6 Essentials for Your Home Gym REWRITE!

When I came across this article, I thought - FINALLY, someone else gets it!  You don't have to leave your house to get in shape!  They had me at the intro.... but then I read more.  OUCH.

No.  No.  No.  - You do not need most of this stuff.  It's simple - it's just not necessary at all.  I'll show you what I mean.

6 Essentials for Your Home Gym

Resistance Bands

Joining a gym is a great way to get in shape, but it's not the only way. You can get an effective workout without ever leaving the house. Here's what you need and how to set up a gym at home.

Bands or "tubes" are great because they are compact, portable, and allow for a wide range of motion. Resistance bands come in 3-5 different levels of resistance and usually run around $15 for a set.

OK, I'm fine here, I love using resistance band.  Seriously - I really love them, I love free weights more, but sometimes even in serious lifting sessions with Tony Horton, I end up using the bands just to change it up.  There is a set of bands that I just fell in love with made my Gold's Gym - it has 3 bands on one handle, so you can only step on 1, 2 or all 3 of them to get the right resistance.  Nice work so far.

Dumbbells (Free weights)

A good set of dumbbells will help you start a strength training routine. Expect to pay $10-$20 for a pair of 5-pound weights. Prices will increase as the weight goes up.

I do love the dumbbells, but the price amount of weight is sort of wishful thinking here.  Yes a set of 5 pounders should cost you about $10, but that's just simply not going to be enough for a lot of exercises for even the most newbie female worker-outer :)  For many exercises, you could easily expect to need 10, 15, 20 or even 25's just when starting out.  This is why I love the resistance bands so much - they work when you just need more weight.

Stability Ball

An exercise ball goes by many names (stability, Swiss, physio, etc.) and is extremely versatile. You can use them in place of an exercise bench for many exercises, improving your balance and coordination. The balls come in different sizes (based on your height and weight), and a rainbow of colors, and cost around $25 apiece.

Well... ok, yeah, I do love my stability ball.  If you don't have an exercise bench, you can use it, and it's great for many different kinds of plank type moves.  Certainly not needed, but they're usually pretty affordable.  Mine has a very small leak or something - because I have to blow it up every single time I use it.  hmmm.... time to shop at my beachbody store.

Exercise Mat

Place a good exercise mat on the floor to stretch comfortably and cushion your body during floor exercises—a must if you do a lot of Pilates or yoga. For about $20 you can get a sticky mat (for Pilates and yoga), which is thin—but better than a hard floor. The price goes up for larger and thicker mats.

OK, again - I agree :)  Pretty good article here so far right?  Mostly cheap and affordable stuff that is used in a lot of different ways.  I have a love/hate relationship with yoga, it's so so so good for me, but sometimes I'd just rather be lifting some iron.  Still, Yoga is the Fountain of Youth (thanks Tony Horton!) and you gotta do it.  Every Thursday of my life, I'm on the yoga mat..

Jump Rope

Use a $15 jump rope for a quick and effective cardio workout. Slowly jumping rope burns 120 calories every 10 minutes; jump faster and burn 140 calories in 10 minutes. Opt for a thick cloth rope or a plastic beaded rope; thinner plastic ropes tend to twist easier.

Jumping rope seems like a great idea right?  Two things that haven't occured to you since you were 8 years old.  Jumping rope is AMAZINGLY HARD!  I whip the hell out of my back every single time I try to get my rope jumping skills together.  I'm not saying I won't eventually get it together - but, it's going to take a while.  Also, jumping rope takes a good deal of space, and high ceilings too.  I actually can't jump rope in my basement gym because the ceilings are too low.... and I'm horrible at it.

Cardio Machines

Once you have the basics, consider investing in a piece of cardio equipment. Make sure your machine has different resistance levels to allow for workout variety and challenge as you progress. Costs vary, from $400 for a basic stationary bike to over $600 for a good treadmill.

Here's where they lost me.  I can't even express how much you don't need a huge machine taking up room, unless of course you need something to hang your clothes on.

Our bodies weigh enough for amazing cardio with just a little bit of open floor space.  Honestly, I never use machines for cardio.  Just simple cardio moves found in Insanity, P90X or One on One with Tony Horton.  It's just simply a waste of money.  If you want to run - just go outside and RUN!  The ground is like one huge ass treadmill.  And best of all, you don't have to look at a wall the whole time.