Part of keeping exercise simple is having a home gym. It doesn’t need to be complicated at all. A few pieces of equipment and you can have an economical workout right in your own home. The best part about buying exercise equipment is that except in rare cases, it lasts for longer than you do.

Who is a home gym for?

• You don’t want to leave the house to go to a gym
• You don’t like exercising in front of others
• You want to be able to get an effective workout at home
• You think exercise should be free (or nearly so)

In this article, I’ll talk about the Justin Qualler home gym—the only gym you’ll ever need to build a strong and healthy body!

The Pull Up Bar

You can get a full-body workout with just bodyweight exercises, but you need a place to be able to do pull ups. I’ve done pull ups on I-beams, but that really makes the grip the limiting factor which isn’t ideal.

If you’re handy, you can fashion a pull up bar by going to a Home Depot. At one point, I was doing pull ups off of a steel bar that was attached below joists in the basement, my head fitting neatly between the joists with every rep. That was one of my favorite pull up bars.

Low Budget – The Door Frame Pull Up Bar

For a small amount of money, you can also buy a doorframe pull up bar. I’ve used the Iron Gym door frame pull up bar. It works great. For twenty bucks, you have a spot to do pull ups and it supports up to 300 pounds so you can do weighted pull ups. See Qualler’s Product Review for the Door Frame Pull Up Bar.

Medium Budget – Trapeze Rigging Pull Up Bar

For a little over $200 you can buy a Trapaze Rigging Pull Up bar. I’ve been using this for over half a year and have no issues with it. It’s a solid unit and it assembles and disassembles quickly–this makes it perfect for a home where you don’t have a spot to have a pull up bar set up permanently.

Unlimited Budget – TAPS Pull Up Bar

If I had a room where I could leave a pull up bar set up, I would consider purchasing the expensive TAPS unit. It’s a sturdy pull up that I’ve used at various workshops and certifications. It’s a more permanent installation, although you could assemble / disassemble each workout if you’re the patient type. You can check it out over at tacticalathlete.com.

What You Can Do with a Pull Up Bar and Bodyweight Exercises

You can build a formidable body with just bodyweight exercises. Here is a SHORT list of exercises you can do without purchasing any more equipment:

• Pull ups
• Chin ups
• Push ups
• Dips
• Squats
• Sit ups
• Planks
• Handstand push ups
• Calf raises
• Jogging
• Sprinting
• Joint mobility
• Bridges

Each of these exercises has considerable variation. For instance, with push ups, you could do divebomber, hindu, one arm, triangle, incline, decline, clapping, pike, finger tip, extended arm, pausing, and more. Creativity will get you a long way, too. You can wrap a towel around a door handle in such a way that you can do bodyweight rows to balance out your push ups.

A consistent program of these types of exercises will keep you healthy and lean (assuming you eat right) with plenty of strength for moving, lifting heavy things, or carrying your bride to be across the threshold (assuming she eats right, too).

Cool Add-Ons for BodyWeight Training

It is tempting to rush in and buy weights immediately. But consider: does it makes sense to add weight when you haven’t mastered your bodyweight? Spend some time learning the basics thoroughly before adding weight. Here are some additional things that improve your bodyweight training:

Yoga Mat

You might want one of these if you have hardwood floors. It’ll protect the floor and can help you with doing some ab exercises on the ground. I also use the Yoga mat for bridging, for keeping my feet in place when doing one arm push ups, and, of course, for Yoga. As far as I’m concerned the Yoga mat doesn’t need to be anything special, I have an Amazon link over on the product page for one that’ll work just fine.

Lifeline Jungle Gym XT

The Lifeline Jungle Gym XT enables powerful exercises, like the leg curl, the atomic push up, and the bodyweight row. You can wrap it around the pull up bar and do dips or push ups from the handles. Additionally, if you travel, this is a great piece to have with you to get a great workout. I love wrapping it around a tree branch and doing pull ups. Check out Qualler’s Product Review for the Jungle Gym.

Lifeline Weighted Jump Rope

Jumping rope is a great exercise. It strengthens the feet, angles, and calves–and of course the heart and lungs. I like this weighted rope because it also strengthens the wrist, forearms, shoulders, and, it makes the exercise more difficult from a cardio perspective.

Swiss Ball

The Swiss ball can make stomach exercises more difficult, it can be used for leg curls, for chest presses, and it can be used for postural exercises. Some people sit on them at their desk, too. My primary reason for owning one is for postural work.

Kettlebells

You can get plenty strong just using your bodyweight and a pull up bar. Adding weight is a fun way to train, however. My weight of choice is the kettlebell because of the limited space I have and because the kettlebell gives me all the strength I could ever need.

I started training with kettlebells in 2003. For me, you can’t beat their convenience and their ability to train your body for both strength and endurance. Using kettlebells, you’ll learn how to coordinate your body, develop a strong grip, and can develop a lean and strong body.

You can take a kettlebell to the beach, the park, or just keep it in your house and get quick workouts.

• For men, I recommend a 16kg, a 20kg, and a 24kg kettlebell.
• For women, the 8kg, 12kg, and 16kg kettlebells.

When I first got into kettlebells, I got all the sizes. But, how strong do you need to be? I can accomplish nearly all my strength objectives with a 16kg kettlebell and bodyweight exercises.

Check out Lifeline’s Kettlebells.

See my top reasons to buy a kettlebell.

Extras

Here are some extra things you might want to leave room for in your home gym budget.

Grippers

Iron Gym Hand Grippers are a great addition to home gym, or, more specifically, to your desk gym. Squeeze these suckers five times a day, 5 days a week, and you’ll develop a pair of hands strong enough to open any jar. See my post about Captains of Crush training at your desk.

Shoes

Minimalist shoes are important. Padded shoes mess up your proprioception and cause problems where none needed to exist. Soft shoes cause problems. I train barefoot 90% of the time because strong feet are important. However, for running and for occasional workouts, shoes are nice. Here are some websites wear you can find some good minimalist shoes:

www.vibramfivefingers.com
www.softstarshoes.com
www.Merrell.com/barefoot
www.vivobarefoot.com
www.zemgear.com
www.newbalance.com/minmus

Iron Mind Dip / Chin Belt

Buy one of Iron Mind’s Dip and Chin belts and it’ll last a lifetime. Chin ups and pull ups are great, but if you want to really add strength, add weight. This belt makes adding weight easy. I’ve been using mine for over six years and it still looks like new.

Timer

Whether you use a regular old kitchen timer or something like a Gym Boss, you need to have some way to time your rest between sets. I use my iPhone and use a stopwatch on watch to time the total workout.