How Do I Set Up My Home Gym???

Hey, Whats going on? I just got another e-mail asking me the same question. I get this question so many times it seems ridiculous, and after years of answering it I've come to realize "ding dong dufos, maybe this is something you should write down" as such here's my recommendation for the Ultimate Home Gym Equipment. First I'll give you THE BASICS, THE MUST, the tools that will give you the most variety, and results aka the most bang for the buck

MUST HAVES:
* A Stability ball/ Yoga Ball/ Balance ball
* A Jump rope
* 2 dumbbells you can curl 25-30 times
* 2 dumbbells you can curl 8 to 15 times.
* A box or a step (you don't have to get the over priced gym one, all you need is something sturdy that can support your weight plus 50-100lbs safely. I've seen people use house hold step ladders, and just big cheap boxes from home depot)

BONUS STUFF:
* A Medicine ball
* A Kettlebell maybe even 2 or 3 ;) (they have some medicine balls with a removable kettlebell handle if you're looking for a smaller kb under 15lbs)
* A punching Bag. I know some of you are thinking I'm not a boxer and I've got nowhere to hang it so why would I want one. Simple, it's big, it's awkward, and it's tough. You can do various squats and lunges with them, shoulder presses, you can practice jumping over it, you can carry it up a flight of stairs, or just walk around with it. Believe me YOU WILL SWEAT, YOU WILL GET STRONGER,AND YOUR HEART RATE WILL GO UP all of which will help you burn fat and get in shape.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST FOR THE BONUS LIST: The Tote Gym, or Train Station (I love both dearly and have given them as gifts :-D)

* A Lifeline Tote Gym. It's AMAZING, you can do tons of exercises with the resistance band alone, but using the door anchor you can do many cable pulley type exercises that usually require a expensive machine or with weights a very knowledgeable spottter. Also when you put the door hook with the treadmill belt you get one of the best treadmills on the market all for under 50 bucks ;)



http://www.lifelineusa.com/products/tote-gym










or The Train Station (also AMAZING)
is made by the same company and is great if you workout at home in the same spot all the time because it allows you to change the angle of the exercises in seconds which REALLY helps for circuit training and keeping your heart rate up.


http://www.lifelineusa.com/products/train-station-door-mount


So it basically comes down to do you workout at home more, or do you take your workout on the road more ie a park, basketball court, playground, or traveling


BONUS STUFF I LOVE but takes up serious space:

* A Bar Bell (I suggest a Olympic bar for men 45lbs and a for women a lighter barbel starting @ 15lbs)
* 50 to 300lbs of weights (you gotta have something to put on those weights, plus if you get adjustable dumbbells you'll be able to keep tweaking your resistance and exercises as you improve)
* A Squat Rack because quite simply they are AWESOME and SAFE especially when you don't have a spotter to help you and their also great for doing all kinds of crazy and modivied pullups
Last but not least
*A bench, adjustable or flat up to you but personally I try to sit as little as possible during a workout unless I'm sitting on a stability ball so I can work my core and my balance at the same time ;), but for certain exercises and especially if you want to lift more weight a bench is essential (I'm however focused on training as many muscles as possible at one given time so I usually only use the bench as a step/box for doing squats, dips, and step ups.



THERE YOU HAVE IT!!!

A INCREDIBLE HOME GYM!!!

No more membership dues, no more fighting and weighting in line for equipment, no more drives across town, no more trying to find a locker and a towel, no more making it to the gym before it closes, no more praying they change that boring musak, or for you early risers waiting for the gym to open, and quite possibly best of all you can do this with your friends and family anytime you want.

I hope this helps, I hope people keep asking me questions, and I REALLY hope I remember to write things down more instead of constantly saying the same thing over and over again. I wanna say new stuff!

Have a good one

Dave

PS

Exercises and workouts for all of your swanky new stuff can be found here
http://www.dc-athlete.com/workouts.htm

and here
http://www.dc-athlete.com/videos.htm

and here
http://www.youtube.com/davefights

PPS
For those of you into bodyweight exercises don't worry I'm still going to be posting bodyweight routines because well, THEY WORK. So keep your eyes peeled for my next bodyweight workout