The Best Home Gym Equipment For Beginners During Lockdown 2021

In this new article, we are talking home gym equipment and offer you our recommendations for the best home gym equipment for beginners during lockdown 2021.

What is the best piece of gym equipment to have at home?

The best single piece of home gym equipment for beginners is a pair of hex dumbbells at a weight that you are comfortable performing multiple exercises with.

You won’t be able to lift heavy if you buy a pair of weights that you can use for multiple exercises but then your muscles cannot read the numbers on your dumbbells and so have no idea how heavy your dumbbells are.

How you perform the exercises greatly impacts how your muscles react. This is exactly why you can build muscle with light weights.

A lightweight dumbbell will very quickly appear heavy if the correct form is maintained during any exercise performed with a good time under tension duration.

With the gyms currently closed

With gyms currently closed because of COVID pandemic 2021 and with the uncertainty as to when they will reopen or if they will at all, it is becoming increasingly difficult to stay in shape.

Many of us have had our daily routines uprooted giving us extra time to walk to the fridge to get those comfort foods as we set in for another night of Netflix or Amazon Prime.

Having a daily routine that incorporates exercise is both good for our physical health it is also extremely important for our mental wellbeing. So it is important to just keep moving. Just getting out and about walking the dogs or going for a run are good forms of cardio exercise but what do you do when you want to get a more total body workout what are the options for you?

Well, you are probably going to have to buy some basic home gym equipment and hit YouTube to look up some of many the fitness YouTubers that can help you get started. We recommend Athlene X YouTube Channel as a good starting point.

The Best Home Gym Equipment For Beginners During Lockdown 2021

Let’s get started with a key piece of budget home gym equipment and something that everyone should have if you are looking to build some muscle or simply to maintain the muscle you already have.

Resistance bands are a must-have during lockdown 2021

Resistance bands are great for beginners and those with experience. The likes of Sylvester Stallone advocate the use of bands as a great way to train especially in later life.

Resistance bands are indeed great for young and old alike and negate the need to buy any free weights making them a very affordable must-have piece of gym equipment for the home user.

It is possible to hit every muscle with a good set of resistance bands.

Biceps, Triceps, the chest, the legs they can all be hit in a way that rivals the benefits of using the most expensive equipment at the local gym. 

They take up no space at home and can be used anywhere. There really are no real disadvantages to having and using resistance bands.

A big benefit to using resistance bands is their ability to keep the targeted muscle under tension. Time under tension is a key element in maintaining and building muscle.

Why resistance bands are just so good

To build muscle mass you need to challenge the muscles

Bicep dumbbells curls, for example, take the weight through a large range of motion and builds muscle. But some parts of the lift offers the biceps very little resistance while other parts of the bicep curl offer much more resistance. It is the resistance part of the lift that offers the stimulus the biceps need to grow.

This is known as the strength curve of the lift.

So to make this easier to understand, the bicep curl starts easy and gets much harder and then gets easier as you get to the top of the range of motion.

The same can be said for the shoulder press or any other band exercise variant.

It’s much harder to get the weight above your head but much easier to hold the weight above your head when it has travelled from A or B.

Resistance bands offer you a strength curve that just gets harder and more demanding as you complete your reps.

As the resistance bands stretch the tension just continues to grow and is at its max at the top of the range.

The only downside to bands over free weights is that you can lift heavy with weights but then you can argue that the strength curve gained by using bands really challenges the need to lift heavy.

With that, all said the best scenario is to have both dumbbells and resistance bands as part of any home gym equipment list.

Other uses of resistance bands

As well as being great for building muscle bands are also great for maintaining muscle and toning muscle. 

I often like to use bands simply to warm up before I move onto to using free weights.

For an added challenge incorporate your band work with free weights.

Different types of resistance bands

There are 2 main types of resistance bands that are available. These are:

1. Loop Bands
2. Tube Bands with handles

Loop bands are continuous flat loops that can be used for a variety of purposes.

They can be used for bodyweight assistance on exercises such as pull-ups and muscle-ups and can also be used to increase the difficulty of push-ups. They are also great for performing shoulder presses and curls and when anchored to a door or a bar anything solid you can perform exercises such as chest flys.

Tube Bands are very similar with the addition of padded handles. These handles help the comfort of some exercises and hinder others. My personal preference is the loop bands.

I have used both in the past but the loop bands seem to give you more exercise options and last longer than the tube bands.

Resistance Bands – Price Check

Dumbbells

Dumbbells are probably the most common gym equipment that can be found in the home and for good reason.

Free weights build muscle, maintain muscle and tone muscle but unlike resistance bands, they do take up quite a bit of space in the home.

Because dumbbells are set at specific weight intervals you really need a full set of weights because as you start to get used to lifting you get used to the amount of weight you are lifting for this reason when you get comfy you need to up the weight to continue to see the real benefits of weight training.

Rather than buying a full set of dumbbells, you could opt for a set of interchangeable dumbbells, a single pair of dumbbells that you can change interchange the weight on.

If you are going to invest in a traditional set of Hex dumbbells (that is what I did when getting started with our home gym) rather than an adjustable pair then you’re going to need a storage rack.

You are not going to want to have your weights all over the floor. Believe me, it is very painful when you accidentally kick one of your ill-placed weights that you quickly rush off and order a rack.

You will need something like the AKYEN A-Frame Dumbbell Rack that has a weight limit of 570 pounds (258 kilograms)

The image below shows my current set up alongside the AKYEN A-Frame Dumbbell Rack Stand.

Weight Benches

If you are going to spend money on a set of dumbbells then you will also need to get yourself a weight bench. Getting yourself a weight bench will allow you to perform dumbbell bench presses.

Bench presses are key to developing the chest.

If space is an issue then look for something that is foldable and can be stored away.

You will also need to be able to adjust the height and angle of your bench. This will allow for incline, flat and decline presses.

Kettlebells

Kettlebells are a very versatile addition to your home gym

They are ideal for squats, lunges, thrusts, presses, deadlifts and a whole lot more.

The alternative to buying a set of kettlebells is to buy an adjustable weight kettlebell such as the Bowflex Select Tech Adjustable Kettlebell

If you already have a set of dumbells and are not sure about whether you need to invest in a set of kettlebells then the good news is that you may not need to.

You can simply convert your dumbells to kettlebells by purchasing a handle attachment.

Kettle Gryp is a very handy adjustable weight grip that connects to your dumbbell and converts it into a Kettlebell.

It’s a solution that adds additional uses to your dumbbells and saves you space from needing to store kettlebells.

Kettle Gryp Price Check

Pullup Bar

Having and using a pull-up bar is a very inexpensive way to get a great upper body workout.

A good quality pull-up bar allows you to pretty much work the entire body. It can be used for pull-ups, chin-ups, leg raises. When it is removed from the door frame it can be used for sit-ups, push-ups, dips, and so much more.

Pull up bars are the perfect tool for performing intense upper body, workouts at home using only the weight of your own body. This small piece of fitness equipment is so useful. They are very inexpensive, anyone serious about building a sculpted physique should own one.

There are a few different kinds of home pull up bar, some more portable than others. But in general, pull up bars, aka, chin-up bars, are composed of metal, some kind of foam or rubber grip, have a means of being secured to a doorframe, wall, or ceiling

Pull-up bar comparison and Price Check

The Best Home Gym Equipment for Beginners During Lockdown 2021 – Wrapping Up

All the equipment listed above are valuable additions to any home gym setup.

We are living in difficult times currently with no clear way back to normality. With gyms closed it is becoming increasingly difficult to stay fit and healthy both physically and mentally. 

With the use of a simple set of resistance bands or just a pair of dumbbells, it is possible to get in a full-body workout anytime you want making them the best pieces of gym equipment to have at home.

Buying some basic home gym equipment can help keep you positive and motivated and will help you make better lifestyle choices during lockdown 21.

Related Articles

Juicing vs Blending which is better for a healthy lifestyle?

Best Superfoods for weight loss – 6 of my favourites

Summary

Article Name

The Best Home Gym Equipment For Beginners During Lockdown

Description

In this new article, we are talking home gym equipment and offer you our recommendations for the best home gym equipment for beginners during lockdown.

Author

Dexter Roona

Publisher Name

Infobunny

Publisher Logo