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Home fitness is becoming more and more popular, but to do a complete workout at home you need all the equipment. We are talking about small equipment and accessories that can “optimize” the effectiveness and comfort of training. Useful tools, effective but not cumbersome, easy to store in a closet or closet once we finish the workout.
But what are the best gym equipment for home?
Practicing physical activity is not as easy as it used to be, when a pair of shorts, a T-shirt, a pair of sneakers and a lot of motivation were enough. Today the market offers countless tools and clothing, making it difficult to understand which to choose and why.
In fact, we could define only a few of these accessories as “essential“, but it is undeniable that many others contribute to improve training in its entirety.
In this article, we suggest a limited range of “strategic” tools and accessories, showing their function and usefulness, not without offering slight tips on the choice of purchase – initial, for beginners, and in progress, for the no longer novices.
Exercise ball, gym belt, gym gloves and many other small tools and accessories…which are also ideal for a home gym.
5 Best Gym Equipment For Home
Exercise Ball
Exercise Ball, fitness ball and med ball, are the three names used to show this tool with ancient origins. Reinvented at the end of the 19th century, it was actually used – in a rudimentary variant – already in the classical period. It is essentially a spherical ballast, which can however differ according to weight, size, content, bouncing capacity, material and the presence or absence of handles or ropes.
The exercise ball is a real overload. It can therefore be useful in training strength, even elastic and explosive and endurance, depending on individual characteristics, weight and type of workout.
It finds application in specific or general muscle conditioning, metabolic training, weight loss, post-traumatic or preventive motor rehabilitation and more. It allows you to structure workouts with a high functional component, also stimulating balance and coordination.
Can not miss in a home gym, although it is of little use to strong individuals who continue to seek the stimulus of pure strength. A sensible initial choice could be to go for an exercise ball with handles, which offers a firmer grip and the possibility to grip it similarly to a dumbbell or kettlebell.
The weight depends on the trainer’s goal. For strength you will opt for a significant load, which will allow you to perform up to 12 consecutive repetitions; vice versa for endurance training (at least twice as many reps).
A good evaluation of criterion can be that of comparison with the “water case” (6 bottles of 1.5 litres weigh about 9 kilograms). Depending on how many times you can perform a complete squat while holding a crate of water in your arms, and regarding the objectives, you can choose a medical ball that is lighter, heavier or equal to it.
Besides this, you should purchase one that is 50% lighter, for training the upper body. You will only buy a heavier one when the increase in strength or endurance will make the workouts less effective – and never before 3 months from the start.
Fitness Bands
The term itself says it all: they are bands or rings or ropes made of rubbery elastic material.
Exercising longitudinal traction, fitness elastics offer resistance that translates into muscle fatigue. Their physical characteristic is to offer greater resistance as they reach the stretch limit.
The bands differ according to their specific structure, thickness, length, width, material and any accessories (such as handles); each range offers different degrees of resistance.
Fitness bands can be used in various ways. Probably the best known context is physiotherapy, rehabilitation in general and preventive gymnastics.
In reality they are also very useful in the specific muscle warm-up phase, especially the rotator cuff (shoulder).
With elastic bands you can in fact perform, before intense training for the upper body, internal and external rotation movements of the humerus, adduction and abduction of the same (on different planes).
In this way, the smaller muscles, usually hypotrophic, are stimulated, thus responsible for the wear and tear of the tendons on the shoulder joint.
In addition, elastics can be used to perform movements useful for training the muscles of practically the entire body: thighs, buttocks, calves, abdominals, lumbar, dorsal, pectoral, triceps, biceps and deltoids. In the context of circuit training, the use of elastic bands can be used for resistance training, metabolic improvement and weight loss; in short-term resistance training, on the other hand, they can be useful for the stimulation of strength and hypertrophy – in beginners.
Due to the negligible cost, it is recommended to buy 2-3 types right away. Let’s not forget that it is also possible to reduce their length to increase their resistance. In addition, the use of elastic bands lends itself considerably to isometric exercises, which are very useful for building muscle mass.
Gym Belt
The gym belt or weightlifting belt is a tool that sits midway between the garment and the fitness equipment. It is not used to protect your back.
On the contrary, it is useful to increase the stability of the core thanks to the increase in intra-abdominal pressure – a condition that is not without risk for people with heart disease or predisposed to hernias of various kinds (such as the groin) – and therefore to improve the performance of some exercises such as squat (squat) and deadlift (detachment from the ground).
It does not weaken the lumbar and paraspinal muscles. If it includes metal rings, the belt offers the possibility of attaching overloads such as cast iron discs or bumpers – via chain and carabiners.
There are various types of belts (regular shape or wider at a specific point), but they are almost all made of leather with steel buckle.
The belt is only essential if you systematically perform squats and deadlifts in your home gym. It can be useful, however, if you want to add an overload, in pull-ups and dips.
Like many other accessories, the gym belt should also be known how to use it.
First of all, it should be worn very tight; otherwise it is useless.
Secondly, if you don’t master a good lifting technique, don’t think that the belt alone can earn you who knows what loads.
It is necessary to be aware of the core (pelvic floor and abdominal belt) and to know how to activate it, as well as to know how to perform good diaphragmatic breathing (holding the Valsalva during the execution); only at this point, wearing a proper belt will be possible to increase intra-abdominal pressure, thus improving stability and strengthening the lift.
The minimum height of a gym belt is about 10 cm. Having a thinner belt at the top, once worn, it may be advisable to rotate it by placing the highest part in front of the belly – but it is not ideal.
Gym Wristbands
The term “wristbands” refers to two different products: wristbands and padded buckles.
The former should protect the wrist, in particular the tendons, from excessive fatigue and therefore inflammation.
The second, on the other hand, are used to improve grip on barbells or bars in order to prevent the muscles of the forearm and hands from sagging before those primarily targeted by the exercise.
Contemporary materials are mainly synthetics woven into fabrics.
We will be brief: the wrists are of little use in protecting the tendons.
This is because, unlike other critical areas of the body – such as the knee – in the wrists all tendons slide inside a “virtual cylinder” whose outer edges are made up of rigid bone segments.
Although they tighten them “at death”, their restraining action on the tendons is limited.
Let’s say the opposite with regard to the padded weightlifting buckles.
Alter egos of the metal hooks, tightening around the wrist on one side, on the other go to wrap the barbell or traction bar unloading the work of the flexor muscles of the hand and fingers.
A little practice is required to wear them correctly (the clamping strap should be facing downwards).
They prevent the failure of these more delicate areas, which often comes before that of the target muscles – buttocks, lumbar, thighs in the ground, and back in the pull-ups at the bar.
They are very useful and cheap; they cannot miss among the small home fitness gym accessories.
Gym Gloves
Gym gloves are technical clothing designed to reduce the mechanical stress on the palms of the hands induced by the practice of weighing.
Usually, they are made of synthetic leather and elastic material, do not cover the last two phalanges of the fingers and are fastened to the wrist by means of Velcro, elastic or laces.
They are not recommended in callisthenics in general, where maximum grip sensitivity is essential.
Gym gloves are not very useful, but this may depend on individual sensitivity.
They are mainly worn by women, who have an aesthetic necessity.
The friction on the skin tends to form blisters and calluses, which are unwelcome on women’s hands.
On the other hand, even if you use them you become easily dependent on them; this means that without them it is not possible to train.
We say: “better an extra manicure session than skipping a workout“.
To get the most out of our favourite equipment, we can also turn to technological help.
Read our article Best Fitness Trackers: Top 10 Products Ranked in 2020 to learn about the best fitness trackers to help us overcome our limits and achieve our fitness goals.
The Review
The 5 Best Gym Equipment For Home
Whatever the reason and whatever the place, you need the best gym equipment for home. If you don't know which one to choose, follow our advices before to buy them.
PROS
- Exercise Ball
- Fitness Bands
- Gym Belt
- Gym Wristbands
- Gym Gloves
Review Breakdown
- Rating
