Making a cheap home gym doesn't have to be glamorous or look like Mark Wahlberg's.
I can still remember buying my first ever barbell set from an ex catalogue shop as a fresh faced 13 year old with aspirations of looking like Arnie in 3 days time. It came with 40kg of weights and two dumbbell bars and cost me £30 of my Christmas money. That money set me up for a lifelong relationship with weights.
If the pandemic taught us anything, it's that having exercise equipment at home is a great investment, but if you're on a budget, you don't have to spend thousands to make a gym that does everything you need.
Let's take a look at your options for a cheap home gym!
Option 1 - I have no money to spend and no space to spare
All you need is a 2 metre squared space.
Press ups, squats, sit ups, planks and streets to run on are all you need. If you don't have that in your house, you can get down to the park (just be sure to avoid the areas that dogs choose to relieve themselves!). It's not ideal, but if you're determined to get, or stay in, shape, it's all you need.
You can get a more than effective fat burning workout done using only your bodyweight. There's no secret behind that, simply that the harder you work with bodyweight exercises, the better the results you'll see.
I still try and do one bodyweight circuit a week and genuinely find it to be the best cardio. I'm also lucky enough to live a couple of miles away from some nice farmland to jog around, which saves me having to watch Good Morning Britain on the treadmill at the gym.
Option 2 - I have money to spend, but no space to spare
I'm going to write this with the assumption that you might have a bit of cupboard space to spare to store a couple of things. If you don't, then ignore the options written in red.
Pull Up Bar
An excellent weapon in your home gym arsenal, the benefits of a pull up bar are endless.
Not only can you work on your back and holding your weight vertically, they're also fantastic for shoulder recovery if you suffer from any issues. While recovering from a bankart repair, hanging from the pull up bar worked better for me in rehab worked better than anything else by a distance. The king of movement, Ido Portal, says it better than me.
The one I have is drilled to the wall, but you can get those that attach to door frames that work just as well.
On Amazon, they range from around £20-40, but if you really wanted to save, I bought mine brand new on eBay for £10. So, I've put the cost as the rough average price.
Cost - £20
Barbell Kit/Dumbbell kit
You don't need tonnes of space, just as wide as the biggest weight plate to stack on top of and somewhere to stand the bar up. However,
Decathlon sell some great dumbbell and barbell kits from between £50-200 and you can buy more plates for each as you get stronger.
The beauty of standard barbells and dumbbells is that you can collect weight plates as you find them.
My Dad recently bought one of these to start his weightlifting journey and he loves it.
Though they're fewer in number nowadays, ex catalogue shops are a great place to browse and find a bargain and you've always got the option to haggle a little bit too.
Powerhouse Fitness is a great place to browse and start off too.
Cost - £50+ (up to thousands)
Resistance Bands
Honestly, I was a resistance band skeptic to begin with, but the additional burn they can add on to a workout isn't to be underestimated. They're also great for injury recovery and muscles like your rear delts.
You can pick them up basically anywhere; I've even seen them in some gym vending machines. Definitely worth having and take no space.
Cost - £5+
Gymnastic Rings
I was introduced to these by a friend and I'm yet to find an equivalent for bodyweight pull workouts, but away from all that, it's a really fun change up in your routine!
We used to set them up over a tree in our local park and essentially just freestyle. They require no space to own, but plenty to have set up, so don't get them unless you have somewhere in mind.
If you have a pull up bar, you can set them up over that, but you need to be confident in the bar's ability to stay put!
Cost - £20+
Option 3 - I'm on a budget but I have space
This is a funny one really, because you can use options like cheaper weights from above and a cheaper boxing bag from below, but you still have options.
I used to have a weight bench with arms attached for bench pressing, a preacher curl pad and leg extension function. It was a find at an ex catalogue shop for around £30 but definitely worth having.
Option 4 - I have money and space
The nuclear option! Please ensure spouses permission (I'm looking at you, men!) before beginning a home project like this.
Let's assume you're converting a garage space and you've got a fair bit of room. You've bought a proper Olympic bar and weights and you've every intention of getting out of your home gym what you'd get out of a commercial gym.
I'd recommend the below.
Squat Rack
Not the cheapest if you are trying to work on a budget, but it will set you up for weighted squats, safety for your bench press and somewhere for overhead presses.
Most of them can be utilised for pull ups too.
Something similar to this won't break the bank and it will allow you to do all of the necessary compound lifts.
Cost - £120+
Boxing Bag
I recently invested in a heavy bag and I've not looked back since. Honestly, it's awesome. Get all of the stresses of the day out by unleashing hell and get the heart rate up like nothing else can. It's a full body workout like no other. If the ceiling is sturdy enough, it can hang from there and doesn't take up as much space as you'd think.
Cost - £50+
Bench
This is an essential element for any gym that allows you to more or less everything. Add in split squats, dumbbell presses and flies, dumbbell rows and more with a simple bench.
Cost - £70+
I hope this helps you if you want to build a cheap home gym!
If you have any questions about home workout plans, get in touch and I'd be happy to help!
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