Our Top 5 Home Workout Equipment Picks
Our Top 5 Home Workout Equipment Picks
Home workouts are here to stay, so there really is no better time to stock up on some equipment to keep your workouts effective as you progress with your fitness and strength. And if you are training with us, either online, or in person, then this is also a great list for you so you can choose durable and useful equipment pieces that will help you build challenging workouts.
TOPLUS Yoga Mat
This is the ultimate yoga mat – great quality for a great price. Its thickness means you won’t feel discomfort, whether you’re doing a child’s pose or a mountain climber. The things to look for in a yoga mat are something that is durable because they get a lot of wear over time. They should also be non slip so they can be used on many different surfaces and so that you avoid any nasty falls as so often we end up dancing on our mats! It should also be easy to carry, so if you decide to head outside for a park workout with your personal trainer one day, it can come with you! A total necessity for yoga, pilates, HIIT…you name it. Nearly every workout style requires a good workout mat!
CAMTOA Resistance Bands
This is our top pick because this pack of resistance bands comes with three different strengths! And the key to good resistance bands is offering different strengths for progression but also for challenge for different parts of the body. Using a higher strength resistance band is ultimately what is going to push you and make you get stronger but for those days where you’re experiencing some muscle soreness, or maybe you’re just tired, you can always go for the easier option and still get a good workout. The other reason we cannot get enough of the resistance bands, and you will notice nearly all of our personal trainers have a pack on them in sessions, is because they are super lightweight. For something so lightweight, and that looks so harmless, you will be blown away at the results that a good set of resistance bands can achieve! So you can take them with you when you travel and easily store them at home. They are also incredibly low cost so they are one of the first things we encourage our clients to buy!
Exercises with resistance bands are never ending; from hip thrusts to lunges to squats to tricep pulls – they are brilliant for building all over body strength,
APPI 1kg Dumbbells
Oh the humble dumb-bell! We might overlook this weight in favour of newer, sexier, more complex machines, but the truth is you can’t beat a light weight for targeting muscles, performing small movements and getting that intense burn!
While these weights are just 1kg each, you’ll be amazing at the intense workout they can give you, especially if you are working with a personal trainer who knows how you can maximise their use. For example, they are great for levelling up your at-home barre and pilates workouts. These ones are our pick because they are super comfortable to hold and are non-slip. Non slip is important because as you get a sweat on, you definitely don’t want to be losing grip of your weights.
These dumbbells are also easy to store away! A brilliant addition to your workout kit as you look to move a step up from your bodyweight exercises. Most basic bodyweight moves can easily benefit from adding in a light weight!
Hurdilen Core Sliders
If you really want to engage and burn out the core, sliders are your answer. Sliders really challenge your core stability and can be placed under your hands or feet, depending on the exercise you’re performing. They’re also great for targeting your hamstrings and are dual-sided so they can be used on any kind of flooring. Again – you know it’s important to us, and we repeat it often but they fit both boxes – lightweight AND easy to store! This means you can easily use them in your fitness and personal training sessions, travel with them, and they aren’t an eyesore in your living room. They aren’t necessarily for beginners, we would use these for progression, e.g. progressing a static plank. You can use these under your hands for the upper body or under your feet to target the lower body, and they nearly always hit the core, because balance and stability is key!
Skipping Ropes
So one of the things our clients always ask us when we say their training plan is going to be designed for the home or garden is; but how? I have such limited space. The truth is that our trainers know that with the right equipment, space is really not an issue. And the perfect way to get cardio in, without having to run miles, which lets face it – is not at the top of anyone’s list is the skipping rope!! And trust us, it’s one of the fastest ways to get completely out of breath too! A skipping rope is such a good piece of your kit, and you can start slow and with time the progression can come in the form of speed and then different jumps, timings, length of time spent skipping etc. It’s also the perfect warm up and we sometimes just use it to egt the heart beating a little and start to get those muscles fired up. And you’ve got it, this is our top pick!
It has a number of things we like; it’s adjustable firstly, so it is suitable for different heights and people in your house! It’s of course lightweight, a common feature of most of our picks, it has memory foam grips and an incredibly durable wire! So it can take all the trips and hitting on the ground!
