Essential equipment for a home gym
When it comes to outfitting a home gym, space and budget are always big considerations. Brutus believes in a minimalist approach to fitness. All movements should be simple, safe, and efficient. Our focus is functional movements that build and maintain strength for decades, while preventing injury and only taking a few hours a week or less. Below we present the best home gym workout equipment and the three tiers for a home gym that fit our model of functional fitness.
Basic
Having the best home gym equipment is simple, just buy a few kettlebells. It’s usually best to start with singles and then add more kettlebells or get a few pairs. For men with a bit of experience, a 16-kg and a 24-kg kettlebell would be a great start. For women, try a 12-kg and 20-kg kettlebell. Eventually, you can expand to having three pairs of kettlebells. Men: 16, 24, 32 kg. Women: 12, 16, 20 kg.
Intermediate
With a solid collection of six kettlebells, we suggest adding a pull-up bar next. The simplest version is a wall or ceiling mounted bar. We suggest one that is anchored to framing studs and not door mounted. A more expensive option, but one that takes more space, is free standing squat rack with a pull-up bar. Next add a sandbag. We prefer the strongman-style that looks like a blob without handles. Sandbags are cost-effective, easy to store, and great for building real-world strength.
Advanced
If you have the space and budget, you can add a squat rack, barbell, plates, and a bench. While not entirely necessary for general fitness, this setup will let you move some heavier weight to increase maximum strength. If you have enough plates, you will be able to get in some heavier deadlifts, squats, rows, bench, and the like. Finally, if you have some space outside, a sled and a hex bar are great options.