Home Gym Essentials

I've had this plan for a while to create my own home gym. It started about a year or two ago when I impulse bought a yoga mat and fitness ball for stretching and ab work. Since then I've bought and acquired a couple accessories including ankle weights, an Olympic bar and weights, and some adjustable dumbbells.

I was looking for my next upgrade when this weekend I spotted the Iron Gym at my local Sports Authority for around $30. A friend of mine has it already, or something like it, and I enjoyed using it, so I thought I'd give it a go.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Iron Gym, it's a pull-up bar that fits in your door frame. It can also be used to keep your feet in place while doing sit-ups and it can be placed upside downs on the ground and used for either push-ups or bar dips.

When I first opened the box there were about five parts, four screws and bolts, a tool to tighten down the bolts, and an easy to follow instruction booklet. I actually messed it up and used the large screws on the small screw bit, but the mistake was easily rectified and I assembled it correctly the second time.

I performed an entire workout with it on Saturday and I am still sore. I guess my lats were a little weak and the mass repetitions of bar dips and push-ups created a burn in my triceps, but so far no soreness there. I'm beginning to think that the Iron gym was the perfect addition to my home gym, but I still wanted more.

For most of my seated dumbbell work, I've been using a flat chair which is effective but it isn't always in the position or angle that I want it to be in. The same could be said for my lying down work which I predominantly do on my aforementioned fitness ball. The ball is great for bringing up the stabilizer muscles when doing main exercises like bench and ab work, but sometimes I need a flat surface do to more heavy lifting or specialized work. What I really needed was a good workout bench.

After my workout with the Iron Gym, I went back to Sports Authority and checked out what else they had to offer. Turns out they didn't have much, but one bench in particular caught my eye. The 7-position Folding Bench is adjustable from a slight (about 10-20 degree) decline up to about an 85 degree angle, and many angles in-between. When I purchased the adjustable bench, it was fully assembled. It did, however, come with instructions to assemble, oddly enough. The price tag was around $120 or so, but I had already signed up for the "save $25 on your next purchase over $100 promotion" (see Sports Authority website). After tax and the $25 discount, I paid somewhere around $100.

After spending a total around $130 in the last couple days, my home gym is one gigantic step closer to becoming complete. The local Bay area gyms cost anywhere from $20-100 a month and anywhere from $60-$120 in "start-up" fees. The way I see it, I just saved myself from a lot of gym fees, gas money, and wasted time while waiting for the local gym rats to finish their baby curls. Money well spent.

What are the best purchases you've made for your personal home gym?