What Health Advantages Does a Home Gym Have?
A home gym is one of the best investments in your health that you can make. There are tremendous benefits to owning a home gym. If you have ever considered owning one, now is definitely the right time to make this investment.
Below are the health advantages of having a home gym:
1. No one else, except you and your immediate family, gets to use it. Commercial gyms often have hundreds, or even thousands, of members. Unfortunately, there are some people who do not wipe the equipment after they use it. This means that someone may have coughed, sweated or sneezed on a piece of equipment without wiping it down afterwards. Therefore, you are more likely to get sick if you go to a commercial gym because you will be around other people or you will be touching the same equipment that others may have touched.
2. You will feel more comfortable. If you are just starting your fitness journey or even if you are a little self-conscious about how other gym-goers perceive you, then you will love having a home gym. Being self-conscious and uncomfortable is not good for your mental health. Furthermore, if you are concerned about what other people think of you or how you look while working out, then you will be less focused on your workout. Having a home gym will give you peace of mind, knowing that no one is watching you so you can focus on your fitness goals and get better results.
3. It is more convenient and less stressful. Trying to balance your work and family commitments while making fitness a part of your life is very stressful. Being stressed out about trying to make it to the gym while fighting through rush hour traffic is ultimately not good for your health. You will save a lot of time because you will not have to commute to the gym. When you have a home gym, you do not need to carve out at least an hour out of your day just to do your workout. You can do a few sets of different exercises throughout the day whenever you have a few spare minutes. Therefore, it will be easier for you to get your workout done.
4. You will save money in the long run. When you have a membership to a commercial gym, you have to pay a certain amount every month. In the long run, a home gym will help you save money because once you have paid for the equipment, you do not have to lay out anymore cash. This means that you can invest that money you would have spent on a gym membership into other ways to improve your health. For example, you will be able to buy better quality food.
As you can see, these are just a few of the main health advantages of owning a home gym. First, you will be in contact with less people, which means you will be less likely to pick up a bug. Next, you will not have to worry about other people judging you and you won't have to spend time commuting to the gym. Lastly, you will save money in the long run so you can invest it in other aspects of your health.
Are you looking to set yourself up a solid home gym that will have all of the equipment you might need for practical training?
But there are so many options - machines, fitness equipment, and other accommodations.
What to pick? What don’t you need?
To make it easier for you and to help you build a cost-effective home gym, we’ve put together a list of seven essential pieces of equipment you should consider.
1. An All-In-One Multi-Purpose Machine
Setting up a home gym can be costly. Buying separate machines like a cable station, a lat pulldown machine, a chest fly machine, and a leg extension machine can add up quite a bit. What’s more, not everyone has that much free space for all of that machinery.
Enter all-in-one machines. They offer a compact and cost-effective solution to this issue. These machines allow us to do multiple exercises without having to spend thousands of dollars on so many different pieces of equipment.
2. A Pair Of Adjustable Dumbbells
You can spend a ton of money and get yourself an entire rack full of dumbbells. But, a much cheaper alternative that will work just as well is to get a pair of adjustable dumbbells.
That way, you have the convenience of training with a wide range of dumbbells by merely adjusting the weight for half a minute before each exercise.
3. Kettlebells
Kettlebells are an excellent investment as they allow us to perform numerous exercises, all designed to make us stronger, more explosive, more balanced, and better coordinated.
You can also use kettlebells for metabolic conditioning workouts, burn a lot of calories, and melt fat.
4. Plyo Box
Plyo boxes are a fantastic addition to any gym, and they aren’t that costly to get. If you’re into DIY, you can even make one yourself.
A plyo box will allow you to do numerous kinds of plyometric exercises, designed to strengthen your lower body, make you stronger and more explosive, help you burn a lot of calories, and improve your vertical jump.
5. A Barbell
Getting a standard 45-pound barbell for your home gym is one of the best investments you can make. They allow you to perform numerous exercises, particularly compound movements, designed to strengthen your entire body and help you build muscle.
6. Weight Plates
Of course, if you’re going to have a barbell, you’ll also need weight plates. It’s a good idea to get at least one pair of each size - 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 25, 35, and 45 pounds. This will allow you to perform a lot of exercises and adjust the weight on the bar to be exactly what you need it to be.
7. A Squat Rack/Stand
Having a squat rack - or a stand, if you’re on a tight budget - is quite beneficial as it allows you to pick up the barbell from an elevated position and do various exercises, including squats, overhead presses, and more.
What’s more, most decent squat racks include a pull-up bar, which is also a valuable addition to a reliable home gym set-up.
Lockdown fitness: The 5 exercises for a stronger body
Staying fit from home during lockdown is a big challenge for anybody, but it’s especially the case for athletes.
With gyms across the country closing, keeping fit in the typical ways we’re used to is, frustratingly, a thing of the past - providing we’ve not got personal home gyms in the garage.
For the bulk of us though, those of us that use our garages for storing garden tools and the weekly recycling, there’s a minimal amount we can do. But that doesn’t mean we can’t maintain a strong body and wicked physique from home.
The only difference from our usual gym-based training is that we’re going to have to get creative and, with that in mind, we’ve got 5 back-to-basics exercises perfect to turn your home into a gym.
1. Pullups
Compound exercises should make up the bulk of our exercise routine with deadlifts, bench-pressing and squats incredible for building muscle and maintaining a physique.
However, unless you’ve got a bar at home, there’s not a huge amount we can do in terms of a deadlift or bench - but there’s one equipment-less compound movement that’s the king of the home workout - the pullup.
Targeting the back, the pullup can be done on anything that you can, well, pull yourself up on to. It’s great for anyone and everyone and, whilst we’re all stuck at home, should form the basis of a great workout.
2. Bodyweight squats
Although weighted barbell squats might be an issue, bodyweight (or even goblet) squats are a fantastic substitute in these unprecedented times.
The same rules with a barbell squat apply - keep a flat-based shoe and focus on the squeeze and you might be surprised at just how much a bodyweight alternative can take it out of you.
If you’re looking to increase the difficulty, why not add a jump into the mix, building explosive power in the hamstrings, quads and calves.
3. Burpees
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from years of circuit training, it’s that burpees never get easier - which, of course, is a good thing.
Using burpees as an additional exercise to give it your all can be a fantastic way to work up a sweat and turn any training session up to 10.
If you’re looking to build some serious fitness, it’s the burpee that’s the way.
4. Plank
How many of us spend our time in the gym neglected our core?
If you’ve smiled at that last line, you’re probably who I wrote that for and, whilst you’ve not got too much in the way of exercises to complete, it might just be time to finally strengthen that core.
Any ab-focused exercise will work, but we’re always partial to a good, strong, perfectly horizontal plank to kick the stomach muscles into gear.
5. Pushups
Last up, it’s our favourite 80’s montage maker, the pushup.
Chest exercises are difficult to complete at home and if you’re looking to keep a bit of definition in those pecs, pushups might just be your best friend.
Drop and give me 20.
5 Benefits of Home Quarantine Workouts
Improved mood
One of the biggest benefits of working out is the improvement in the mood not only following the workout but for the rest of the day or even the week.
Exercise has been linked to reduced anxiety and reduced depression thanks to a cocktail of feel-good chemicals released from cranking out a handful of crunches. There’s so, so much to be said for the improvement in mental health thanks to working out, it’s just one of the many reasons that doctors around the globe recommend it for a mood booster.
If you’re a feeling a little down in the dumps, especially during quarantine, getting through a workout can help just that little bit to get your head in the right place.
Stress relief
Alongside an improvement in mood comes stress relief as all problems take a back seat whilst you pump some iron, sprint around the garden, or squat with a live YouTube fitness guru.
Millions, if not billions, of people around the world, cite exercise as their number 1 stress relief tool. It may not be the same as a stress ball with a wonky smiley printed on it, but it’s more effective!
Do yourself a stress-relieving favor and get yourself through a workout.
Increased focus
But it’s not just mental health that can benefit from a good sweaty session, countless studies have shown that with a workout under your belt, the rest of the day can be approached with laser focus.
If you’re sat at home and struggling to string sentences together due to a lack of focus, getting outside, and doing just a little bit of work with your body can focus on the mind on the tasks at hand.
There’s only so much help coffee can give you, exercise can make up the rest.
Increased energy
Reducing pain
They say that without pain there is no gain - or something like that anyway, but that isn’t exactly true.
By focusing on strengthening certain parts of the body, especially weaker areas where the pain is often experienced, the body can become stronger, alleviating pain and increasing the balance in the body.
If you’ve got bad knees, squats might actually be your best friend. If you’re noticing a bad back, pull-ups could be the answer. If you’ve got a bad elbow, you get the idea…
Exercise is great for you and there’s more th