Here's the Best Home Gym Equipment You Can Buy for About $100
If there isn't room in your budget for a fancy gym this year, or maybe you can't carve out the time to get there, or maybe you just really hate showering in the company of sweaty strangers with dubious personal hygiene habits, never fear! You can create your own facsimile at home. We asked friendly fitness professionals Gideon Akande, Idalis Vasquez, Jay Cardiello, Alexia Clark, and Ben Booker for their tips on some of the cheapest, most cost-efficient gear that you can buy to get in shape in the privacy and anonymity of your own home. Shirt optional.
The gear: Punching bag and glovesThe price: About $100The deal: Some forms of exercise are complicated and require careful, diligent planning of each individual workout. (How many sets? How many reps? How often?) You can craft a intricately-planned routine to use with a punching bag, of course. But you can also just...punch the thing. Sometimes, low barriers to entry are nice! Plus, maybe you can work out some of your rage issues, too.
The gear: Jump ropeThe price: Like, $10The deal: Ten minutes of jump-roping is roughly the equivalent of jogging an eight-minute mile, and you don't have to venture outside in the bitter cold or the sweltering heat to do it. Jumping rope also helps prevent ankle injuries and builds bone density, by the way. Not bad for something you haven't done since elementary school.
The gear: Medicine ballThe price: Depends on how heavy you want it, bro, but let's say $40The deal: Throw it! Lift it! Push it! Do squats while holding it! Do a push-up with one arm on top of it! Admittedly, those last two don't flow as well, but you get the idea. These things are versatile, portable, and cheap.
The gear: Resistance bandsThe price: Less than $20The deal: Speaking of portability, fitness bands fit in the outer flap pocket of your suitcase and can be used to make almost any exercise more difficult—even ones that use only your body weight as resistance. They usually come in multi-packs that provide different tension levels, too. Check out suggestions for incorporating these things in your legs day here, and in your biceps curls regimen here.
The gear: An exercise boxThe price: Say, $50The deal: Jumping and/or stepping up on to it builds explosive power in your legs, but a box can also help build upper-body strength by adjusting the angle at which you perform an exercise—push-ups or planks, for example. Add a pair of light dumbbells to incorporate even more exercises in the scope of what's possible. Important pro tip: Make extremely sure it's a box that can support your body weight before proceeding.
The gear: Stability ballThe price: Don't pay more than $20The deal: Like a box, it allows you to adjust the angles of different exercises. No, you can't jump on it, but it does provide a great way to perform abdominal exercises and back extensions. Plus, you can use it as an health-conscious home office chair, since sitting on a stability ball helps to passively engage your core and lower back even when you're not actively exercising. Just beware of pranksters with scissors.
The gear: Door-mounted pull-up barThe price: $20, if you can find a GrouponThe deal: Forget awkwardly exercising on the local playground's monkey bars as people look at you funny. (Wait, you don't do that? Me neither, never mind.) Turn a doorframe into a chin-up and pull-up bar by attaching one of these contraptions to the top. Important pro tip: Carefully follow the installation instructions, and even then, have someone you don't like test your handiwork's sturdiness before proceeding.
Watch Now:Or Try a TABATA Workout at Home InsteadJay Willis is a staff writer at GQ covering news, law, and politics. Previously, he was an associate at law firms in Washington, D.C. and Seattle, where his practice focused on consumer financial services and environmental cleanup litigation. He studied social welfare at Berkeley and graduated from Harvard Law School... Read more