Best Home Exercise
Equipment 2024
By Richard Mitchell and Mogsy Ford
Updated May 2024
There are many reasons to exercise at home. The best home exercise equipment can help you build fitness and stay fit during times when it's difficult to get out or if you don't want (or can't) go to a gym.
Why Exercise at Home?
1. You can't get to a gym
Home exercise is very appropriate when you can't get to a gym, Maybe there is no gym within convenient distance of your home. Or else you don't like going to the gym, for whatever reason. Home exercise equipment can be a great substitute!
In the image below we are training on our turbo trainer at home - this is Mogsy's bike, so it's a little small for Richard!
On the turbo trainer!2. Off Season Training
In the Swimrun 'off season', the weather may make it impossible for you to train outdoors. So, your off season training may have to take place in a gym or at home. Many people prefer to train in the comfort of their own home and may not like the gym atmosphere (or costs!).
There are many home exercise equipment options to keep your fitness levels up and train for the next Swimrun season including the treadmill, a static bike or a turbo trainer for your own bike, or an elliptical machine. We will be covering our ideas for the best home exercise equipment below!
3. Are you an injured swimrunner?
We all know that injury sucks when you're a swimrunner! If you are unable to run or swim due to injury, there are often other options to keep you training. Mogsy found her bike on the turbo trainer was great when recovering from a slipped disc injury (sat in an upright position!) and this exercise equipment is also currently helping with a minor hamstring injury.
The elliptical trainer is also excellent if you have a running injury as it isn't weight bearing and is low impact.
We do of course recommend you take advice from your physician if you have an injury before undertaking any exercise program.
Best Home Exercise Equipment
1. Turbo Trainer
We are including this first as it is the piece of exercise equipment that we found the most useful during the lockdown. You do of course need your own bike to be able to use a Turbo Trainer. It doesn't necessarily have to be a road bike, any mountain or hybrid bike is fine to use.
When you can't get outdoors on your bike, turbo trainers are great to keep fit and come into their own in winter when it's too cold or may be dangerous and icy outside. It is said one hour on the turbo is equivalent to 2 - 3 hours on the road and there are many different sessions you can find online to keep the interest there! Video training sessions on You Tube are also available where you are covering a 'virtual route' and there is the option to train online with others!
It can be an idea to buy a fan as a turbo workout can be pretty strenuous! You can of course make it a lower impact workout if you are training with a bit of an injury or you are a swimrunner just starting out on your cycling journey!
If you are confined to the house for any reason, a very good option is to purchase online and we have found some great deals for you on Amazon!
Tacx Flow Smart Turbo Trainer
We have a Tacx Turbo Trainer similar to the Flow Smart Trainer below.
This is a budget friendly option with way more features than our basic turbo trainer as it's a 'Smart Trainer'. These are new to the home exercise equipment world! It's fully interactive and responds to input from a computer or app like Zwift. It can reach a maximum resistance of 800 watts and mimic a slope up to 6%. It can link directly to your laptop, tablet or smartphone.
Click here for further details and the best price for this great trainer!
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Peloton Bike+ | Indoor Stationary Exercise Bike with 24” HD, Anti-Reflective Rotating Touchscreen
Unlock the ultimate total-body workout and explore thousands of classes that go beyond cycling with the Peloton and Home Stationary Exercise Bike!
Find the best price and read more HERE on Amazon.
Best Home Exercise Equipment
2. The Treadmill
The treadmill gives you the chance to run/jog/walk in the comfort of your home - a bonus when the weather is bad or you are in confinement and have no option but to stay at home.
Running outside demands more of your body than running on a treadmill, however we must admit we both prefer the outdoor running to a treadmill (also known as 'the dreadmill'!!!)
Having said that, in circumstances like the current situation, a treadmill can be invaluable to keep your fitness levels and running performance up.
Below are some of the benefits of a treadmill workout:
- get a varied workout, set your own pace and increase/decrease incline. You can still get a hill workout on a treadmill.
- if coming back from injury you can stop at any time - if you are out running and you are suddenly in pain you have to still get home!
- less impact on joints than running on the road, possibly leading to fewer injuries.
- customize your workout with many different programs available
- most treadmills now allow you to easily monitor heart rate, having built in systems
- to stop the boredom of running on a treadmill, you can watch TV, attach your iPad, or listen to music
XTERRA Fitness TR150 Folding Treadmill
XTERRA Fitness are an excellent company known for providing training equipment and programs for a comfortable, effective workout.
The TR150 treadmill is specifically designed to be used in your home and can be folded up and easily stored away. Space saving can be an important aspect, especially if you are living in an apartment.
The main features of this product are:
- 5" easy to read console to monitor time, speed, distance, calories & pulse
- Direct access speed keys
- Hand pulse grips to keep you in your training zone
- XTRASoft cushioned deck - maximum impact absorption with a large running surface (16" x 50")
- Adjustable incline - 3 settings
- Powerful smooth & quiet motor
- Quick easy to use fold up design
This treadmill has good reviews and is great value - as one reviewer said "Definitely a fabulous bang for your buck!" It is certainly on our best home exercise equipment list.
You can read more about this treadmill and find the best deal on Amazon HERE
Treadmill iPad and Laptop Holder
SurfShelf Treadmill iPad and Laptop Holder
The SurfShelf Treadmil iPad and Laptop Holder enables you to Watch online TV, DVDs, check your email, Facebook, play games and catch up on blogs - all while you workout! This laptop holder works for elliptical trainers and other home workout equipment too. A velcro strap holds your laptop secure.
For the best deal on Amazon CLICK HERE
Best Home Exercise Equipment
3. Online Video Workouts
We normally supplement our Swimrun training with online video HIIT and Abs workouts, but recently we were doing more online videos than usual!
Also in our part of the world, Spain, many fitness instructors are doing their own online videos to keep people active on a daily basis.
Our favorite online video workouts are by Joe Wicks, also know as the Body Coach - you can find all his workouts on YouTube and subscribe to his channel. It's a great way to exercise in your own home and you don't actually need equipment for his routines - they are done using your own body weight.
Below is the 20 minute HIIT and Abs workout we just did today. We also followed it with his 9 minute Abs workout and felt we had done something! We quite often have Joe Wicks stomach muscle aches the following day so it must be working :)
Best Home Exercise Equipment
4. Elliptical Trainer
The elliptical trainer is becoming a very popular exercise machine to use at home. The benefits of this exercise equipment include:
- Total body workout
- Effective cardiovascular exercise
- Low impact workout
- Increased calorie burning
- Space saving machine
Training on an elliptical machineThe best elliptical machines have varying resistance levels and you do get a true total body workout as as you push down on the pedals your lower body is working and your upper body is working via the handlebars while doing a running motion.
The elliptical is a great machine if you are coming back from injury as there is less strain on your joints. The elliptical machines on the market vary in size and many are very small and space-saving. There is even one that you use under your desk while you work! Read more about the Stamina Inmotion elliptical here.
Schwinn 430 Elliptical Trainer
We have been looking at some of the best elliptical machines on the market - Mogsy used to run an elliptical trainer review website so has quite a bit of knowledge in this area.
Schwinn is one of the best brands in the exercise equipment industry, being excellent quality but also being low cost with many of the features found in the really expensive trainers.
The Schwinn 430 Elliptical Trainer has the following benefits:
- 22 pre-set workout programs
- Goal Track technology to set individual exercise goals
- Easy start up and smooth, quiet workouts
- DualTrack 2 LCD screen
- 20 resistance levels to vary intensity
- In-console speakers and media shelf for your device
- USB charging point
- 6 different incline options
- Moving and fixed handlebars for varied workouts
CLICK HERE for more information on this great trainer and to get the best price!
Why not get the excellent SurfShelf iPad and Laptop holder mentioned above to make your elliptical workout more fun!
Best Home Exercise Equipment
5. Circuit Training
Create your own 'circuit' in your home using any equipment you have such as weights, med ball, a static bike or you can improvise using bottles of water or cans for weights!
We have created our own custom home workouts involving running sections, a weights section, a bike section and an abs section, using interval training, eg. 7 minutes of each section repeated 3 times.
You can find these home workout plans here
We have also found a great fitness game you can play using a pack of cards! Read about it here on our workout plan page here....
6. Weights
Add resistance training to your workouts with a dumbbell set, for example, the AmazonBasics 20-pound dumb bell set. Resistance training will build strength, and help burn calories.
This is a lighter dumbbell set and includes three pairs of dumbbells in 2-pound, 3-pound, and 5-pound sizes so you can vary your exercise routine and progress to heavier weights if you wish. You can increase the number of repetitions using the lighter weights.
We highly recommend using weights in your home exercise workouts. You can find the best price for this set of weights HERE on Amazon.
Heavier Dumbbell Weights
This dumbbell set, the BalanceFrom GoFit All-Purpose Dumbbells set, comes with 3 pairs of dumbbells in 3-pound, 5-pound and 8-pound sizes, so giving a heavier weight option than the above set.
A weight stand is included as well. You can find them on Amazon HERE for home delivery.
We are currently reviewing the best treadmills, elliptical machines, static bikes, rowing machines and other home exercise equipment such as weights and yoga mats and will add any new equipment we find.
The best home exercise eqipment will all help in your off season training or in situations where you can't go to a gym, so do bookmark this page and return soon!
Happy Home Training!
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