Building Your Home Gym with a $200 Budget {{Free Download}}
I’m a home gym guy through and through. During my 14+ years in a Health Club members and co-workers used to think I was nuts for bypassing the state-of-the-art facility that I managed for my gym at home. For me, personally, it was important to separate my ‘office’ from my ‘gym’ and when you work at a gym, that gym becomes your office.
The other cool thing about having a home gym is that it takes on your personality. Minimalist? Kettlebells and dumbbells make great store and go options. Love the barbell? The accessibility to powerlifting gear has never been greater. Bodyweight junkie? All you need is a chunk of floor and you can get after it.
Home gyms are the best. And in this new ‘COVID-era’ I have had friends, family, and clients alike reach out to me inquiring about ‘the best’ home gym gear to add to their new or existing home gym setup.
As any reader of Purposeful Strength knows, the best articles to write answer the questions of the people.
So here we are. Well kind of. I wanted to make this build out a little different. I wanted to set a price cap on this gym build. I live in a pretty outdoorsy state (Vermont) and a lot of people find their fitness in the mountains, side walks, parks, and the slopes (when there is snow). So this article really features building a gym for $200.
Yep, lean baby, lean.
For this list there were some criteria that must be met.
Price per pound. I love some traditional iron, but in today’s market you’ll pay north of $2 per pound any day of the week. If you have the budget for that, awesome, but many do not.
Portable. I believe the best part of ANY gym, home or commercial, is the space available. If your gym is smushed together and you have to shuffle from machine to machine, that’s no fun. I wanted to pick items that could be moved around, stashed in storage, and brought with you if you wanted to workout in your front yard or on the go.
Multi-use. Whenever I buy or recommend equipment, I want to be able to use it for a variety of movements. Specialty equipment has its place, but for 90% of the population, the more uses something has, the better off it is.
Can you actually order this product and get it. Sounds crazy, but with so much stuff in the fitness industry being listed as backordered, I wanted to be able to put together a list of things you could go to Amazon and literally order right now. **If you have a Prime account, you can probably get most of these items with free shipping.
*The following links are NOT affiliate links. I make NO money on any purchases. This is 100% recommendations on products that I think provide value in a home gym setting without breaking the bank.
So here we go!
Our home gym shopping spree starts with the big ticket Items. Items that are going to be on the ‘heavier’ side. These pieces are going to allow you to build strength but also bring some serious variety and portability to your home gym set up.
These things are sweet. When COVID had the world shut down I was able to get an 80lb bag in 3 days and give it the absolute business for about 12 weeks. I was impressed with the durability and functionality of the bag. There are 3 different sizes to choose from with prices ranging from $45 to $80. I recommend the 80 pounder because you can always partially fill it for a smaller weight unit.
The aqua bag meets the price, portability, and multi use spec’s across the board.
I think everyone is familiar with the TRX system. Here’s a fun fact for you...the patent ran out on the TRX in the early 2010’s so their design was replicated across the board by cheaper manufacturers. A TRX unit costs somewhere between $99-$149 dollars. A simple search on Amazon for a ‘bodyweight suspension trainer’ will give you a bunch of units in different colors and most likely, with different accessories (bands, foam pads, added weights, etc.). The one linked above is about $41 and comes with some ankle bands. Win.
What you need to look for when addressing these cheaper models is the weight capacity, and what the unit is made of. You want a heavy nylon build that can support north of 200lbs...the carabiner attachment is probably pretty cheap depending on the weight limit. The thing to remember here is the suspension unit is only taking a percentage of your weight, regardless, I recommend going to your local hardware store and buying a real deal carabiner to reinforce what’s actually there.
If I had to pick ONE item on this list...the bodyweight suspension trainer is it.
Moving away from the big ticket items, the list now starts to round out with the usual gym items.
Resistance bands are a great add. They provide cheap poundage - a normal ½ inch band provides about 50lbs of tension when fully stretched- and can be attached all over the place to give a variety of uses.
These Tubing bands with handle and leg attachments are about $25. Can’t go wrong here and you score some extra accessories.
My personal favorite are Superbands. You can get a full set here for $29. These definitely aren’t commercial grade, meaning they would wear out if used every hour on the hour for days on end, but for home use, my set (which is the exact set linked here) have been going strong for 3 years. Gotta love the durability.
The list finishes with some sneaky underdogs. These are the cheap fillers that can round out your home gym arsenal of strength and give you the same portable and multi-use functionality required to even be considered.
The next time you are at Walmart or Home Depot, look for some Furniture sliders. I got a full set at Harbor Freight for $4, but this link is a set for $12. Typically you get a couple pairs...you definitely won't need more than 2, but it doesn’t hurt to have extra’s.
The bodyweight trainer above came with ankle bands, but I like to recommend something like these Ankle Bands that are a little more heavy duty and can apply some serious tension to your hips. For $13 you can’t go wrong.
BONUS SECTION
Now, if you asked me to go beyond the list above, I would recommend the following two things. Both can be used for similar purposes, but having a Steps/Risers ($33) allows you to perform some great lower body exercises, can increase the difficulty of traditional exercises, and gives you something to lay on or perform rows from. The next step up would be a Flat Bench ($52) that could be used for the same thing as the step/riser set but provide a more sturdy option. Both work, but again, but are not truly required, which is why they are in the bonus section.
If you add everything up you get to a grand total of $200 on the dot! If you add in the both bonus sections the total climbs to $285. Not too shabby! As mentioned wayyy at the start- most, if not all of these items, are free shipping on Amazon. Some with a Prime account and some without. Score!
Hopefully this shopping list helps you make some decisions on your next home gym purchase. If you think I missed anything, shoot me a comment below!