routine.

LARGER EQUIPMENT

TREADMILL: We invested in a treadmill last month, and so happy we did. We’re able to get in runs/walks when the weather is inclement, and doing HIIT/intervals runs is much easier on a treadmill than outside. We purchased a SOLE and have been happy with it. My only complaint is that it doesn’t have a .5 include option (so there isn’t anything between 1.0 + 2.0). Other than that it’s great.

CYCLE BIKE: We purchased a Peloton a year ago (our review here) but you can easily purchase any other cycle bike to get in a great workout. I love the bike for cross training days.

WISHLIST

A few wishlist items we have would be a stair-master + a weighted system. I think both would make our “at home” gym complete, but what we have right now is very sufficient for excellent workouts.
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(Workout Outfit || Shorts (buttery soft) | Pullover | Shoes)