Want to train at home? Here’s a quick guide to get an idea of a base setup you could use.
Why train at home and not the gym? When you’re at home you’re not surrounded by’ posers’ and ‘look at me’s’. You can feel completely comfortable doing your own thing in your own time. No need to worry about waiting for equipment or feeling self-conscious when you finally get on it. You can listen to whatever music you like as loud as you like, this is your domain!
At home, you don’t have to follow any particular schedule. If I want to get up and work out early in the morning you can, if I want to train late at night you can. By training at home, there are no restrictions on what I can and can’t do.
The cleanliness factor also has to be looked at: public gyms may look clean, but the germs, sweat, and airborne viruses that could be floating around are completely forgotten in a home gym.
The pros can far outweigh the cons when training at home. In this article, I will discuss the types of equipment that I feel are necessary to build a big physique.
Right, you’re going for it.
After deciding where to put your home gym (preferably not upstairs as it can sound like you’re going to come through the ceiling!) you need to start looking for equipment! Here’s a list of all the equipment you should be looking at.
Weights:
Olympic-style weights… The usual Olympic set comes with an Olympic bar with a variety of different pound plates. The entire set should weigh 300 lbs or so. Don’t settle for the concrete crap or plastic if you can help it. Buy real weights, you will be much happier.
Bench:
A flat bench, which inclines and declines. Preferably with a preacher curl setup on it as well. A leg extension and leg curl attachment are also suggested.
Be sure it’s half descent though, it will hold you plus the amount of weight you will be using. In other words, don’t buy cheap.
Dumbbells:
You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on a dumbbell set. Find a good base set ranging from 30 lbs to 100lb dumbbells. They run about $65 a go for a 20lb set of solid, one-piece dumbbells. You can also get dumbbells that adjust weight so you can add weight and strip weight as and when you please.
Multi-Purpose Pec Deck:
A multi-purpose pec deck with machine bench press and pull-down bar for training the lats,
With this machine, you can do so many of the exercises you can do at the gym. You can do pec flies, machine presses, lat pull-downs, pull-ups, seated rows, triceps push-downs, and cable work when training biceps and forearms. This machine will complete your home gym nicely.
Squat Rack:
By far the best piece of equipment you can buy. When doing squats you don’t have to kill yourself by taking the weight off of the rack from the flat bench. You can also use this for just about every body part.
It has adjustable settings for bar placement. You can place the bar about knee height, which is great for doing deadlifts, or a little higher when doing barbell curls and bent rows. You can’t stress how important this piece is. Buy one!
Stereo:
Work out to the music of your choice. You just know it makes sense!