Gear and Gadgets

The best home gym equipment

workout
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Written by Tim Barnes-Clay

Everything you need for a full workout without leaving the house.

RDX Leather-X Exercise Gym Training Fitness Sand Bag | £57.48 | www.rdxsports.com

Sand bags are a great way to get a full body workout whilst challenging your often-neglected stabiliser muscles. The uneven weight distribution turns everyday exercises like deadlifts and clean and jerk into a game of balance and dexterity as much as endurance and strength. This sand bag features a slick, gym friendly design with a thick foam jacket with sand fillings. The zippex™ closure makes adjusting the load far simpler than a homemade sandbag, which are infamous for leaking and splitting.

Pullup Mate | from £99.95 | www.pullupmate.co.uk

To get the best results from your bodyweight workouts, you need to include some bar crucial bar work like chin-ups, rows, dips, dead hangs, and leg raises. A standard home pullup bar is satisfactory for basic pullup variations, but it usually means wedging it in a door which limits your freedom of movement and is obtrusive. The Pullup Mate™ is an interesting British-made solution to these limitations, and it opens up added potential for exercises. It packs down almost flat in just a minute or two, meaning it doesn’t have to take permanent residence in your already-overcrowded garage.

CSX Dual Abdominal Roller Wheel | £19.99 | www.csxpro.com

In terms of value for money and potential for strength progression, the humble Ab Roller is one of the wisest investments you can make for core workouts. Competitive Sport Extreme produce one of the best ab rollers on the market which is used by serious athletes of all disciplines. The thick knee pads and foam handles help prevent wrist and knee aches and give extra grip, so you can work up a sweat and still keep reps under control. It’s also free of wobbling or loose parts, so the stability required is a result of the exercise, not due to poor construction. The included ebook will help you get started.

WOD Whipper Skipping Rope by Master of Muscle | £29.99 | www.masterofmuscle.com

This nine foot, adjustable, lightweight wire cable rope remains tangle-free and is designed to resist wear and tear over time. The 90-degree handle allows ultra-fast spinning, but you can start at any level and progress over time. It’s an ideal setup for quick circuits as part of your regular workouts. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can even learn to perform double unders and other advanced moves due to the speed of the Whipper jump rope.

Strength Shop Premium Latex Resistance Bands 41″ – Set 2  NO. 2, 3, & 4 | £89.99 | www.strengthshop.co.uk

Resistance bands may not be the sexiest of fitness gizmos, but they’re certainly a valuable addition any calisthenics workout. They can be used to make push-ups, dips, and other movements harder by dialling in extra resistance to ‘push’ against. This gives a new way of getting more mileage out of exercises, and it can even make movements like pull-ups easier to perform. They’re also good for ‘prehab’ on your off-days to aid injury prevention.